MIAMI, Fla. – Less than a month before Daytona, Brett Moffitt wasn’t sure if he’d be racing at all. Now 10 months later, he finds himself on the verge of winning his first NASCAR national series championship.
The Grimes, Iowa native has not raced consistently in NASCAR since 2016 and things looked no different heading into the 2018 season.
Then, his former boss Shigeaki Hattori and crew chief Scott Zipadelli came calling.
Weeks before Daytona, Moffitt was asked to the wheel of the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises’ Toyota this year. Even though a full season in the Camping World Truck Series wasn’t promised past the opening three or four races, Moffitt’s performance helped keep the team on the race track.
Earning Hattori Racing Enterprises their first Truck Series victory in the second race of the season at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in March, Moffitt has claimed four more wins and 12 top-five finishes in 22 races.
In Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, Moffitt now joins Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Johnny Sauter with the opportunity to walk away a champion.
“A year ago, I honestly had no idea whether I’d have a job this year or not, and I was pretty damned close to moving back to Iowa and starting to build houses to be honest with you,” Moffitt said Tuesday.
“That’s just based off a financial decision where I was fortunate to make some money early in my career when I was Cup racing, and eventually that money runs out and you need a job. I wasn’t certain what the future would hold.
“To get paired up with (team owner) Shigeaki (Hattori) and the team he’s built throughout the last couple years and to take it to Victory Lane not once but five times and be competing for a championship this weekend, it is pretty surreal.”
Moffitt, 26, began his first full season in the Truck Series with a wreck in the season opener at Daytona but momentum quickly built and by the time the Playoffs started at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August, Moffitt began as the second-seed, just five points behind Sauter.
“Homestead is a track I’ve really liked in the past. I’ve got a couple Cup starts there,” Moffitt said. “I’ve never ran a truck there, though, so I’ll have a little bit of a learning curve when we get there.
“I think you’ve just got to relax and enjoy the moment we’re in right now, and everything we’ve done up to this point, but we’ve got to work our tails off and go try to win this race and win this championship.”
With his future clouded for now, Moffit hopes he won’t find himself in a similar position in the off-season as last year and team owner Hattori is working hard to make sure Moffit stays put.
Hattori recently said he’d like to expand his Mooresville, N.C. organization to two teams in 2019 – while keeping the No. 16 with Moffitt and Zipadelli intact – but sponsorship will determine if that becomes a reality.
“Yes, we’ve had a really good year. Obviously, we are fighting for championship,” said Hattori. “I’m still working on 2019 program, but we’ll see in the next couple of weeks, a month. I’m working on new sponsor right now.
“The best scenario for us is I’d like to two programs. Depends on all the sponsors. Yeah, full-time just depends on all the sponsors.
“Yeah, I’d like to do,” explained Hattori on Moffit returning in 2019. “It just takes sponsorship dollars. He’s a lot to them. Since I started my team in 2008, we won three races in K&N and five races in Trucks Series and it’s all Brett. All Brett. I think our combination is really successful and I like Brett. He likes our team too. I’d like to keep Brett. But again, it just depends on sponsorship.”
Hattori also said he would like to return to the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis with manufacturer Toyota unveiling its new Supra model in stock car competition. Hattori insists the mention of Supra brings the instant potential for funding from Japan.
“Yes, obviously the Supra is a huge over in Japan and a huge market over in Japan,” he added. “We cannot do full season for Supra in Xfinity, but I really want to do four or five races back in Xfinity. I’m really looking forward to see what we can do.”
The difference in the last 12 months, however, is a season of success and captivation which should put him back on the radar of many.
“We’ve had a hell of a year, and I think we’ve proven that even with a small team we can go to Victory Lane multiple times and compete with the biggest teams in the Truck Series,” he said. “That just speaks for how hard everyone at HRE works and how well we work together.
“I don’t know what the future will hold, but I’m just trying to do everything I can do – and that’s part of me putting the pressure on myself to go win a championship – is that at least I can say I did it.
“Not knowing what the future could hold, that would mean a lot to me.”
Hattori agreed.
“Now, we have nice people. I’m so happy. (The championship) it’s huge. It’s huge for me. It’s huge for AISIN and all of our sponsors and Toyota too.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
