Moffitt Frustrated After Disappointing Bristol Race

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – A disappointing end to the UNOH 200 couldn’t keep Brett Moffitt down. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver is second in the Playoff Standings after the regular season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Moffit had another top-10 finish seemingly in the bag in the waning laps of the 200-lap race. However, the Hattori Racing Enterprises No. 16 Otics USA / Toyota Tsusho ducked onto pit road with under 20 laps to go. A flat right rear tire was the culprit, forcing Moffitt to the pits under green. The veteran driver lost two laps, dropping to 18^th in the running order by the time the checkered flag waved.

The entire race was uncharacteristic for the second-most dominant team in the series. After qualifying 14^th, Moffitt failed to break into the top-10 be the end of the first stage. However, he managed to move into third for the end of the second stage. Moffitt slipped back, outside of the top-five before eventually pitting for the flat right rear tire.

“It was certainly frustrating,” Moffitt explained. “From the time we unloaded the Tundra this morning, we just didn’t have the speed we needed. Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and the guys did a really good job in the race to make it drivable and raceable and we got some track position on strategy and we were able to hold it. I think we could’ve came away with a top-seven or a top-five finish and we had a loose right-rear wheel, so that was poor execution on our part.

“Unfortunately, we’ve done that too many times this year, but we’ll shape up and we’ll move on to the playoffs. Congrats to Johnny (Sauter). Obviously he’s been really strong this year. I was happy to tie him in wins and then he went and got another, so that kind of was a bummer, but we’ll move on to the playoffs and go to Canada and try to reset and have a good start.”

Moffitt’s four victories and 21 Playoff Points place him second in the Championship Points Standings after reseeding. He is 15-points behind the Regular Season Champion Johnny Sauter. Moffitt is just 16-points ahead of the cutoff, now held by Grant Enfinger.

Now Moffitt and his Hattori Racing Enterprises team will prepare for the only road course on the schedule at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The last time they competed on a road course, Moffitt and Hattori won in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at Watkins Glen International two weeks ago.