NASCAR
Moffitt Upsets in Talladega Truck Series Playoff Race
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Making his first start of the season for Front Row Motorsports, Brett Moffitt used experience to his advantage in Talladega. The 2018 Truck Series champion led 22 laps, taking the victory in overtime. Spoiling all eight Playoff contenders, Moffitt gladly put himself back in victory lane for the first time in three years.
After starting second, the No. 2 Chevrolet of Nick Sanchez was a man on a max-points mission. The rookie Playoff contender won Stage 1, and was runner-up in Stage 2 only behind Parker Kligerman.
Playoff contenders had more than their fair share of struggles throughout the day. This started early on with defending champion Zane Smith. On pit road after Stage 1, the No. 38 Ford came in too hot and hit pit crew member Charles Plank. He was thankfully able to get up, but Smith’s day got longer from there with clutch issues. The Front Row Motorsports driver went laps off the pace after repairs. Finishing 32nd, Smith now faces a must-win scenario for a fourth-straight Championship 4 run.
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After finding his way to the head of the pack in the second half, Brett Moffitt hardly relinquished the top spot. Even with plenty of late race restarts, Moffitt had ample help behind him to keep the No. 34’s nose in the wind. The race would go into overtime though after a huge restart wreck that took out over 10 trucks.
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Even with the leaders briefly going three-wide in overtime, Moffitt remained in position to retake the lead out of turn two on the last lap. Despite a hungry pack behind him, the 34 had just enough gap to take the checkered flag.
Behind Moffitt, the Talladega top-10 were Ben Rhodes, Dean Thompson, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Daniel Dye, Nick Sanchez, Hailie Deegan, Parker Kligerman and Lawless Alan. hear from some of these drivers below.
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Only one race remains in the Truck Series Playoffs Round of 8–Homestead. The Baptist Health 200 will go green Saturday, October 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. After two weeks off, the Truckers will take on the south Florida intermediate track to determine their final three Championship contenders.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
