It was an easy and clean win for defending series champion Brett Moffitt who won at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and dominated much of the race after starting on the pole.
“Anytime you have a comfortable lead, it’s all about praying for no cautions and then no mistakes on our behalf,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “We got a new sponsor, CMR, on the truck this weekend; we were able to pull this Chevy Silverado into victory lane. It was all about execution. It’s really cool when you can make a plan at the beginning of the week. Try to win Stage 1 at that point and try to win the race for five points, executed as a team and had a fast Silverado.”
“That’s all thanks to the people at GMS. We unloaded fast and tuned on it, and got better. Just everyone on this team today, we executed fully and that’s all I can ask. I’m very confident in our race team right now.”
Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team started on the pole after qualifying early Sunday morning. The stages were broken into 20/20/24 laps to make up the 64-lap race distance.
To note, Stewart Friesen wrecked in practice which forced him to go to a backup. Jordan Anderson crashed in practice as well. Sheldon Creed also crashed as well in practice, forcing him to a back up. Gary Klutt of Niece Motorsports also started in the back.
Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20
A few minor incidents happened during the first stage with no yellows. The No. 54 of Raphael Lessard went off track but he saved the truck from major damage. The No. 56 of Bobby Reuse also spun on the front stretch. Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team had a left front tire go down and made contact with the tire barrier and Gilliland received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire during the pit stop.
The No. 34 of Jason White spun around on the final lap in Stage 1 after contact with Tyler Ankrum. Teammates Johnny Sauter and Grant Enfinger made contact with each other, as Sauter accidentally spun Enfinger around in Turn 10. Despite the incidents that took place, there would be no yellows flown.
Moffitt went on to win Stage 1. Ross Chastain, Austin Hill, Ankrum, Matt Crafton, Sauter, Friesen, Austin Wayne Self, D.J. Kennington and Dylan Lupton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.
During the stage break, the race leaders made their way to pit road for their scheduled pit stops. Crafton was penalized after his pit stop for running over his air hose, which sent him to the back for the Stage 2 restart.
Stage 2: Lap 24 – Lap 40
The restart order for Stage 2 saw drivers Ben Rhodes, Alex Tagliani, Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed and Gilliland make up the top five.
The first caution other than the stage break came out on Lap 31. It was for the No. 33 of Dan Corcoran hitting the wall. Under the caution, Rhodes, Moffitt and the top front runners all made their pit stops.
Chastain would stay out and assume the lead with seven to go in Stage 2. By staying out, the Niece Motorsports driver went on to win the second stage. Hill, Ankrum, Gilliland, Enfinger, Sauter, Crafton, Gus Dean, Lupton and Rhodes were the top-10 finishers in Stage 2.
Stage 3: Lap 44 – Lap 64
With Chastain, among others, pitting under the stage break, Moffitt cycled out as the leader for the third and final stage.
For the most part, there were no major incidents. Lupton went spinning off the restart. A long green flag occurred until the finish. Gilliland brought his truck down pit road and the hood was up with 12 to go but he was able to finish the race. The action started to heat up in the back with Burton and Friesen slightly going off track with four to go. One lap later, it was Ankrum and Chastain in an aggressive battle. With two to go, Burton’s engine expired and he went out of the race. D.J. Kennington also went around on the last lap in the last turn after contact with Wayne Self.
With the incidents taking place behind race leader Moffitt, he had a sizable lead over Tagliani who was in second. Despite what we’ve seen in previous years at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, there was no major drama on the last lap and Moffitt went on to win his second playoff race of the season.
During the burnouts, the GMS driver ran out of fuel but it didn’t matter at that point for Moffitt as he was excited to win for the first time on a road course.
“It was close, I took a right-hand corner in the last two laps and started dropping in fuel pressure,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “So, I was extremely worried and once we got to the backstretch on the last lap, I knew we would have enough momentum to get to the finish line. It was a little stressful on my behalf, but it is what it is and we made it, ran out of fuel doing donuts. So that’s all good.”
Moffitt led twice for 44 of 64 laps and earned his fourth win of the 2019 season.
There were three cautions for nine laps and seven lead changes among six leaders.
Up Next: The Truck Series takes two weeks off before returning on-track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night, September 13th, to conclude the Round of 8.
Playoff Standings with one race to go in Round of 8:
- Brett Moffitt, Two wins
- Ross Chastain, +28
- Stewart Friesen, +6
- Matt Crafton, +5
- Austin Hill, +5
- Grant Enfinger, +2
Below the cut line - Johnny Sauter, -2
- Tyler Ankrum, -14
Official Results
- Brett Moffitt, led 44 laps, won Stage 1
- Alex Tagliani
- Ben Rhodes, led nine laps
- Sheldon Creed
- Austin Hill, led one lap
- Johnny Sauter
- Stewart Friesen, led one lap
- Ross Chastain, led nine laps, won Stage 2
- Tyler Ankrum
- Raphel Lessard
- Matt Crafton
- Gary Klutt
- Grant Enfinger
- Austin Wayne Self
- D.J. Kennington
- Jordan Anderson
- Gus Dean
- Todd Gilliland
- Dylan Lupton, One lap down
- Jason White, One lap down
- Harrison Burton, OUT, Engine
- Bobby Reuse, Two laps down
- Jennifer Jo Cobb, Four laps down
- Norm Benning, Four laps down
- Roger Reuse, Six laps down
- Josh Reaume, OUT, Suspension
- Dan Corcoran, OUT, Crash
- Greg Rayl, OUT, Transmission
- Ray Ciccarelli, OUT, Engine
