“This Is What It Is” – Thad Moffitt Acquits Matt Crafton of Foul Play as Truck Series Aggression Robs Daytona Debut

The NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona turned into a real smash-up derby. Reigning champ Ben Rhodes, with two season titles under his belt in the last three years, was bouncing between the lead and runner-up spots in Stage 2 after the chaos struck. Not one, but two pile-ups on the backstretch threw a wrench into the works, bringing the Fresh From Florida 250 to a screeching halt before even hitting the 15-lap mark.

The first wreck took Ty Dillon, Thad Moffitt, and Jake Garcia out of the running, while the second mess saw Lawless Alan spinning out solo. Thad Moffitt caught up with a Sportsnaut journalist later on, spilling the beans on the twist of fate that cut his race short.

Thad Moffitt shared how tricky it was to dodge the mayhem that unfolded on lap 6

Chewing the fat with Matt Weaver after the race, Thad Moffitt couldn’t help but notice the early jostling in the pack. He thought it was a bit premature for such shoving and couldn’t hide his dismay at seeing Ty Dillon take a spin. Clearing Matt Crafton of any blame, Moffitt recounted, “The #88 got pushed. I saw him bounce off the inside car, and then next thing you know, we reckoned left and right.”

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Not particularly blaming Moffitt also brought up Lawless Alan, noting, “I saw Ty at the top, and Lawless coming up from the bottom, and obviously Lawless was coming up a lot quicker than I anticipated and came right across the nose. […] I never saw Lawless. Finally saw Lawless at the last minute and it was too late. When you are going that fast this is what it is.”

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He lamented that their car, brimming with potential this weekend, barely got to strut its stuff beyond the initial five laps. Moffitt mentioned a slight slip a few laps before the chaos. The #46 team had come to Daytona hoping to qualify on speed and planned to tweak the setup at the end of the first stage. Moffitt was just laying low at the back, biding his time. Yet, keeping his spirits up, he declared, “We’ll move on to Atlanta and try to capitalize on some speed that we’ve had today.”