April 19, 2024

Top-seeded Brett Moffitt wins NASCAR Truck playoff opener

Brett Moffitt, driver of the No. 24 Midnight Moon Moonshine Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday in Bristol, Tennessee. (NASCAR Photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Moffitt pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ playoff opener Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway to earn a spot in the Round of 6.

Moffitt finished 0.743 seconds ahead of Chandler Smith for his 10th series victory and first at Bristol. The defending series champion won the pole and led 65 laps.

“We’re playing on house money now,” Moffitt said. “I mean we still want to go get points and ultimately win races and get playoff points to set ourselves up a little safety net for the next round. But now we’ll just go and race to win and the pressure is off.”

Ross Chastain took the first stage, and Moffitt drove around the outside of Chastain to win the second. Moffitt and Chastain combined to lead the first 110 laps before Grant Enfinger led 57 in the final stage.

Chastain, Stewart Friesen and Enfinger, all playoff drivers, rounded out the top five.