Trackin’ Trucks: Brett Moffitt Wins at Chicagoland

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

by Courtney Horn

Brett Moffitt earned his third victory of the season Friday night during the Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Moffitt was running second on the last lap when the No. 8 of John Hunter Nemechek unexpectedly began to slow down in Turn 1.

Moffitt flew by Nemechek to take the lead for the fifth and final time of the night.

“This is great,” Moffitt said “We didn’t know if we were coming. To be here in Victory Lane, it’s an honor and a blessing.”

“These guys work hard. I feel like we threw away a couple of wins this season. I hate it for the No. 8 (Nemechek), whatever happened to him. But we’ll take it however we can get it right now.”

What was first reported as a blown engine for the Nemco Motorsports driver turned into a fueling issue for the young star. Nemechek ran out of gas and 17.355 seconds later, he finished seventh.

“We just don’t have luck on our side right now,” Nemechek said. “Overall, it’s a good showing. They knew we were here. We don’t know at what point we’ll be back with the trucks. It’s frustrating and disappointing, but we’ll move on from it.

Ben Rhodes finished second for his first top five since finishing fifth at Charlotte, while Johnny Sauter, Noah Gragson, and Brandon Jones came in third through fifth.

Myatt Snider rebounded to finish in the 10th position after being penalized for a restart violation late in the race.

A Look Ahead

The Camping World Truck Series has the next week and a half off before heading to Kentucky Speedway for the first of two straight mid-week events.

Johnny Sauter has held the top spot all season. He leads by 65 points over Gragson and 85 over Moffitt.

Stewart Friesen gained one position in the points standings despite being involved in two wrecks at Chicagoland. He finished 19th after making contact with Dalton Sargeant on Lap 60 and Jordan Anderson on Lap 121.

Rhodes sits right on the cutoff spot with five races to go before the Playoffs begin. Can he carry the momentum he gained into Kentucky?

Rookie Sargeant sits 11th in the points and has some work to do in order to make the playoffs in just five races. He is 79 points behind Rhodes.

How will Friesen and Sargeant fair at Kentucky? Friesen’s only CTWS start at Kentucky resulted in a 12th place finish in 2017. Sargeant has two ARCA starts at the 1.5-mile track with a best finish of second in 2016.

Don’t miss the action on Thursday, July 12th at 7:30 p.m ET on FS1.