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Brett Moffitt (No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado)

Brett Moffitt is looking to become just the fifth driver in series history to win multiple NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championships; joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. (four titles: 1996, 1998, 2007, 2009), Matt Crafton (three titles: 2014, 2013, 2019), Jack Sprague (three title: 1997, 1999, 2001) and Todd Bodine (2006, 2010).

Moffitt won the 2018 Gander Trucks championship with the “little team that could,” Hattori Racing Enterprises, in a Toyota with Scott Zipadelli as his crew chief. This year he’s in a Chevrolet with the multi-truck GMS Racing outfit and has Chad Norris atop his pit box.

Moffitt’s road to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs in 2020 was not an easy one. He didn’t win a race in the regular season and had to point his way into the Playoffs posting seven top fives in the first 16 races of the year. He finished the regular season second in the standings and his five stage wins garnered enough Playoff points to seed him fifth entering the postseason.

In addition to his Gander Trucks accomplishments, the 28-year old was the 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Playoffs Recap: Much like his regular season effort, Brett Moffitt had to point his way through the first round of the Playoffs posting a runner-up finish at Bristol, a 15th at Las Vegas and a seventh at Talladega. It wasn’t until the 20th race in the season and fourth race in the Playoffs that Moffitt finally found Victory Lane and did so at Kansas Speedway. The win catapulted Moffitt into the Championship 4 round for the third time in career (2018-2020).

Phoenix Raceway Outlook: Moffitt has made two series starts at Phoenix Raceway posting a win in series debut at the Track in 2018 en route to his first career title and he also finished 10th in last season’s Phoenix Playoff race. He led just 19 laps in his 2018 victory at one-mile track.

Crew Chief Corner: Chad Norris began his crew chief career in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Roush Fenway Racing with driver Matt Kenseth on a part-time schedule in 2005. From 2005 to 2012 Norris would crew chief on a part-time basis but in 2013 he named crew chief for Travis Pastrana at RFR and then worked with Trevor Bayne in 2014, Ryan Reed and Bubba Wallace in 2015. Then he made the move to Chip Ganassi Racing and worked with driver Brennan Poole for the 2016, 2017 seasons. Last season he moved to lone GMS Racing Xfinity entry with driver John Hunter Nemechek. The 2020 season marks his first full season of competition in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. Working with Moffitt this season the duo have produced one win, 10 top fives and 15 top 10s.

Team Talk: GMS Racing won the 2016 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series title with Johnny Sauter behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet. It was the organization’s first, and to date only, NASCAR national series title. GMS Racing has 36 Gander Trucks wins to their credit since joining the series in 2013. They are the only team to have fielded a Gander Trucks Championship 4 drivers in all five years of the current elimination-style Playoff format (Johnny Sauter, 2016-2018; Justin Haley in 2018, Brett Moffitt in 2019 and Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith in 2020)

Tags: championship , phoenix , gander rv & outdoors , truck series , 2020 , playoffs , recap , crew chief

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