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 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 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 |
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points