Brett Moffitt wins frantic Talladega Truck race as Crafton, Sanchez fight

Brett Moffitt qualified for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway by the skin of his teeth, and it paid off in the end.

Doing a one-off in a newly opened #34 truck ^[1] for Front Row Motorsports, Moffitt qualified thirty-first but worked his way to the front by the third stage and was the top driver throughout the final segment as he led over half of it. It was not a simple Saturday drive, however, as he had to survive multiple restarts due to crashes bunching up the field six times in Stage #3.

A crash between Colby Howard and Chase Purdy set up overtime, which was followed by an even bigger accident on the first attempt. After riding behind the leaders to start the second restart, Moffitt tailed Christian Eckes until the latter attempted to throw a block but ran too far outside and lost the draft as Moffitt’s line surged ahead. Moffitt and Parker Kligerman then committed to the inside in front of fellow Xfinity Series regular Chandler Smith ^[2] before Kligerman was shuffled out exiting turn four.

As they went through the tri-oval, Smith’s last-ditch overtake on the outside instead allowed Ben Rhodes to link up with Moffitt coming to the finish.

“I really had the mentality coming into today because it had been so long since I’d ran a truck at a superspeedway that I just wanted to try and learn in every situation. Normally, I get really nervous or worked up, but I just took it as a learning experience,” said Moffitt. “It’s been a while since I had to control a race like that, so just to be able to go do that and execute and believe in my skills and believe in myself and believe in this race team it was huge. It’s just a huge confidence booster of a day and my first time ever winning at a superspeedway, so I am pumped about that.”

Moffitt’s win was largely overshadowed by a particularly gruesome post-race confrontation between Matt Crafton and Nick Sanchez. During the first overtime, Sanchez clipped Crafton to trigger a massive wreck that collected eight other trucks, relegating Crafton to twenty-fourth while Sanchez still finished seventh.

According to Sanchez, Crafton sneaked up on him from behind in the garage area before delivering a sucker punch to the head. Sanchez hit the pavement which caused blood to pour down his face. As fellow driver Cory Roper arrived to pull him back, Sanchez yelled at Crafton, “I’m going to fucking kill you in Homestead! You fucked with the wrong guy, motherfucker!”

Crafton called back that “I’ll whip your ass. I got you at Homestead, bitch!”

Sanchez suggested he might have had his nose broken in the scuffle.

Greg Van Alst and Stewart Friesen also needed medical attention after being caught up in wrecks, resulting in hospitalisation. As of this article’s publication, Friesen was discharged on Saturday evening.

Race results

Finish
Start
Number
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Laps
Status
1
31
34
Brett Moffitt*
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
99
Running
2
8
99
Ben Rhodes
ThorSport Racing
Ford
99
Running
3
4
5
Dean Thompson
TRICON Garage
Toyota
99
Running
4
28
25
Chandler Smith*
Rackley WAR
Chevrolet
99
Running
5
9
11
Corey Heim
TRICON Garage
Toyota
99
Running
6
29
43
Daniel Dye
GMS Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
7
2
2
Nick Sanchez
Rev Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
8
23
13
Hailie Deegan
ThorSport Racing
Ford
99
Running
9
13
75
Parker Kligerman*
Henderson Motorsports
Chevrolet
99
Running
10
21
45
Lawless Alan
Niece Motorsports
Chevrolet
99
Running
11
7
42
Carson Hocevar
Niece Motorsports
Chevrolet
99
Running
12
14
24
Rajah Caruth
GMS Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
13
25
23
Grant Enfinger
GMS Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
14
6
51
Jack Wood
Kyle Busch Motorsports
Chevrolet
99
Running
15
32
02
Garrett Smithley*
Young’s Motorsports
Chevrolet
99
Running
16
15
32
Bret Holmes
Bret Holmes Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
17
33
30
Ryan Vargas
On Point Motorsports
Toyota
99
Running
18
24
17
Taylor Gray
TRICON Garage
Toyota
99
Running
19
16
19
Christian Eckes
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
Chevrolet
99
Running
20
10
61
Jake Drew
Hattori Racing Enterprises
Toyota
98
Running
21
5
98
Ty Majeski
ThorSport Racing
Ford
93
Accident
22
35
04
Cory Roper
Roper Racing
Ford
93
DVP
23
17
9
Colby Howard
CR7 Motorsports
Chevrolet
92
Accident
24
12
88
Matt Crafton
ThorSport Racing
Ford
91
Accident
25
19
15
Tanner Gray
TRICON Garage
Toyota
91
Accident
26
26
20
Greg Van Alst
Young’s Motorsports
Chevrolet
91
Accident
27
36
22
Jason White
AM Racing
Ford
88
Running
28
1
4
Chase Purdy
Kyle Busch Motorsports
Chevrolet
84
Accident
29
3
35
Jake Garcia
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
Chevrolet
79
Running
30
34
56
Tyler Hill
Hill Motorsports
Toyota
59
Accident
31
27
41
Bayley Currey
Niece Motorsports
Chevrolet
58
Accident
32
18
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
55
Running
33
22
16
Tyler Ankrum
Hattori Racing Enterprises
Toyota
50
Accident
34
20
52
Stewart Friesen
Halmar Friesen Racing
Toyota
38
Accident
35
11
1
David Gilliland
TRICON Garage
Toyota
38
Accident
36
30
28
Bryan Dauzat
FDNY Racing
Chevrolet
5
Handling
DNQ
12
Spencer Boyd
Young’s Motorsports
Chevrolet
DNQ
10
Jennifer Jo Cobb
Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
Chevrolet
DNQ
33
Keith McGee
Reaume Brothers Racing
Ford
DNQ
95
Clay Greenfield
GK Racing
Chevrolet
Bold – Currently in playoffsItalics – Competing for Rookie of the Year* – Ineligible for points

References

^{^} newly opened #34 truck (www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk)
^{^} Chandler Smith (www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk)