Moffitt Looks to Advance at Talladega

Brett Moffitt, driver of the No. 16 Toyota Tundra, will make his Talladega Superspeedway debut in the Fr8Auctions 250 and looks to advance to the Round of Six in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. Friday’s practice sessions will be Moffitt’s first opportunity to turn laps on the 2.66-mile superspeedway, as he has never competed at the world’s biggest superspeedway. Talladega marks the first cutoff race of the 2018 Playoffs and provides Moffitt and the No. 16 team with an opportunity to continue their championship chase.
Just Advance … Four reservations in the Round of Six are still up for grabs at Talladega as the first round of the NCWTS Playoffs comes to a close. While a victory would automatically advance Moffitt into the next round, he holds the fifth position on the Playoff Grid and enters the weekend with an 18-point cushion over the seventh-place cut line, and a 28-point advantage over eighth. Moffitt can mathematically advance as high as third on the Playoff Grid without winning the race.
Season to Date … Moffitt is fifth in the Playoff standings and in aggregate points scored through 18 of the 23 scheduled races this season. Bonus points from Moffitt’s four wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway have him in a prime position to advance out of round 1 on Saturday afternoon. To go along with his four victories, Moffitt has collected nine top-five and nine top-10 finishes, as well as one stage win and has led 191 laps.
Superspeedway History … The first-round finale on Saturday afternoon will mark Moffitt’s third superspeedway start in his 32nd-career NCWTS races. He has two previous NCWTS superspeedway starts to his credit. Both came at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), one in 2017 when he led two laps for Red Horse Racing, while the other came in the season opener earlier this year.
Chassis Selection … HRE’s chassis No. 002 makes its second and final appearance of the season in ‘Dega. Moffitt drove this Toyota Tundra in the season opener at DIS where he was involved in a multi-truck accident. Since Speedweeks, the HRE team has rebuilt chassis No. 002 complete with a new body. This truck also ran both superspeedway races in 2017 with Ryan Truex behind the wheel.
Tune In …  When Moffitt and the rest of the NCWTS field is on track at Talladega, FOX Sports will be there to cover the action. Two practice sessions on Friday morning and qualifying on Friday afternoon will be carried live on FOX Sports 2, at 10:00 a.m. ET, 11:35 a.m. ET, and 5:30 p.m. ET, respectively. FOX network has the live coverage of the first cutoff race of the NCWTS Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET. Keep track of Moffitt and the No. 16 team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter and liking Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Brett Moffitt Quote:
On making his first start at Talladega:
“This is the last place on the schedule this year that I’ve never raced at, but it won’t be much of an adjustment. We got plenty of experience drafting at Daytona and I’m confident in our Tundra that we’ll have a strong piece in the race. The intensity will be ramped up with it being a cutoff race, and I’m sure things will start to get pretty wild towards the end of the stages on Saturday. Hopefully we can pick up a few stage points along the way and extend the little bit of a cushion that we have.”
On his strategy for Saturday afternoon:
“We have a little bit of a cushion coming in to the weekend, so we need to do everything we can to maintain that. Talladega is always a game of survival, and I think getting to those stages and grabbing some points is going to be important if you’re in position near the end of both stages. It would be nice to have some more insurance behind us, but hopefully we’re in a position in the first stage or two to get some points. Scott (Zipadelli) and the guys have given me great Toyota Tundras every week this year, and I’m sure we’ll have a great piece to compete with this weekend.”
HRE PR
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