As the finale weekend approaches, Speedway Media takes a look at the four drivers running for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series 2019 championship. We analyze their chances to win the title while also flashing back on how they got here.
In the first edition of this four-part series, we take a look at Brett Moffitt, driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevy. Moffitt is contending for his second straight championship.
Brett Moffitt – Moffitt has proven that last year’s title reign was no fluke. For the second straight year, the GMS driver returns to the Championship 4 for another shot at the Truck Series championship.
How He Got Here: The 2018 Series Champion caught a lucky break at Iowa earlier this season when the original winner, Ross Chastain, was disqualified, giving the win to Moffitt. The victory caught him by surprise as he was literally getting ready to climb aboard the team plane and head back to Charlotte. With the win, he was guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs.
The win at Iowa wasn’t enough for Moffitt. Having something to prove, the Iowa native went on to earn his first “real” win of the season at Chicago back in the summer. Aside from a crash at Eldora, Moffitt opened up the Playoffs hot with back-to-back wins at Bristol and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Since then, however, he has not been back to the winner circle. The GMS driver has had to rely on top fives and top-10s in order to get to the Championship 4. Even at ISM, Moffitt didn’t have the best of performances but he did what he needed to do to lock himself in at Homestead.
Championship Chances: After competing at Homestead, Moffitt knows what it’s like to race in the championship race and realizes that he has to perform to the best of his abilities to win that second championship. At this time last year, the Iowa native was seen as an underdog heading into the title race But, he was the best truck out of the Championship 4 and went on to win the season finale after leading 59 of the 134 laps.
Final Analysis: Moffitt is with a new team this time around in the Championship 4 race, but he has shined in 2019, notching four wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes. Despite being with a new team in the final round, GMS is no stranger to competing in the final race of the season. This will be GMS’s fourth consecutive Championship 4 race, since the first one back in 2016. Needless to say, Moffitt’s chances are really good and it would not be a surprise to see him captures his second championship.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Stewart Friesen wins at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series in Friday’s Lucas Oil 150, as the Championship 4 are now officially set for next weekend’s title-deciding race.
“We’ve got a badass piece for next week, too,” stated a confident Friesen, as he locked himself into next Friday’s championship race.
After facing an opening-lap penalty for beating polesitter Austin Hill to the line on the initial start, Friesen battled his way back to the front, leading 44 laps in the 150 lap event.
“It was a great race car,” said Friesen, who was sent to the rear of the field after getting to the stripe ahead of Hill, who spun his tires on the initial start. “We were able to pass ‘em all, pass ‘em all clean.
“Great race car, great race team. We’ll all celebrate tomorrow, and then it’s game on.”
The other three drivers to join him will be Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton and last year’s champion, Brett Moffitt.
“My main concern for the day was getting us locked into the owner points as well,” Moffitt said. “We got both jobs done today.”
Chastain declared points for the Truck series partway through the season, and now finds his team as one of the four who will race for the 2019 title.
“Man, this is crazy — a dream come true though,” Chastain said.
Crafton was below the cutoff line, but was strong all day and earned many points from Stage 1 and 2 to earn his way into Miami.
“I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain,” Crafton said. “And that’s the way I drove it from the green flag to the checkered flag.”
Brandon Jones was the highest finishing non-Playoff driver in the runner-up position. With roughly 30 laps remaining, he radioed to his crew to ask about Friesen’s point status. When his crew chief responded that Friesen was essentially locked in, the No. 19 driver drove more aggressively after the leader. He, however, fell short when they battled through lapped traffic.
At the end of the night, two drivers were eliminated: Hill and Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum missed the first three races of the year but was able to make it as far as the Round of 6 before missing the final round. Even he didn’t realize he would make it this far but looked back on the year with much to learn. As he reflected on his year, he felt some races were missed opportunities but was still proud of what he was able to accomplish as one of the bigger underdogs of the field.
“For me, I think there’s one or two races we should have won, but didn’t win,” Ankrum stated when reviewing his first full-time season as a whole. “I think Pocono is one of those. I think I could have done a lot better at Canada finishing wise. Bristol could have been a lot better with electrical issues there and then Las Vegas, burning up two pistons. Stuff like that I look back on and those things are out of my control, and I think we could have had a really good race, then we didn’t.
“In most people’s eyes, we’ve overachieved or exceeded our expectations, which I’m really proud of. For me, personally, I’m really proud of what we’ve done here this year. Not just based off of what we’ve done on the racetrack, but also between what we’ve done as a team working really well together and become a family.”
As for Hill, he knew he needed to stay ahead of Ankrum and Crafton. He started strong by earning the pole in qualifying earlier in the day and was able to outrun Ankrum during the race, who finished six laps down. But Crafton beat Ankrum overall both in finishing position and with points collected with 15 more points. That gave Crafton the edge over Hill by just a handful of points to push Hill below the cutoff line.
“We were getting eaten up on the restarts, and were put in the middle 3-wide sometimes,” Hill shared after the race. “When we had a really long run, we were okay. That last run, we tried to loosen it up but it was the tightest we ever were. We just didn’t perform; we didn’t execute like we were supposed to. We had high hopes after qualifying on the pole, and we just fell back like an anchor.”
The last race of the season will be held next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series was back on-track this past weekend for the continuation of the Round of 6. There was a lot of action in the 2019 Hall of Fame 200 as many of the Playoff drivers faced problems throughout the day. Some were involved in wrecks and others were facing must-win situations heading forward to Phoenix in two weeks. However, there were a few surprises in the finishing order and one driver scored his first career victory.
Here’s a look at this week’s Power Rankings
Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had the truck to beat all day long, especially in the first stage. The Grimes, Iowa native was out front for 84 laps and remained consistent in the early portions. But troubles plagued the No. 24 team after having such a strong truck. On Lap 117 the GMS driver was caught up in an accident in Turn 4 leaving the truck with some left-side damage. Just a couple of laps later, his day was done when Moffitt was once again caught up in a wreck that collected many others. Despite calling it quits early, the No. 24 driver still leads the championship playoff points standings heading into the penultimate race at Phoenix. If Moffitt and company can avoid disaster, then they should have no worries making it to the Championship 4.
Previous Week Ranking – First
Todd Gilliland – Gilliland finally earned that elusive first career victory that he’s been needing for so long. He only led 11 laps but they were the ones that counted as this victory might be the most important to Gilliland’s career. As noted in his post-race press conference, he has nothing set in stone yet for 2020. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver did not gain any stage points after not finishing in the top-10 but that did not matter as Gilliland wheeled the No. 4 machine into victory lane and earned the historic Grandfather clock.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
Ross Chastain – From wrecking out at Talladega to finishing third at Martinsville, Chastain had the truck to win and he was trying everything he could to get to victory lane. The Niece Motorsports driver roughed up a couple of fenders while he was out there and even found himself in contention to win at one point. Chastain had the second most laps led with 68 to Moffitt’s 84. Chastain finished 10th and fourth in Stage 1 and 2, respectively, before bringing home a second-place finish. Looking back, it’s what could have been for Chastain and his No. 45 Niece Chevy. If he had scored the victory, the team would have been going to their first Championship 4. However, it was still a solid finish for the team.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Timmy Hill – A tip of the cap to Timmy Hill and his No. 56 Hill Motorsports team after earning their career-best finish of fifth so far in the team’s young history. They stayed out of trouble, avoided the major wrecks and brought home a clean top-five finish, the first in the stable’s history.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Grant Enfinger – Enfinger was involved in a big wreck off Turn 2 on Lap 124. That still did not stop him and the No. 98 ThorSport as they fought to get a fourth-place finish. The Truck was beaten to pieces and was all used up. If you looked at it, you would think the truck went to a demolition derby or it was another night at Bowman Gray Stadium. With those efforts, Enfinger also placed ninth and second in both stages. It was a strong outing for the No. 98 ThorSport team at the paperclip.
Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
Fell Out
1. Riley Herbst – Did not compete in this week’s race.
Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
2. Austin Hill – Hill and the No. 16 team was also caught up in the big wreck off Turn 2 on Lap 124. With the damage too severe to be fixed, the team could not repair the truck which resulted in a 26th place finish.
Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen had a separate incident of his own on Lap 150, accidentally getting wrecked off Turn 4. The team was able to rebound, however, to a sixth-place finish after starting seventh. The Candian managed one stage point, finishing 10th in Stage 2.
For those focused on the Playoff drivers in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, it became a matter of who would be struck down next.
Todd Gilliland prevailed at Martinsville Speedway in an overtime finish, holding off Ross Chastain, who if victorious would have been the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He instead now sits just 20 points above the cutoff line.
The bright side for Chastain is he was the only Playoff driver in the top five.
With no Playoff drivers yet locked into the final race of the season, Martinsville proved yet again that it is fully capable of shuffling the points standings, creating uncertainty, and causing drama and chaos for all the race teams. After Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, and the paperclip short track on Saturday, the Truck series has just one race left to determine who will race for a championship. How did everyone fare at the short track this weekend?
Stage One Winner Suffers Race-Ending Damage
The Stage 1 winner and last year’s series champion, Brett Moffitt, was involved in several incidents throughout the day. That damage eventually caused fatal issues to the engine of the No. 24 Silverado after only 122 of 200 scheduled laps. He would finish in 29th position after leading 80 laps.
“That’s Martinsville. It’s a bummer,” Moffitt said on Fox Sports.
“People just racing too aggressive too early. Everyone at GMS (Racing) gave me a really fast CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet. It’s a bummer to see them like this. This was one of those dominant trucks that we’ve had a few times this year. I felt like no matter what as long as we stayed clean, we were gonna win the thing.”
Moffitt recognized quickly though that he dodged a bullet, as many other Playoff drivers also had issues including a “Big One” that brought out a 15-minute red flag.
“I guess the good takeaway is that we have a nice points buffer depending on how this all plays out going into Phoenix,” said the point leader coming into today’s race and after the checkered flag dropped. “Certainly not in a must-win situation. We just gotta go have a good day at Phoenix.”
Crafton Openly Criticizes Spec Engine for Rough Day
Despite having a competitive truck, Matt Crafton stalled under a yellow flag during Stage 2. With pit cycles in front of him, the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford was forced to come down pit road for evaluation. The pit crew changed the battery, the ECU and more regarding electronic and motor concerns before being able to get back onto the track.
“Yeah, exactly, it was horrible,” Crafton said in response to one reporter’s question. “Three of the six (Playoff) trucks out for similar issues where we’re handcuffed and forced to run. We had a phenomenal truck. When I’d fall back, I could be two tenths faster than the leaders there at the end of the race when we were tire for tire. Something out of our control, again.”
It wasn’t too long ago when the spec engine program was under fire. Several NASCAR Truck Series title contenders faced engine failures in the final race of the first playoff elimination round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season. Three of the four Thorsport Racing vehicles — Johnny Sauter, Crafton and Grant Enfinger — finished 29th, 30th and 31st in Vegas, respectively. Sauter and Enfinger were the two drivers eliminated from the Playoffs that round because of the finishes. Crafton slid by on points.
On Saturday, Crafton was faced with a very similar issue and now heads to ISM Raceway where he hopes to slide by on points once again.
Big One Collects Two Title Contenders, Nine Trucks in Total
The “Big One” isn’t just for Daytona or Talladega. A nine-truck crash coming out of Turn 2 brought out the red flag for roughly 15 minutes. When the smoke cleared, two more Playoff drivers were caught up in the incident: Austin Hill and Tyler Ankrum.
A slip by one of the front runners bottled up the middle of the pack on a restart. When some drivers attempted three, even four-wide passing out of Turn 2, chaos ensued. Other drivers involved included the regular-season champion Enfinger and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer — the 2019 K&N Pro Series East champion.
Hill took his truck to the garage and was done for the day. Ankrum tried to return to the race, but could not make minimum speed. He was eventually black flagged, and would finish the day with a DNF. They would finish 25th (Anrkum) and 26th (Hill).
Friesen Recovers to Sixth After Late Spin
On Lap 149, Martinsville attempted to take on another championship contender. Stewart Friesen was battling Sauter when he knocked into Friesen to send him spinning out of Turn 4. The caution would wave, and Friesen would use pit strategy and other yellow flags to climb his way up to sixth.
Friesen didn’t hit anything, and all his competitors avoided him, so he came down pit road for fresh tires and fought his way back up to sixth. He also avoided other wrecks, including two separate incidents on the final lap.
But looking throughout the race, it could have been a much different story. For now, he sits second in points, 35 points above the cutoff line. Currently, no driver is locked in, but he could join Moffitt to potentially lock himself in depending on how he finishes in both stages at the final Round of 6 race.
After a wild race at Martinsville, here’s how the playoff picture looks with no drivers locked in: Moffitt (+45), Friesen (+35), Chastain (+20), Hill (+9), Crafton (-9) and Ankrum (-15). The Truck series will compete next at ISM Raceway with the Lucas Oil 150 (Friday, Nov. 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1). Two drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs at the conclusion of that race.
GMS Racing officials announced Friday afternoon that 2018 Truck Series Champion and current Playoff contender Brett Moffitt will return to the team for a second season to compete for the Truck Series title once again. Sheldon Creed will also be back in the No. 2 GMS Truck for a second season.
Moffitt has earned four wins, 12 top fives and 15 top-10 finishes and is currently looking for his second bid for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next month.
“I can’t thank Mike (Beam, team president) and Mr. Gallagher (team owner) enough for the opportunity to compete full-time with GMS Racing in 2020,” said Moffitt. “It’s been awesome to work with this organization this year and we’ve been competitive each and every week. We’ve earned four wins so far this season and held a steady lead throughout the Playoffs. Having next year locked down allows us to focus completely on competing for a championship this year. Returning with the same teammates as well will be really cool. We already know how to work together and help each other while maintaining a bit of that competitive edge. I can only imagine what we will be able to accomplish in 2020 building off the momentum from this season.”
After a rocky start to the 2019 season, Sheldon Creed has had some great runs as of late. Currently, the Alpine, California native has notched four top fives and 10 top-10 finishes along with three DNFs but he does have 164 laps led and a best finish of second twice, at Eldora and Michigan.
“I feel very confident going into next season with GMS Racing. I know I have the best group of people around me and the best organization to go out next year and compete for wins and hopefully the championship,” Creed stated. “I’m thankful to Mike (Beam, team president) and Maury (Gallagher, team owner) for the opportunity and continued support. The beginning of this season was a bit of a learning curve for me but we found our groove and I’m excited to go out and compete for wins and build momentum for next year. It’ll be great to have my teammates back with me as well.”
Not to be overshadowed by the two returning drivers is NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion, Sam Mayer. Mayer, who has piloted the No. 21 GMS Chevy also returns but with more races scheduled compared to two races that he has done this year. The Franklin, Wisconsin native will now have six races on his schedule in 2020, but those have yet to be announced. Mayer will also compete for the ARCA Menards East championship.
“I am excited to be returning to GMS Racing in 2020,” said Mayer. “We are being very aggressive with my schedule next year and I think that will help challenge me and help me grow even more in my career. We are doubling the number of Gander Trucks races from what I am running in 2019 and once the ARCA series is finalized, I should be running more races than the entire truck schedule. I’ve been able to accomplish a lot this season with the support from GMS and I can’t wait for next season.”
GMS Racing Team President, Mike Beam, is excited about the 2020 season.
“To have all three of these talented young men back with our organization is a blessing,” said Mike Beam, team president. “They have all brought a lot to the table for GMS in 2019. Mayer winning the K&N East Championship, Moffitt being in the hunt for GMS’ second Truck championship and Creed with multiple runner-up finishes. Needless to say, that they have represented GMS well in 2019 and I have no doubt that success will continue in 2020.”
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (America’s favorite racing series) returned on track this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Prior to Saturday’s event, it was well over a month ago that we last saw the Truck Series on track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
They began the Round of 6 in the Playoffs with six drivers who still have their championship hopes alive. It wasn’t the Talladega race we were expecting, but nonetheless, it was a great race.
Let’s take a look at who made the Power Rankings list this week following the Sugarland Shine 250.
1. Brett Moffitt – It was a challenging race for Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team who was once penalized for locking bumpers with his technical teammate Stewart Friesen. Moffitt questioned the penalty on the radio and especially in his post-race comments. He was able to get back on the lead lap with a late caution and after leading seven laps and despite being penalized, Moffitt rebounded to a top-five finish. It was probably not the finish he wanted after being strong early but to escape Talladega with a clean truck and a top-five finish was a job well done.
Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
2. Austin Hill – Hill had a competitive truck, for the most part, finishing seventh in Stage 1 and leading two laps. The Hattori Racing driver was expected to run well after breaking through at Daytona back in February with a win. Even though Hill did not win at Talladega, he had a solid finish of sixth. He also avoided any trouble keeping his Playoff championship hopes alive heading into the two final races of the round at Martinsville and ISM Raceway.
Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Stewart Friesen – Like Moffitt, Friesen had to overcome adversity throughout certain parts of the race. He was penalized twice, once for locking bumpers and then for speeding on pit road during the final round of green-flag pit stops. But Friesen caught a few lucky breaks. In what could have been a disastrous day, the Halmar Racing driver quietly rebounded to a fifth-place finish. He also finished fifth in Stage 1 and won the second stage.
Previous Week Ranking – Not ranked
4. Riley Herbst – Despite the post-race controversy, Herbst grabbed a third-place finish in his first Superspeedway start in a truck. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver did his job and finished the race and also had a stage finish of sixth in Stage 1. Not bad for his first Talladega start.
Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
5. Todd Gilliland – Overlooked in this whole race was Todd Gilliland and his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team who finished second after starting sixth. Gilliland was quiet for the majority of the race until the last few laps where he found himself in contention to win. He led seven laps and had finishes of ninth in both stages. Hopefully, this is a confidence booster for Gilliland who has faced criticism for much of the year.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Fell Out
Ross Chastain – Yes, Chastain had a strong truck and quite possibly the best truck. However, a blocking move took the Florida native out of the race on Lap 89 and ruined any chance of a great finish. Chastain now finds himself last in the Playoffs standings, just two points behind the cut line. Two points isn’t much but it could make all the difference in the world when the standings are set for the Championship 4.
Previous Week Ranking – First
Sheldon Creed- Creed showed glimpses of having a fast truck but could never really stay out in front. Possibly overshadowed in his performance was leading 20 laps and winning the first stage. In the end, however, the GMS driver could not maintain the lead but did earn a ninth-place finish.
Previous Week Ranking – Third
Brennan Poole – A rear-end issue took Poole out of the race on Lap 81 and resulted in a disappointing 26th place finish. It has been a difficult season for Poole and the No. 30 team who have yet to finish a Superspeedway race.
Brett Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team had their work cut out for them after he and his technical teammate Stewart Friesen were penalized for locking bumpers while leading. Moffitt was running his own race, while having help from Friesen in hopes of keeping the field behind them.
Once both were penalized, Moffitt and his teammate had to serve a pass-through penalty. With the help of a caution the Grimes, Iowa native was able to catch back up with the field to have one more shot.
Despite being penalized, Moffitt brought home the No. 24 CMR Construction and Roofing Chevy to a third place finish. Though he wasn’t overly happy with the finish or the penalty.
“It’s Talladega, that’s for sure,” Moffitt told MRN Radio. “I can’t thank everyone at GMS enough, we had really fast three Chevy Silverado’s and CMR, all the folks from CMR were here, which was exciting. I wish we could be in victory lane right now. Ultimately, we out pointed everyone in the playoffs and we now have a comfortable buffer. We’ll look forward to the next two races and try to win one. If not, we’ll try to make it to Homestead.”
When asked about the penalty, Moffitt wasn’t too pleased.
“I would love to see whatever clip they were calling. Everyone on TV could see, I was doing an extremely good job of hitting him and getting off of him three or four inches and then getting back to him. I guess we were stinking up the show and they wanted to make it interesting.”
Moffitt finished second in both stages and ultimately earned his 12th top five of the season. He maintains the championship points lead by +45.
With just three races left before crowning the 2019 champion, the Playoffs points standings in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is tight, including one championship favorite now below the cutoff line.
Ross Chastain crashed from the lead with six laps remaining, Stewart Friesen was the only Playoff driver to earn any additional Playoff points by winning a stage, and Austin Hill was frustrated at the field when he was unable to find a drafting partner to score additional points at the conclusion of the second stage. It also didn’t help any of the six remaining drivers as none of the Playoff teams could capture the checkered flag to secure their spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR issued a post-race penalty on Johnny Sauter to hand the win to then second-place finisher, Spencer Boyd.
Now, only two drivers have more than a 20-point cushion, while the other four are fighting for the last two spots with the last three drivers separated by just two points.
The Truck Series races at Martinsville Speedway and ISM Raceway during their Round of 6 before two are eliminated. Let’s review what happened Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway that shook up the Playoffs.
Chastain Takes Blame for “Big One” in Closing Laps
With six laps to go, Chastain learned the hard way that he can only block once.
Down the backstretch, the inside lane of Grant Enfinger and Harrison Burton had reached the peak of their momentum on Chastain, so the Niece Motorsports driver moved high to start blocking and using the charge from the outside lane. As the field entered Turn 3, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland continued to work together to make a move around Chastain. They first moved high, then down to the middle lane to peek a bumper inside of the leader.
Chastain blocked high successfully but started the carnage when blocking low.
To no fault of his own, Creed hooked the rear bumper of Chastain to send him spinning. Chastain would then collect nine other trucks to create what would be the only “Big One.”
He took all the blame.
“I definitely turned left on (Creed),” he shared with FOX Sports after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “Sorry to everybody that got taken out. My Niece Motorsports boys and girls deserve better. The Car Shield Chevy was fast enough to go compete for the win.
That one’s on me. I’m so glad we get to go onto Martinsville and Phoenix and redeem ourselves to keep winning and press the attack.”
After declaring for the points championship in the Truck series earlier this year, his focus remains the same: that same Truck championship.
“I will go try to win practice, try to win qualifying and try to win the race, and just go execute. That was poor execution on my part. Again, sorry to everybody involved, but we’ll go on and just execute. That’s my job, and that’s what we’re gonna go do.”
Playoff Drivers Struggle Against Controversial Penalties
On Lap 51, NASCAR issued a penalty on two Playoff drivers, as Stewart Friesen and Brett Moffitt were caught locking bumpers to draft away from the pack. They were leading at the time but came down pit road to serve a stop-and-go penalty. While they rallied back to finish fourth and fifth, they both know it could have easily been a different story if a “Big One” had happened while they marched back to the front. Being eligible for the championship just added more to the drama.
“I don’t really know what to say about anything,” Friesen said. “I didn’t see it. I have no idea, no clue. But we were fortunate to get back to the lead lap and get a fifth out of it.”
Although Moffitt has a 45 point buffer above the cutoff line, he wanted proof of their two trucks locking bumpers. The hard part is that no television coverage could catch exactly when they were locking bumpers.
“I would love to see it, love to see where we locked bumpers because I was very conscious of it and staying off him, giving him a bubble,” Moffitt shared after the race. “I would love to see proof. Everyone’s pushing the limit.
“Now had that played out like Daytona where we (went to) the back and ended up in a wreck I’d be a little more upset about it, but the fact we had really good Chevrolets here and were able to rebound – all three of us. It’s frustrating but ultimately we did our job and out-pointed everyone in the playoffs.”
Sheldon Creed (front) and Brett Moffitt (back) appear to potentially lock bumpers driving through the tri-oval, but no penalty was issued. Photo courtesy of Stephanie McLaughlin with Speedway Media.
To make matters more controversial about the call, there were other instances throughout the race where two trucks would clearly lock bumpers and serve no obligated penalty. Possibly the biggest missed call was on the final lap.
Eventual race winner Boyd locked bumpers with Riley Herbst to create a run to the lead. The attempted pass between Herbst and Sauter caused Sauter to go below the yellow line, which is not allowed at all by the leader. Sauter would be penalized and hand the win to Boyd.
“So those are tough calls and I think there were several instances where we were all looking at each other,’‘Is that too much? Is that too much?’” said NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller who addressed media questions on the officiating calls after the race. “So, there was really no other choice but to make that call (on Moffitt and Friesen).”
However, the same driving that NASCAR claimed Moffitt and Friesen did was also executed by Boyd and Herbst fighting for the win on the final lap. No call was made.
Austin Hill Frustrated with Competition and Lack of Stage Points
While Hill is currently in the third position in the Playoffs, he sure would like to have more of a points gap going into the next two races. He clearly understood how valuable stage points are in a time like now, and with a points structure where each position is just one point, it’s a spot in the season where every point matters.
Austin Hill (No. 16) had trouble finding drafting help, as depicted here. Ross Chastain (No. 45) would get drafting help from behind, while competitors behind Hill would find a way to battle around. Photo courtesy of Stephanie McLaughlin with Speedway Media.
But for some reason, Hill just wasn’t able to find a drafting partner to work with during the race. That cost him valuable spots, and eventually valuable points by not executing strongly at the conclusion of either stage.
“I was really frustrated all day about that,” Hill said. “I didn’t really have any help from anybody – whether a Toyota was behind me or anyone else. It didn’t matter. No one seemed to want to work with me. It was tough all day.
“We were leading that second stage and with two (laps) to go, they had such a big run, there was no way to really block that outside lane coming. I tried to stay on the bottom because I knew I had two Toyotas behind me and then they bailed on me.”
That tough fighting and loss of potential points could be vital as the Round of 6 continues. Hill finished the race in sixth but collected just 35 points. In comparison, Moffitt and Friesen finished fourth and fifth and collected 51 and 48 points respectively — over 10 stage points each more than Hill.
After the race, Hill now sits just 12 points above the cutoff line.
“Still a decent points day, just not what we wanted. At least we didn’t end up on the wrecker like a few of them did. All in all, it was a decent points day and we’ll go on to Martinsville.”
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned on-track this past Friday night for the final race in the Round of 8. The World of Westgate 200 featured an action-packed race and left a lot of playoff drivers in trouble. However, it saw one driver break through and quite possibly surprised some race fans who were not expecting him to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Here are this week’s power rankings following the second Las Vegas Truck Series race of the season.
Ross Chastain – Chastain provided a dominant performance throughout the race before being passed late for the win. The Florida native started second, won both stages, led the most laps with 88 but ultimately fell short, finishing second. Despite this Chastain clinched a spot in the Round of 6 after winning one of the stages. Should he and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team continue this dominance throughout the Round of 6, we could very well see Chastain in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
Austin Hill – Hill came through at the end passing Chastain for the lead and the eventual race win. It was his third win of the season and he was able to lock himself into the Round of 6. While Hill was already guaranteed a spot, he made it easier for his No. 16 Hattori Racing team by winning. It shouldn’t as a surprise to anybody as this the same team that won the championship last year.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Sheldon Creed – Creed and his No. 2 GMS Racing team came into Vegas with a lot of momentum after being consistent late in the season. Previously, at Canada, he finished fourth continuing his top-five finishes. Creed qualified sixth, then finished sixth and seventh in Stage 1 and 1, respectively. While he was unable to lead a lap, the No. 2 team continued their string of top-five finishes by posting their fourth of the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Second
Brett Moffitt – Moffitt and the No. 24 team had a quiet night finishing seventh after being dominant in the first two races of the Round of 8. The Grimes, Iowa native did, however, finish ninth and third in both stages and led 12 laps. He may have been disappointed not to sweep the entire Round of 8 but the team is going on to compete in the Round of 6 after winning at Bristol and Canada.
Previous Week Ranking – First
Brennan Poole – Though not competing in the full Truck schedule as originally planned, Poole and the No. 30 On Point Motorsports is making the most of their opportunities when they do compete. It has been an up and down season for Poole who had two DNFs, one top-five and three top-10s heading into Vegas. His schedule has been sporadic due to not having the funding to compete in every race. Hoping to better his spring finish at Vegas, Poole had a lot of work to do. He qualified 18th but it didn’t take him long to get up to the front with the help of a few cautions. Poole finished seventh and fifth in both stages. After all was said and done, the No. 30 driver fell short of his second top-five but managed a sixth-place finish for his fourth top-10 of the year. It was nicely done by the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team especially considering that they don’t compete every week.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Fell Out 1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team had a rough night after being down a cylinder for the majority of the race. The Canadian qualified 19th and finished 19th, down two laps. Despite not having any top-10 stage finishes, Friesen and his team will have another chance to compete for the championship by advancing to the Round of 6.
2. Ben Rhodes – It was a solid eighth-place finish after starting 13th and surviving the chaos that happened throughout the night. He was also able to record a fourth-place finish in Stage 2.
It was an easy and clean win for defending series champion Brett Moffitt who won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and dominated much of the race after starting on the pole.
“Anytime you have a comfortable lead, it’s all about praying for no cautions and then no mistakes on our behalf,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “We got a new sponsor, CMR, on the truck this weekend; we were able to pull this Chevy Silverado into victory lane. It was all about execution. It’s really cool when you can make a plan at the beginning of the week. Try to win Stage 1 at that point and try to win the race for five points, executed as a team and had a fast Silverado.”
“That’s all thanks to the people at GMS. We unloaded fast and tuned on it, and got better. Just everyone on this team today, we executed fully and that’s all I can ask. I’m very confident in our race team right now.”
Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team started on the pole after qualifying early Sunday morning. The stages were broken into 20/20/24 laps to make up the 64-lap race distance.
To note, Stewart Friesen wrecked in practice which forced him to go to a backup. Jordan Anderson crashed in practice as well. Sheldon Creed also crashed as well in practice, forcing him to a back up. Gary Klutt of Niece Motorsports also started in the back.
Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20
A few minor incidents happened during the first stage with no yellows. The No. 54 of Raphael Lessard went off track but he saved the truck from major damage. The No. 56 of Bobby Reuse also spun on the front stretch. Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a left front tire go down and made contact with the tire barrier and Gilliland received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire during the pit stop.
The No. 34 of Jason White spun around on the final lap in Stage 1 after contact with Tyler Ankrum. Teammates Johnny Sauter and Grant Enfinger made contact with each other, as Sauter accidentally spun Enfinger around in Turn 10. Despite the incidents that took place, there would be no yellows flown.
Moffitt went on to win Stage 1. Ross Chastain, Austin Hill, Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Sauter, Friesen, Austin Wayne Self, D.J. Kennington and Dylan Lupton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.
During the stage break, the race leaders made their way to pit road for their scheduled pit stops. Crafton was penalized after his pit stop for running over his air hose, which sent him to the back for the Stage 2 restart.
Stage 2: Lap 24 – Lap 40
The restart order for Stage 2 saw drivers Ben Rhodes, Alex Tagliani, Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed and Gilliland make up the top five.
The first caution other than the stage break came out on Lap 31. It was for the No. 33 of Dan Corcoran hitting the wall. Under the caution, Rhodes, Moffitt and the top front runners all made their pit stops.
Chastain would stay out and assume the lead with seven to go in Stage 2. By staying out, the Niece Motorsports driver went on to win the second stage. Hill, Ankrum, Gilliland, Enfinger, Sauter, Crafton, Gus Dean, Lupton and Rhodes were the top-10 finishers in Stage 2.
Stage 3: Lap 44 – Lap 64
With Chastain, among others, pitting under the stage break, Moffitt cycled out as the leader for the third and final stage.
For the most part, there were no major incidents. Lupton went spinning off the restart. A long green flag occurred until the finish. Gilliland brought his truck down pit road and the hood was up with 12 to go but he was able to finish the race. The action started to heat up in the back with Burton and Friesen slightly going off track with four to go. One lap later, it was Ankrum and Chastain in an aggressive battle. With two to go, Burton’s engine expired and he went out of the race. D.J. Kennington also went around on the last lap in the last turn after contact with Wayne Self.
With the incidents taking place behind race leader Moffitt, he had a sizable lead over Tagliani who was in second. Despite what we’ve seen in previous years at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, there was no major drama on the last lap and Moffitt went on to win his second playoff race of the season.
During the burnouts, the GMS driver ran out of fuel but it didn’t matter at that point for Moffitt as he was excited to win for the first time on a road course.
“It was close, I took a right-hand corner in the last two laps and started dropping in fuel pressure,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “So, I was extremely worried and once we got to the backstretch on the last lap, I knew we would have enough momentum to get to the finish line. It was a little stressful on my behalf, but it is what it is and we made it, ran out of fuel doing donuts. So that’s all good.”
Moffitt led twice for 44 of 64 laps and earned his fourth win of the 2019 season.
There were three cautions for nine laps and seven lead changes among six leaders.
Up Next: The Truck Series takes two weeks off before returning on-track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night, September 13th, to conclude the Round of 8.
Playoff Standings with one race to go in Round of 8:
