By Terrin Waack NASCAR.com November 7, 2020 at 12:11 AM
Brett Moffitt did not sugarcoat his words.
The driver of the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet finished 10th in Friday’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway – despite leading a race-high 78 of 156 laps. He even held the front spot with two laps to go in regulation, but then a caution flew to force the Lucas Oil 150 into overtime. His team opted to stay out front – as he put it – “like a sitting duck” on old tires, while many other trucks pitted to freshen up before the restart.
“Race strategy has been a downfall for us all year, for sure,” Moffitt said in a post-race Zoom availability. “We’ve thrown away multiple wins because of it. It’s frustrating to lose a championship because of it.”
Which he did.
Moffitt was a Championship 4 driver. He had the third-best finish of the group, therefore closing out his 2020 season third in the final standings. Sheldon Creed came away with the race win and championship title. Zane Smith placed second in both categories. Grant Enfinger wound up 13th in the race and fourth in the standings.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing next year, so that’s that,” Moffitt said. “This year’s been hell on and off the race track. I don’t know. It’s been a tough year in my personal life with everything that happened. Having a bad year on track certainly doesn’t help that at all.
“Honestly, I’m just glad it’s over with.”
This season marked Moffitt’s second with GMS Racing. He raced for Hattori Racing Enterprises in 2018, when he won six races and the championship in his full-time season in the series.
Moffitt made it to Victory Lane just once in 2020 – Kansas Speedway in the Round of 8 to solidify his spot in the Championship 4. He pointed his way into and through the playoffs otherwise.
In total, Moffitt had the one win, 10 top fives and 16 tops 10s this year. He averaged a 9.7 finish.
“I didn’t hear what Brett said,” GMS Racing team owner Maury Gallagher said. “Anybody in that position is going to be upset and angry. I’m sure in the heat of the battle, he didn’t mean anything because that team has performed all year. Brett arguable was the most consistent driver the entire year in many years.
“Brett is a good guy. We really have enjoyed having Brett around. I’ll go look at the film. If need be, we’ll chat it out.”
GMS Racing president Mike Beam later indicated the team hopes to finalize is 2021 driver lineup in the next two weeks.
As for his aforementioned personal life, Moffitt broke both his legs during a dirt-bike accident back in March. The injuries required his first-ever surgery, and he has admitted in the past the recovery was painful. He didn’t miss any races due to the fact NASCAR had paused all on-track activity at the time due to the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“If broken legs isn’t enough of a handicap,” Moffitt said live from pit road on FS1, “race strategy is I guess.”