In a race that left Nick Sanchez bloody, Stewart Friesen and Greg Van Alst being transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, it was Brett Moffitt who was making his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start in over a year and after nearly missing out on making the race on Saturday at the Talladega Superspeedway, as he parked his No. 34 Ford in victory lane.
Moffitt entering Turn 1 on the final lap in third but made a darting move to the top of the banking with a run at the point. Leader Christian Eckes made a bold move to go from the low lane to the high lane to block Moffitt’s run but with drafting help from Parker Kligerman, Moffitt made slight contact with Eckes’ rear bumper but maneuvered below him off Turn 2 exit and was pushed to the top spot.
Chandler Smith was a lame duck and had to hop in line behind both Moffitt and Kligerman. Smith and Kligerman tried to make a move at the win in the home stretch but Moffitt’s Front Row Motorsports was just too strong as he nets his 14th career win on a sun filled Alabama afternoon.
Ben Rhodes was runner-up in his No. 99 Ford missing out on the win by just .089-seconds. Dean Thompson, Smith and Corey Heim rounded out the top five in an overtime finish.
Matt Crafton took issue with a late incident when he and Sanchez made contact sending Crafton into a crash. Crafton parked his truck in Sanchez’ pit and by accounts on the ground, sucker punched Sanchez after the race was over.
Moffitt Makes Nice Audition
Brett Moffitt won the 2018 championship for Hattori Racing Enterprises. He switched team a year later running for GMS Racing. He marched all the way back to the Championship 4 coming home third in the end. He did so again in 2020.
A fourth straight season in Trucks made no sense so he moved up to the Xfinity Series with Our Motorsports. After a frustrating year in-a-half with them, he moved to full-time with AM Racing in 2023.
FRM though wanted an extra truck at their disposal to help Zane Smith on Saturday so they sought out Moffitt to make a return to the Truck Series. On a day that saw Smith make a costly error coming to pit road, Moffitt picked up the slack and won the race keeping the other six playoff drivers going for a win to automatically advance to the Championship 4 out of a clinching scenario.
While it wasn’t the help that they envisioned Moffitt could provide, it was indirectly just what they needed with having him win.
With Smith moving on to Spire in the Cup Series with an alliance with Trackhouse Racing in 2024, is this a destination for Moffitt to land?
His win on Saturday was his 6th playoff win, most ever.
Smith Facing Elimination
Zane Smith spun entering his pit stall early on in Saturday’s race and took out a crew member on the way. Luckily, the crew member was okay. Unfortunately, his No. 38 Ford wasn’t. A damage right rear and clutch problems took them behind the wall. He’d remain there for much of the race before coming back to the track with 15 to go. He’d finish a disappointing 32nd leaving him in a must-win situation in a couple of weeks at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Smith entered the day -14 in points but leaves -36.
Smith has never been great here though either. In three previous Truck starts he’s finished 33rd, 33rd, 17th.
It’s not like he’s not been in this situation before heading to the Round of 8 cutoff race either. Just two seasons ago, his future was looking bleak but he scored a career saving win at Martinsville to push him to the Final Four. Without the win, he was out.
Now, two years later, he’s back in the same situation. Granted, he knows what his future now holds as he’ll move up to a Cup seat, but if he wants to make a fourth straight trip to the Championship 4, he’s going to have to win.
He finished runner-up on the 1.5-mile South Florida track a year ago.
The only problem now is, they have no momentum. He’s finished 12th or worse in 3 of the last 4 races with Round of 8 results being 24th at Bristol and 32nd in Talladega.
He hasn’t won in 18 races either with his last victory coming in late March at COTA. At that time, it was his 2nd win in the first 4 races of the season as he also won the season opener at Daytona too.
Rhodes, Majeski Also Facing Elimination
Despite a runner-up on Saturday, Ben Rhodes is also on the brink of elimination. He’s much closer to point his way in though than Smith as he’s only -5 heading to Homestead.
The lack of playoff points has Rhodes where he is because he was also 7th in Bristol too. He was 6th a year ago in Homestead.
He now has three top four finishes in his last four Talladega tries (4th, 13th, 2nd, 2nd). This was just his 3rd top 5 finish int he last 18 races.
For Ty Majeski, who would have thought he’d be in this position? Coming into the second playoff race, Majeski was dominating. Then, they got hit with a massive penalty for an issue with their valve stems and his advantage was gone.
Since that moment, Majeski has finished 7th, 18th, 19th, 21st. He’s -19 coming to Homestead, a place he did win at a year ago. It was his 2nd win in the three race third round.
3 of the 4 drivers that made the Championship 4 a year ago are each below the cutline. However, they went 1-2-6 in this very race last season in Homestead too so the championship hopes also aren’t over either.
Stage Points Put Sanchez On Positive Side Of Cut Line
Nick Sanchez had drama after the race but on track, he scored 19 stage points on Saturday. He was penalized late for a restart violation for laying back too long. He rebound to finish 7th and goes from -22 to +3 heading to Homestead.
That’s a 25 point gain with him now having a Championship 4 berth in his hands. At least 2 cars will make the final four on points. Can he do so?
Stage points have kept him afloat. He has 60 of them in the last four races (13 in Milwaukee, 19 at Kansas, 8 in Bristol, 19 at Talladega).
Another Heartbreaking Ending For Eckes
Christian Eckes was dominant in the UNOH 200 at the Bristol (Tenn) Motor Speedway, sitting on the pole, sweeping both stages, and leading a race-high 150 of 200 laps. But, with five laps to go, it was the Regular Season Champion in Corey Heim who made a late-race pass on Eckes to take the checkered flag.
Eckes would finish 2nd.
On Saturday, Eckes went from the front to the back to the front to the back to the front again multiple times. In overtime, he was in the lead. He led the white flag lap. But, without drafting help and an overzealous move to block Moffitt’s run, he was shuffled out of the pack and fell to the last car on the lead lap in 19th.
It cost him 18 points as he would have been +27. Instead, he’s +9. He was 7th in Homestead last year and takes with him to Miami finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 19th in the playoffs. A win was in his grasps for two straight races now. Can he finally pick one up in two weeks?
Top Stat
All 8 Playoff races at Talladega have been won by non-Playoff drivers.
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