Brett Moffitt has a flair for the dramatic, and his third victory of 2018 at Chicagoland Speedway was a perfect example. After picking up sponsorship from Fr8Auctions and Northland Foundations Inc. midweek, Moffitt took the No. 16 HRE team to victory lane with a last-lap pass for the lead to secure his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) victory. Moffitt's triumph in Friday night's Overton's 225 is the third for HRE and the team's second win in the last three races.
Fr8Auctions’ last-minute partnership allowed Moffitt and the HRE team to compete at Chicagoland Speedway, and it immediately paid off as the No. 16 team tied its season-best qualifying run of sixth. Despite beginning the race with an extremely loose condition, Moffitt muscled his Toyota Tundra up the leaderboard and into the top five by lap 31. Moffitt held that position to the end of the stage and collected six points.
A pit stop for four tires, fuel and air pressure changes brought the No. 16 Fr8Auctions Tundra to life in Stage 2 as Moffitt quickly established himself as a contender inside the top five. On a lap 56 restart, Moffitt jumped to the runner-up position and began to stalk the race leader. Dirty air proved too much to overcome in Stage 2, but Moffitt still collected nine points in second position at the conclusion of lap 70. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli called for no adjustments on the following four-tire stop under the stage break and set Moffitt up for the lap 78 restart in fourth position.
The outside lane proved to be the preferred lane on most restarts, and Moffitt took advantage by immediately climbing back into second position on lap 78. The Grimes, Iowa native’s steady attack on the race leader paid off on lap 88, when Moffitt assumed the top spot and took control of the race. A tight condition relegated Moffitt back to second on lap 98, and he ran there until a caution on lap 121. Moffitt pitted for the final time under the caution period and was serviced with a flawless four-tire pit stop by the HRE team to vault him to the race lead for the lap 127 restart. Moffitt fell to second, but quickly challenged the No. 8 truck for the top spot in the waning laps. Moffitt took the white flag in second and made a dove to the bottom of the track in Turn 1 for the winning move as the No. 8 simultaneously ran out of fuel. Moffitt brought his No. 16 Fr8Auctions Tundra back to the checkered flag for his third victory of the season and fourth of his career.
