For 99 laps Brett Moffitt trailed the leaders, looking for an opening to get to the front. Then, on the 100th lap, that opening finally came.
Moffitt used a bold three-wide move on the outside line to pass teammate Timothy Peters and William Byron and win the Careers for Veterans 200, his first-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Moffitt led only the final lap in the win.
The key to the move?
“Hold it wide open and go where they aren’t,” Moffitt said.
Moffitt has found resurgence over the last two months while filling in for Matt Tifft, who’s been out recovering from the removal of a benign brain tumor. After a disappointing 31st-place run at Kentucky Speedway, the Iowa native rallied off finishes of third and second at Pocono Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway to carry momentum into Michigan, where he finally capitalized for his first victory in a major NASCAR national series.
“I needed this,” Moffitt said. “I had no races on my schedule this year and to get picked up by Tom DeLoach and everyone at Red Horse Racing is amazing and our partners at Toyota have been really good at backing us and giving us the technology we need. This is everything I needed to have happen and it couldn’t happen at a better finish streak there – three-two-one. This is amazing.”
Looking for a victory and an automatic Chase berth, Peters crossed the line just .098 seconds behind his Red Horse Racing teammate to give the organization its best run of 2016. Daniel Hemric followed in third, with Byron and Cameron Hayley completing the top five. Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Johnny Sauter and Tyler Young rounded out the top 10.
Saturday’s race started over two hours behind schedule after heavy rains that required usage of NASCAR’s Air Titans to get the two-mile oval dry. When it finally went green, the Truck Series thrilled the Michigan fans with two and three-wide racing throughout the field.
Despite the hectic racing, the event went-caution free for the first 20 minutes, forcing a yellow for the Caution Clock. From that point on, however, the race became one of attrition.
The caution flew six times over the race’s final 60 laps and multiple contenders throughout the field suffered crashes. Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Spencer Gallagher and Cole Custer were all eliminated in late-race accidents, prompting cautions that set the field up for a spirited sprint to the finish.
In the end, that sprint went to Moffitt, who converted his first-career lap led into an incredible victory.
The Camping World Truck Series field will return to action on Sept. 4, when the field heads to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
About the author
A graduate of Ball State, Aaron rejoins Frontstretch for his second season in 2016 following a successful year that included covering seven races and starting the popular "Two-Headed Monster" column in 2015. Now in his third year of covering motorsports, Aaron serves as an Assistant Editor for Frontstretch while also contributing to other popular sites including Speed51 and The Apex. He encourages you to come say hi when you see him at the track.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.