By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Starting 17th, Brett Moffitt was the lowest of the six Camping World Truck Series playoff drivers entering Saturday’s Texas Roadhouse 200 from Martinsville Speedway.
However, with one of the quickest trucks of 2018, Moffitt wheeled his No. 16 Hattori Enterprises Toyota to second following a late pass on Myatt Snider. The result, a comeback result from mid-pack, was Moffitt’s 10th top-five finish of 2018… half of the 20-race season thus far.
That’s the good news.
One position ahead of Moffitt at Martinsville was Johnny Sauter, who won the race and his way into the Championship 4 at Homestead in three weeks. His win took Moffitt out of Victory Lane and a confirmed spot in Homestead.
Moffitt, however, felt he didn’t have a shot at catching and beating Sauter.
“Johnny was probably going to make it to Homestead no matter what,” Moffitt said. “To finish second was great. I wish we could have beat him but the time we got to second he was too far gone. There was no catching him.”
With no yellow to give Moffitt one more shot, he felt the win was all Sauter’s even given one more restart in the final laps.
“It was his race at that point,” he said. “Once I committed to passing the No. 13 [Snider], it’s a mental battle. You want to pass the No. 13 for second but if a restart comes out, you want to be third. So, it’s a tough battle.”
Still, after scoring only two stage points in the day, Moffitt found the positives, leaving Martinsville 15 points above the cutoff zone.
“I don’t want to say completely disappointed, but with Johnny winning, that’s a spot,” he said. “It’s good to be second, I just wish we could have gotten more stage points to add a little security.
“I’m proud of everyone going from 17th to second today.”