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Brett Moffitt drove the No. 16 Toyota Tundra to victory in Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Moffitt pulled away from defending series champion (and last weekend’s race winner at Daytona) Johnny Sauter on a late restart to get the win in overtime.

“That’s a hell of a way to start the year right there,” Moffitt said.

It was Moffitt’s second career win in the Series. It was the first victory in the series for his team, Hattori Racing.

“It’s just so emotional – everybody, Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and all the team members did a good job,” Shige Hattori said. “Brett, he did our first K&N win and now our first truck win. I’m just so happy.”

Final pit stops proved pivotal in the race.

Kyle Busch had a dominant truck, but an apparent miscommunication on a late pit stop led to Busch leaving his stall before the left-rear tire was securely fastened and the tire falling off. Busch returned to his stall and got a new left-rear tire, but the mistake took him out of contention for the win.

“This is unbelievable to even be in a race car at this point let alone in victory lane,” Moffitt said. “We had a really good truck all night and Kyle (Busch) spun his tires earlier and that put us back, but I knew the 13 (Myatt Snider) was a sitting duck (on the final restart) and I just wanted to get a good restart. Hopefully they got into a battle behind us and they did – it’s pretty surreal.”

Busch finished 21st, a lap down, after backing into his stall to correct the miscue.

Sauter, who won the season opener last week at Daytona, was disappointed with his third-place finish but didn’t think he could have done anything differently on the restart, which found him on the outside of the three-wide charge into the corner.

“I just feel like I’m going to beat myself up on this,” Sauter said. “But sitting here watching the replay, I don’t feel like I could have done anything different. When you have a shot to win, you’ve got to capitalize on it, and I didn’t do that.”

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Active Pest Control 200 benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

Saturday, February 24, 2018

1. (10) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 134.
2. (3) Noah Gragson, Toyota, 134.
3. (9) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 134.
4. (14) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 134.
5. (2) Matt Crafton, Ford, 134.
6. (7) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 134.
7. (19) Myatt Snider #, Ford, 134.
8. (12) Jesse Little, Ford, 134.
9. (16) Grant Enfinger, Ford, 134.
10. (13) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 134.
11. (17) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 134.
12. (11) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 134.
13. (4) Spencer Davis, Toyota, 134.
14. (6) Dalton Sargeant #, Chevrolet, 134.
15. (20) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 134.
16. (21) Korbin Forrister, Toyota, 134.
17. (15) Bo LeMastus #, Toyota, 134.
18. (18) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 133.
19. (22) Justin Fontaine #, Chevrolet, 133.
20. (8) Cody Coughlin, Chevrolet, 133.
21. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 133.
22. (5) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 132.
23. (29) Wendell Chavous, Chevrolet, 131.
24. (25) Jordan Anderson, Toyota, 129.
25. (27) Robby Lyons, Chevrolet, 128.
26. (30) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 120.
27. (24) Josh Reaume, Chevrolet, Accident, 119.
28. (31) Clay Greenfield, Chevrolet, Too Slow, 116.
29. (28) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Vibration, 108.
30. (23) Akinori Ogata, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
31. (26) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 7.
32. (32) Scott Stenzel, Chevrolet, Electrical, 0.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.816 mph.

Time of Race:  01 Hrs, 40 Mins, 00 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.326 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 24 laps.

Lead Changes:  9 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Busch(i) 0; N. Gragson 1-43; M. Crafton 44-50; J. Sauter 51-52; K. Busch(i) 53-83; J. Sauter 84-92; K. Busch(i) 93-128; M. Snider # 129-131; J. Sauter 132; B. Moffitt 133-134.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 2 times for 67 laps; N. Gragson 1 time for 43 laps; J. Sauter 3 times for 12 laps; M. Crafton 1 time for 7 laps; M. Snider # 1 time for 3 laps; B. Moffitt 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,88,4,16,97,41,21,98,52,51

Stage #2 Top Ten: 4,21,16,88,18,98,51,97,75,25

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