Getty Mason Massey will celebrate an anniversary with Brunt Workwear.
The Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will mark an important moment for Mason Massey. It will be the one-year anniversary that he joined forces with Brunt Workwear, a company that has expanded its support after his move to DGM Racing.
The 2021 season featured Brunt making its debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 17. Massey showed off the black and orange Chevrolet Camaro, but his day came to an early end after a crash involving multiple other drivers. Brunt then returned at Daytona International Speedway where Massey finished 25th overall.
Now the Georgia native will pursue a better performance in his return to NHMS. This will be the one-year anniversary of the partnership, but it will be the fourth race weekend of 2022 featuring Brunt on the No. 91.
Ran inside the top 20 all day Saturday, but the 3rd stage didn’t go our way and ended up p24. Decent points day and we had pretty good speed. Thanks A-Z Companies and Anderson Power Services. Onto New Hampshire! Huge weekend for @bruntworkwear coming up.
@dgm_racing_
“I mean, this one’s probably — I’d say — this is probably the most important for us,”
Eric Girouard, the founder of Brunt Workwear, told Heavy ahead of the race weekend. “One, because it’s the anniversary of our first race ever with Mason. And even though that race didn’t go as planned, it was an experience of a lifetime. We ended up coming home with the hood here in the garage. That’s gotten a lot of attention over the past year, which normally doesn’t happen.”
“I was really glad to have them on for another year,” Massey added. “Trying to grow each other, man, because they’re trying to grow their stuff. I’m trying to grow my stuff. And we kind of come from the same background — had to work hard for what we have and had to grind.”
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Massey’s First Season With DGM Racing Has Featured Progress
GettyMason Massey drives during the race at Phoenix.
Massey entered the 2022 season with 23 career starts in the Xfinity Series, all with BJ McLeod Motorsports. He had some experience in the series, as well as a career-best finish of 17th at Richmond Raceway, but he still had progress to make considering that many tracks were unfamiliar to him.
Massey has used the 2022 season, his first with DGM Racing, to make some positive strides. He now has the benefit of practice and qualifying, which have both helped him better prepare for races at new tracks. He has used this experience to improve his average finish from 28.5 in 2021 to 24.5 in 2022. He also delivered the first top-10 of his career by finishing the first Atlanta race in the sixth position.
There have been some moments of adversity. Massey has failed to qualify for three races, including the season-opening trip to Daytona International Speedway, but he has used these struggles to prepare for the remainder of the season and as he moves forward toward 2023.
“We missed a couple races. Just stuff we’ve got to clean up,” Massey said. “I’ve never really… This is the first year I’ve qualified in Xfinity, so it’s definitely been a learning experience. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my career. You’ve got to go out and put down that perfect lap. So I’m trying to do better with that. And we’ve had some pretty good qualifying runs this year, but it’s mostly the places that I hadn’t been to that I kind of struggled with.”
The improvements on the track have also benefited Brunt Workwear. The company doesn’t have the same business model as some other companies that support NASCAR drivers. They know that Massey will not get as much TV time as some other drivers simply due to the way the broadcast works. However, they use in-person experiences and social media to provide content for the fans.
“A lot of it is the storytelling and the content creation between Mason and myself that day at the track,” Girouard said. “Leveraging… you know, we’ve got a pretty large reach on social media. And how do we tell the stories? Because our core customer really gives a s*** about what Mason’s doing and about the sport of NASCAR.”
The Next Opportunity Will Be the Magic Mile
As Massey explained, the qualifying laps have been the biggest hurdle for him this season. Once he gets into the race itself, he has largely avoided incidents while contending for top-20 and top-15 finishes. As a result, he only has two DNFs in 11 starts.
Massey will strive to turn in a stronger performance when he suits up for the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He expects to run around the top 15-18 based on similarities to Phoenix Raceway and Martinsville Speedway, tracks where he has run well in the past.
If Massey can turn in a strong qualifying effort and run well, he could build up some momentum for his remaining races. He has the belief that he will achieve this goal and set himself up to close out his first year with DGM Racing on a high note.
“I think we’ll get there,” Massey said. “I feel like the second half of this year, it’ll be a lot stronger, and we’re gonna knock out some top-20s and top-15s, and it’ll be pretty good. I’m looking forward to it.”
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