NEWTON, Iowa – Brett Moffit scored another high-drama win in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career Saturday night at Iowa Speedway. Using clear air to his advantage, the Grimes, Iowa native kept the persistent duo of Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton at bay during the final 10 laps of the M&M’s 200 to earn his second Truck Series race of the season.
Moffitt kept the lead following the end of Stage 2 when he stayed out and never relinquished.
While the finish came on home turf for Moffit, uncertainty still clouds the Hattori Racing Enterprises team. Without funding for the upcoming Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks, the Scott Zipadelli-led team is unsure if they will make the trek to the Windy City.
Zipadelli and team owner Shigeaki Hattori though aren’t prepared to go down without a fight.
“This is just such a great group of guys,” Moffitt said. “Everybody’s so passionate. We work really hard. We’re not the biggest team but we proved tonight that we’re the best. I think we can have some more wins this season and go to Victory Lane a few more times — and more importantly, compete for a championship.”
Behind Moffit, there were several teams and drivers that fought their way into the headlines in the ninth race of the season:
Noah Gragson, the sophomore driver for Kyle Busch Motorsports continues to drive like a seasoned veteran delivering his eighth top-five of the year and tried to steal the victory from Moffitt with a daring video-game style pass on the last lap in Turn 4.
While the move proved to be unsuccessful and even backfired with some contact with the frontstretch wall, Gragson earned praises from fans and the industry alike with his resilient effort.
“So much fun racing on this track. I drove in there; I knew I had him, so tried to do video game NASCAR Inside lineup video move with my buddies,” said Gragson after the checkered flag. “Just overshot a little bit; committed to the gas and hit the fence.”
Harrison Burton earned his career-best finish for Kyle Busch Motorsports on Saturday night after winning his first career pole earlier in the day at Iowa Speedway.
The night didn’t come without adversity though as Burton experienced throttle issues thanks to a problem with the CPU unit. After resetting his computer, Burton has to use the entire length of Stage 3 to climb his way back towards the top-five. Out of tires and out of laps, the son of NASCAR analyst Jeff Burton settled for the final podium spot.
“It could’ve been better obviously,” spoke Burton. “We had a great race truck and I made a mistake and didn’t know how to reset the car once it was turned off, the ECU — the computer. Trying to get used to it, trying to learn as much as I can. Just made a mistake and had a lot of fun racing out here. It was cool to run up on the top and on the bottom.
“What a race for the fans. It was awesome. Noah (Gragson) just drove it off in there and it reminded me of Carl Edwards back in the day a long time ago. That was cool. I was hoping they were going to get into it and I could sneak by, but it just wasn’t our day. Move on and get better and win the next one.”
Burton will sit idle in Truck Series competition for a while as he’s not scheduled to return to the tour until Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August, nearly two months from now.
David Gilliland wasn’t supposed to compete in Saturday night’s short track showdown at Iowa Speedway, but after co-owner Bo LeMastus become unavailable to compete, Gilliland was given the nod to drive in his third Truck Series race of the season and second for DGR-Crosley.
The result was much like the first at Dover International Speedway, finishing fourth after starting 12th in the No. 54 Crosley Toyota.
“It was a great night for us,” offered Gilliland. “Didn’t unload where we needed but were able to tune it in practice get it driving the way I needed. Bono (Kevin Manion, crew chief) made some great pit calls and made great adjustments during the race. Proud of our team and where it’s at.”
Gilliland’s son Todd Gilliland, however, experienced a rough night in Iowa. After qualifying fourth, Gilliland hit the wall twice and went behind the wall just past the halfway point leaving the 18-year-old with a frustrating 29th place finish.
“To start the race we were really fast. Just made a mistake there,” admitted Todd Gilliland. “I was really loose the whole first run and then just backed into the fence there. My fault, but I mean at this point there’s nothing you can do except learn about it and thank my team for the really fast JBL Toyota Tundra for today. I feel like we’ve been in contention the last two weeks.
“We had a really strong run last week at Texas and the summer stretch is really important. Can’t let it drag us down, just need to move on. My apologies to everyone on my team, but we’ll move on together.”
Johnny Sauter preached on Saturday morning during a media availability at Iowa Speedway that his No. 21 ISM Connect Chevrolet wasn’t cooperating. The four-time winner this season noted that despite his team’s best efforts they couldn’t get his truck to turn to his liking following practice.
While qualifying seventh just hours before the race, Sauter paced himself during the 200-lap feature and while never a factor for the win – the 2016 Truck Series champion held his own delivering his eighth top-five finish of the year.
This was a frustrating day to say the least,” Sauter said. “We just had no grip whatsoever, but our truck was fast, so if we had been able to figure out how to tighten it up, I think we would have been contending for the win. With that being said, there’s nothing bad about a top-five and this team is continuing to show our strength.”
Jesse Little continued to showcase the consistency in his No. 97 JJL Motorsports Ford that he’s shown in all four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races he competed in. While searching for the perfect balance in practice, his team led by crew chief Matt Noyce kept working on the truck throughout qualifying and the race to put Little in a position to earn his season-best.
He did so with flying colors, finishing sixth on Saturday night and recording his third top-10 in four races this year. Little with help from Rustic Rub Co. will return at Gateway (Ill.) Motorsports Park next weekend.
“What a battle,” explained Little in a tweet. “Everyone did their jobs. Stayed out of trouble. Pit stops were badass. Good adjustments by (crew chief) Matt Noyce. We will work hard at getting better so we don’t start so far behind. Proud of this team. Preparation for Gateway starts now. Thanks for all the support.”
Earning his fourth top-10 in the last five Truck Series races, Cody Coughlin continues to mount solid performances in the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet. After starting 14th for the second consecutive week, the former Late Model champion progressively worked his way through the field and found himself inside the top-10 when it mattered most.
Despite building some consistent finishes with GMS Racing, the Delaware, Ohio native is still eyeing his first top-five finish of the year. After nine races, Coughlin sits 11th in series points.
“Tonight was a good points race for us,” noted Coughlin. “We are really doing a good job getting top-10 finishes practically every week. Our next goal is to run consistently in the top-five and then eventually get the win. I can’t thank Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) and my entire GMS Racing team enough for all of their hard work and perseverance.”
Christian Eckes fought for his life on Saturday night at Iowa Speedway. After spinning his No. 46 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra early in the M&M’s 200, the Toyota development driver kept his composure and battled back for a top-10 finish in his Truck Series debut. He’ll return to the seat next weekend at Gateway (Ill.) Motorsports Park.
Eckes scored his first career ARCA Racing Series win on a short track at Salem Speedway in April.
“It started out a little rough – not sure what happened on the backstretch there but we got in a wreck and had to fight back all day,” Eckes said. “Everybody on this 46 Mobil 1 team did a great job today getting me where I needed to be. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the finish that I really wanted at the end, but a top-10 finish in my debut is definitely a positive.”
Stewart Friesen produced another worthy performance in Saturday night’s Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway. Leading laps and winning Stage 2, Friesen appeared to be poised to contend for his first Truck Series win but settled for ninth after being collected in a Lap 136 accident after Matt Crafton blew a left-front tire after contact with Friesen two laps prior. The rebound was Friesen’s sixth top-10 of the 2018 season.
“This was Not the end result we wanted obviously,” he said. “But salvaged some points anyway. So cool to have the speed that we do with our Halmar Chevy right now so I’m excited to get to Gateway next week.”
Myatt Snider quietly rebounded from a disastrous crash at Texas Motor Speedway last Friday night to earn a 10th place finish. The effort was his third top-10 finish of the season and first top-10 since a seventh at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March.
Notable: After experiencing issues in final practice Saturday morning at Iowa Speedway, Justin Fontaine scored his best performance since a top-10 finish at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in March. The finish also puts his Niece Motorsports team back on track following two back-to-back finishes of 30th at Charlotte and Texas Motor Speedway respectively.
“I’m really proud of my Niece Motorsports team,” said Fontaine. “We had a setback in practice after I made a mistake and hit the wall. We never got discouraged though. We raced the race track and our truck was the best when it counted most.
“It felt really good to run in the top-10 for ProMATIC Automation and everyone who makes this possible and I’m looking forward to building on this finish next weekend at Gateway.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
