NCWTS: Brett Moffitt Victorious at Phoenix, Joins Sauter, Haley and Gragson in Championship 4

Brett Moffitt scored his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season at ISM Raceway on Friday. Moffitt, starting fifth on the leaderboard and winner of stage one, overcame a speeding penalty on pit road at lap 49. The penalty placed Moffitt around the 21st position for the restart.

 

“We just had a badass KOBE Toyopet Tundra. I kind of screwed us by getting a speeding penalty there, but more importantly it’s Veteran’s Day weekend and I have to give a shout out to all those who have served and are currently serving,” said Moffitt. “Also, very special to us, we have a steering wheel here and it’s got Torie Costa Foundation on it, which is Scott Zipadelli’s (crew chief) daughter who passed away from pancreatic cancer. It was her birthday yesterday so I’m glad she was in the car with me and I know this is going to mean a lot to our race team.”

 

The win locks Moffitt into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale next Friday. Joining the Iowa native will be Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley and Noah Gragson.

 

“We’re focused on Homestead already and we just knew that we had to have a smooth night,” added Moffitt after the race in victory lane. “When the 98 (Grant Enfinger) got up there obviously we started worrying and that’s when we knew we needed to win. Can’t say enough for this group and Toyota, TRD, Joe Gibbs 299th engine win with Mark Cronquist. They’ve put our backs against the wall, but this son-of-a-bitch did it again. I can’t say enough about them and all of our partners and just this whole HRE team.”

 

Moffitt, the seventh-place finisher in stage two, goes into the season finale next week with 12 top five and 12 top 10 finishes through 22 races.

 

Pole sitter Noah Gragson will leave ISM Raceway with the runner-up finish. Gragson looked to be the one victorious, before Riley Herbst brought out the yellow flag in turn four, with six laps to go.

 

The Las Vegas native later lost the lead to Grant Enfinger at lap 147, before Brett Moffitt took over the top spot with three to go.

 

Harrison Burton rounded out the top three finishers at the one-mile desert oval. Burton, driving the No. 51 DEX Imaging Toyota, started the evening third on the Lucas Oil 150 starting grid. The young racer won stage two and finished stage one sitting fourth.

 

Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top five.

 

Friesen, earning his eighth top five finish of the year, overcame a late-race speeding penalty at lap 95. The penalty sent the Canadian driver to the rear of the field for the restart. Friesen started the night fourth on the leaderboard.

 

John Hunter Nemechek looked strong all throughout the Lucas Oil 150 until lap 127. The driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet spun by himself while leading the field off turn four. Nemechek, finishing fifth in stage one and ninth in stage two, led the field for 31 laps before the incident that ended his night.

 

Rest of the top 10 finishers included Tyler Ankrum, Johnny Sauter, Derek Kraus, Christian Eckes and Sheldon Creed.

 

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16th. The Ford EcoBoost 200 will air live on FOX Sports 1 and MRN radio at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Brett Winningham
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