Four wins. 10 top-fives. 10 top-10s.
Brett Moffitt’s 2018 Camping World Truck Series campaign has catapulted the 26-year-old driver into title discussions, and the confidence oozing from the No. 16 team after a second-place finish at Martinsville only makes Moffitt hungry for more.
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“It’s great for my career,” Moffitt said. “I’m a competitor. I’m not looking backwards, I’m looking forward. Unless we win the championship I’m going to consider this an incomplete season for myself and for our race team. We’re looking forward and hopefully good things come from it.”
Despite an uncertain future for Hattori Racing Enterprises during parts of the season, Moffitt has quietly positioned himself for a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He currently sits in third place in the playoff standings, 15 points above the cutline heading to Friday night’s JAG Metals 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).
However, it’s a position he believes he has earned through his on-track performances.
“We’ve been arguably the second-best truck all year,” he said. “So I wouldn’t say we’re a dark horse at all.”
The Iowa native isn’t the only “surprise” driver to emerge in the Camping World Truck Series this season. GMS Racing’s Justin Haley and ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger are two Round of 6 drivers who are getting recognition from their competitors, too.
MORE: Full Truck Series standings | Entire Texas schedule
“I think there’s been a lot of teams stepping it up this year, or toward the end of the year,” Moffitt said. “Justin (Haley) is one of them. They got off to a rocky start and then started performing well. I think the No. 98 (Enfinger) is doing the same thing.”
Haley, a 19-year-old driver from Indiana, already has two victories in 2018, but is currently two points below the cutline. Looking ahead to Friday’s race in the Lone Star State, he has the opportunity to close that gap based on his experience — and he knows he has to take advantage.
“I don’t know what’s clicked at Texas,” Haley said. “It is my best track. … Texas has been good. We’ve never finished outside the top six there in the starts we’ve got. We’ve been rebuilding our mile-and-a-half truck, it’s been since Vegas since we’ve ran it. We’re really excited to go to Texas. It’s been our best track, we finished third there in the spring. Obviously, now that Johnny (Sauter) has a win we can focus a little more toward the No. 24 truck, I hope. Getting us to the Round of 4.”