Moffitt Declared Winner of Iowa Truck Race When Chastain is Disqualified

NEWtON, IA – RIS – Brett Moffitt was declared the winner of the M&M’s 200 Gander Outdoors NASCAR Truck Series after on-track winner Ross Chastain’s truck was disqualified for a failure in post-race inspection.

I was already changed in the motor home, drinking some beers and headed to the airport and mad as hell,” Moffitt said. “I didn’t know. The team called me and said, ‘Head back this way.’”

What already had been a bizarre race became an unusual finish, with a result being overturned at the track for the first time since Dale Jarrett had a win stripped in the Xfinity Series in 1995.

NASCAR this year instituted at-the-track post-race inspections, as opposed to the previous procedure to take the winning car to Concord, North Carolina, for a mid-week examination at its research and development center.

It had to be a stunning development for Chastain, too — an affable driver who had already smashed a watermelon in victory lane and conducted lengthy, joyful victory interviews. This was seemingly his triumphant moment after recently declaring he would make a long-shot run for a trucks championship.

He had seemingly gotten the win he needed after starting in 19th Sunday. Chastain was 35-to-1 to win the race, according to early betting odds.

“There weren’t a lot of lead changes. I’m glad I stunk up the show,” Chastain joked after leading 141 of 200 laps. “I’m good with it.”

Instead, the local guy who didn't officially lead a lap (belatedly) took the checkered flag.

“It’s great, but I want to win on the racetrack,” said Moffitt, who is from Grimes — about 45 miles west of this 7/8-mile, Rusty Wallace-designed racetrack. “We had 100-some people here, and I missed out taking them to victory lane. Obviously, that’s frustrating. But you know, to be a back-to-back winner at Iowa Speedway is great for me and great for our team.

“We’ll take it how we can get it.”

It was quite the contrast of emotions for Moffitt, who earlier was angry about his second-place run in his No. 24 Chevy. He was especially upset that Chastain was the driver who'd beaten him to the line. The two were within 0.3 seconds of each other for long stretches midway through Sunday's final stage, but Moffitt couldn't make the pass.

“He put me in the fence last week,” Moffitt said, “and he races like that every week.

“I don’t like that guy. He races like an … interesting person sometimes. So, I hate losing to him, and I hate losing here.

"I could have wrecked him. I just decided not to."

.Niece Motorsports said in a statement that it would appeal NASCAR’s ruling.

Pole-sitter Chandler Smith lost his radio as soon as the green flag dropped at 11:10 a.m. local time. He led the first 55 laps, but never could recover after his team took extra time on a pit stop to fix the problem.

Later, there were on-track fireworks as Johnny Sauter rammed his No. 13 Ford into Austin Hill’s No. 16 Toyota under caution, an extreme measure of retaliation that got Sauter parked for the day. Sauter, a past series champion, could face further discipline.

“I don’t know how old he is, but he doesn’t act his age (41),” said Hill, who rallied to finish 13th. “I can tell you that.”

But well after the watermelon was cleaned up from victory lane and the dust settled, Moffitt was your winner. The Johnston High School graduate cranked up his Truck Series championship run with a win here last June. And now, in a strange way, he’s done it again.

With the victory (assuming it stands), Moffitt would be locked into the eight-driver race for the series title. He also picked up a $50,000 bonus for his GMS Motorsports team as part of the series Triple Truck Challenge program.

“I went from drinking my sorrows away,” Moffitt said, “to being happy.”

Unofficial Race Results: 11th Annual M&Ms' 200 presented by Casey's General Store - June 16, 2019, Iowa Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 6, Brett Moffitt, No. 24 Destiny Homes Smart Series Chevrolet, 200, 6, 2, , , 5, 54, Running
2) 7, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Carolina Nut Ford, 200, 4, 1, , , 1, 52, Running
3) 10, Harrison Burton #, No. 18 Morton Buildings Toyota, 200, 8, 5, , , , 43, Running
4) 2, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 ProtectTheHarvest.com Ford, 200, 2, 3, , , , 50, Running
5) 3, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Chevrolet, 200, 10, 6, , , , 38, Running
6) 12, Sheldon Creed #, No. 2 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 200, 5, 9, , , , 39, Running
7) 4, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Menards/Conagra Ford, 200, 1, 7, 1, 3, 1, 44, Running
8) 1, Chandler Smith, No. 51 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 200, , 4, 1, 55, , 36, Running
9) 13, Raphael Lessard, No. 17 ReseauDynamique.com/FRLExpress Toyota, 200, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 11, Todd Gilliland, No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Toyota, 200, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 15, Brennan Poole, No. 30 Bad Boy Mowers Toyota, 200, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 9, Austin Hill, No. 16 ARCO National Construction Toyota, 200, 7, 8, , , , 32, Running
13) 5, Kyle Benjamin, No. 45 Kanga Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 16, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GOTEXAN/ICEBOX HelmetCoolers Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 26, Riley Herbst, No. 46 Monster Energy/Advance Auto Parts Toyota, 199, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 18, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 TRQ Auto Parts Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 23, Natalie Decker #, No. 54 N29 Technologies LLC Toyota, 198, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 17, Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 14, Tyler Dippel #, No. 02 Jersry Filmmaker Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 22, Gus Dean #, No. 12 OverkillRV.com Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 24, Mason Massey, No. 34 Hicklin Garage Doors Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 25, Jesse Little, No. 97 Skuttle Tight Ford, 194, 9, , , , , 17, Running
23) 21, CJ McLaughlin, No. 33 Sci Aps Chevrolet, 189, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 29, Norm Benning, No. 6 H & H Transport Chevrolet, 186, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 32, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 0 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 183, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Tyler Hill, No. 56 Southern Freight Services Chevrolet, 179, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 8, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Tenda Products Ford, 137, 3, 10, 1, 1, , 19, Parked
28) 27, Chad Finley, No. 42 AutoValue/Strutmasters/XLTEngineering , 68, , , , , , 9, Rear End
29) 20, Trey Hutchens III, No. 8 Chevrolet, 61, , , , , , 8, Brakes
30) 28, Juan Ma Gonzalez, No. 10 Illux Chevrolet, 40, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 31, Tyler Ankrum, No. 87 Nemco Chevrolet, 17, , , , , , 6, Brakes

32) 19, Ross Chastain, No. 44 TruNorth/Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet, 200, , , 1, 141, , 5, Running
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 40 Mins, 18 Secs.
Total Race Length: 200 Laps - 175. Miles
0.875 - Mile Paved
Average Speed: 104.686 MPH
Margin of Victory: 5.596 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 88, 98, 13, 99, 2, 24, 16, 18, 97, 52
Stage 2 Top 10: 99, 24, 98, 51, 18, 52, 88, 16, 2, 13

Race Comments: Brett Moffitt won the 11th Annual M&M's 200 Presented by Casey's General Store at Iowa Speedway, his 8th NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 56 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 4 for 25 laps; Laps: 53-58 (No.10 Incident Turn 4 [46]); 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [54]); 122-129 (Stage 2 Conclusion [22]); 139-144 (No.13, 16 Incident Turn 4 [46]).

Lead Changes: 3 among 4 drivers; C. Smith 1-55; M. Crafton 56-58; J. Sauter 59; R. Chastain 60-200.

Duralast GT Brakes Brake in the Race Award - Stage 1: Ross Chastain, No. 44 Stage 1
Duralast GT Brakes Brake in the Race Award - Stage 2: Ross Chastain, No. 44 Stage 2

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Brett Moffitt, No. 24