To say that The Blue Oval had an eventful day during the Truck Series race at Talladega on September 30th, 2023 would be an understatement. A NASCAR Ford F-150 led the field across the stripe to secure a rare win for FoMoCo in the division, while a driver from a different Ford Truck team was involved in a violent postrace altercation.
Said winning F-150 was that of Brett Moffitt, who threw the No. 34 NASCAR Ford past the competition in a three-wide move for the win. Moffitt started up front alongside the No. 19 Chevy Silverado RST of Christian Eckes with two laps left, after a wreck that felled 10 Truck Series racers. Eckes tried to go high to block Moffitt, who responded by looking low and diving into the middle lane, taking it three-wide as he crossed the finish line .009 seconds ahead.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said Moffitt. “I’ve notably struggled on the superspeedways in the past and dreaded coming to them. But this was an all pressure-off situation that Front Row gave me to go out there and try to help a teammate. Obviously, that didn’t work out for that group. But to come here and have a shot at a win and to do it, is just amazing.”
Meanwhile, Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 NASCAR Ford F-150, made on-track contact with the No. 2 Silverado of Nick Sanchez, sparking a dramatic wreck that took Crafton out of the running. Crafton reportedly waited for Sanchez after the race, tapped him on the shoulder, and “sucker-punched” him, according to a statement from Sanchez, who walked away from the fight with a bloodied face.
Crafton claimed that Sanchez was exaggerating, stating, “What people don’t take into account is that he all but ‘sucker punched’ me at 200 mph. The way he pushed my truck gave me no ability to get out of the situation and he was told multiple times during that race the way he was pushing people was going to cause a wreck and going to get people hurt.”
NASCAR stated it will evaluate the incident before making a decision on penalties to Crafton or Sanchez.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 | 34 | Brett Moffitt(i) | Fr8Auctions Ford | 99 | 22 | Ford F-150 |
| 2 | 8 | 99 | Ben Rhodes (P) | Campers Inn RV Ford | 99 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Dean Thompson | CST Industrial Toyota | 99 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 4 | 28 | 25 | Chandler Smith(i) | Rackley Roofing Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 5 | 9 | 11 | Corey Heim (P) | Safelite Toyota | 99 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 6 | 29 | 43 | Daniel Dye # | RaceToStopSuicide.com Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Nick Sanchez # (P) | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 99 | 25 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 8 | 23 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | Odyssey Battery Ford | 99 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 9 | 13 | 75 | Parker Kligerman(i) | Tide Chevrolet | 99 | 10 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 10 | 21 | 45 | Lawless Alan | AUTOParkit Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 11 | 7 | 42 | Carson Hocevar (P) | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 99 | 5 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 12 | 14 | 24 | Rajah Caruth # | Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 13 | 25 | 23 | Grant Enfinger (P) | Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 14 | 6 | 51 | Jack Wood | TrueTimber Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 15 | 32 | 2 | Garrett Smithley(i) | Trophy Tractor/Celsius Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 16 | 15 | 32 | Bret Holmes # | First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet | 99 | 3 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 17 | 33 | 30 | Ryan Vargas | Critical Path Security Toyota | 99 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 18 | 24 | 17 | Taylor Gray # | Dead On Tools Toyota | 99 | 1 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 19 | 16 | 19 | Christian Eckes (P) | NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet | 99 | 8 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 20 | 10 | 61 | Jake Drew | Toyota Tsusho Toyota | 98 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 21 | 5 | 98 | Ty Majeski (P) | Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford | 93 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 22 | 35 | 4 | Cory Roper | Fly Alliance/CarQuest Ford | 93 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 23 | 17 | 9 | Colby Howard | Titan Construction Chevrolet | 92 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 24 | 12 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Jack Links/Menards Ford | 91 | 1 | Ford F-150 |
| 25 | 19 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Sport Clips Toyota | 91 | 12 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 26 | 26 | 20 | Greg Van Alst | CB Fabricating Chevrolet | 91 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 27 | 36 | 22 | Jason M White | Powder Ventures Excavations Ford | 88 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 28 | 1 | 4 | Chase Purdy | Bama Buggies Chevrolet | 84 | 11 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 29 | 3 | 35 | Jake Garcia # | Quanta Services Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 30 | 34 | 56 | Tyler Hill | Buffalo Wild Wings/UNITS Toyota | 59 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 31 | 27 | 41 | Bayley Currey | Unishippers Chevrolet | 58 | 1 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
| 32 | 18 | 38 | Zane Smith (P) | Love's/ RV Stop Ford | 55 | 0 | Ford F-150 |
| 33 | 22 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | LiUNA! Toyota | 50 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 34 | 20 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | GearWrench Toyota | 38 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 35 | 11 | 1 | David Gilliland | Serial 1 Premium E-Bikes Toyota | 38 | 0 | Toyota TRD Tundra |
| 36 | 30 | 28 | Bryan Dauzat | FDNY Racing Chevrolet | 5 | 0 | Chevrolet Silverado RST |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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