by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Thad Moffitt picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s Fresh From Florida 250 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #46 Customers Bank Chevrolet was involved in a multi-truck accident after 5 of 101 laps.

The finish came in Moffitt’s 5th series start. In the Truck Series last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #46, the 190th from a crash, and the 440th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 47th for the #46, the 1,362nd from a crash, and the 1,922nd for Chevrolet.

Among the new entries to join the Truck Series in 2024 is Faction 46, an alliance between Niece Motorsports and Lane Moore, owner of Venture Food Stores. The team would debut at Daytona with Customers Bank as sponsor of the #46 Chevrolet. The team took the #46 from G2G Racing, which originally prepared to announce a truck number change before their equipment was put up for auction.

On December 9th, Faction announced as driver of their #46 Chevrolet a returning Thad Moffitt, son of Richard Petty’s youngest daughter Rebecca. Moffitt had four Truck Series starts on his resume, all in the 2022 season, beginning with three for the Reaume Brothers. Moffitt kicked off his season in a STP “throwback” scheme at Daytona, where he finished a series-best 18th. Moffitt has since completed his first season in Trans-Am’s TA2 class, where he finished in the Top 10 six times, but came up just short of Rookie of the Year. As it happened, the 2024 Truck Series race at Daytona would be held on February 16th - the same day Richard Petty ran his final Daytona 500 in 1992.

Moffitt was one of 40 drivers entered to attempt Daytona’s 36-truck field, a grid that had twice increased from 38 following a pair of drivers that joined after the preliminary entry list was published: Jennifer Jo Cobb in her #10 Chevrolet, and Ryan Huff attempting his first Truck start since 2022 with his own #36 Toyota and former G2G Racing crew chief Tim Silva. Both Cobb and Huff failed to qualify – Huff after being the only driver to not turn a lap in practice. Joining them on the DNQ list were Clay Greenfield in the #95 Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet for GK Racing, and Mason Maggio for newcomers Floridian Motorsports, whose #21 East Coast Lumber and Supply Chevrolet came together in early January.

In practice, Moffitt ranked 31st, but he made a big jump in qualifying, making the second round of qualifying with the 9th-best lap in Round 1. He ended up slowest of the group, but still claimed 10th with a speed of 176.398mph (51.021 seconds).

Securing the 36th and final spot on the grid was Keith McGee, who was entered in one of three Reaume Brothers Racing entries – not a second Rackley-W.A.R. truck as originally indicate on the entry list. McGee’s #27 More Core Ford was soon joined by three others for pre-race penalties, including his teammate Jason White in the #22 Powder Ventures Excavations Ford that secured 34th on the grid, plus 24th-place Ben Rhodes in the #99 Ranch Fuel Energy Drink Ford and 31st-place Spencer Boyd, debuting his new team Freedom Racing Enterprises in the #76 Tibbetts Lumber Chevrolet.

When the race started, Boyd was last across the stripe, 3.888 seconds back of the lead and just over three-tenths back of the third Reaume entry of Lawless Alan in the #33 AUTOChargit Mobile Ford, 3.549 behind the leader. Boyd remained 3.153 seconds back of the leader at the end of Lap 1, 3.053 on Lap 3, then 3.535 on Lap 4, when he now trailed McGee’s #27. The team checked with their driver if he could pull up on Bryan Dauzat, whose #28 FDNY Racing / O.B. Builders Chevrolet was just ahead of McGee in 34th, when trouble broke out on the backstretch.

On Lap 6, Matt Crafton saved his #88 Ideal Door / Menards Ford from spinning, but headed down the backstretch, contact from Christian Eckes’ #19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet sent him hard to the left, banging doors with Layne Riggs in the #38 Love’s RV Stops Ford. Both trucks lost control, triggering a pileup around the 10th spot on back. By this point, Moffitt had dropped back a few spots, and arrived on the accident scene as drivers spun into the grass. Just ahead of him, Ty Dillon careened across the track in the #25 Rackey Roofing Chevrolet, followed by Alan in the #33. Moffitt committed to the low lane, then tried to move to the middle, only to be struck in the left-front by Alan. Just then, Dillon careened off the outside wall into Moffitt’s path, damaging the other side of the Moffitt’s nose. Moffitt limped down the apron with some fire underneath the engine before he stopped and climbed out, done for the day. Dillon climbed out a moment later. Behind them, last-place running Boyd managed to slow down despite having to step on the brake pad much harder than expected. He safely navigated the debris, and reported his water temperature was at 185 degrees, oil at 200, and that his truck was working well in the draft. Indeed, after the wreck and the ensuing pit stops, Boyd climbed to 18th on Lap 10.

On Lap 6, McGee briefly took last place when he came in for repairs on the rear of his truck, but Moffitt and Dillon soon took his place in 36th and 35th. Following McGee onto pit road was Jake Garcia with more significant repairs needed on his #13 Quanta Services Ford. Garcia was soon eliminated under the “Damaged Vehicle Policy,” the driver climbing out on pit road, followed by Layne Riggs pulling his damaged #38 behind the wall soon after, leaving him 33rd to Garcia’s 34th. By then, Alan drew the second caution of the race for spinning off Turn 2, then was black-flagged for a transponder issue before he ultimately pulled behind the wall with overheating issues, taking 32nd.

Underdogs escape Daytona carnage with impressive finishes

A race record 12 cautions slowed the event, concluding with a grinding backstretch pileup triggered by contact from 2nd-place Rajah Caruth in the #71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. When the dust settled, Caruth had his career-best Truck Series finish, and several underdogs escaped unscathed.

Bret Holmes reaped the benefits of skipping the last two races in 2023 to prepare for Friday. Armed with sponsorship from Precision Garage Door, Holmes qualified 19th and led three times for 13 laps, then saved his truck after spinning from the lead off Turn 4. He came out of the wreck with heavy nose damage, but still held onto 4th, one spot short of his career-best 3rd at Talladega in 2022.

Spencer Boyd, who took the green flag 36th and last, escaped the melee to finish in 5th – his first top-five finish since his stunning win at Talladega in 2019, when he drove for Young’s Motorsports.

Stefan Parsons, who joined Henderson Motorsports’ part-time operation this year, took home 6th in the #75 Ballpark Buns and Rolls Chevrolet, his first top-ten finish in 12 career Truck Series starts. Prior to Friday, his best was just 17th, earned at Bristol in 2018.

Kicking off a full-time season as driver of the #56 Coble Enterprises / UNITS Toyota, Timmy Hill earned a 7th-place finish, his ninth career Top Ten and first since last spring at Atlanta, nearly a full year ago.

And taking 9th was Jim Rosenblum’s longtime team FDNY Racing, whose driver Bryan Dauzat earned a 9th-place finish in the #28 FDNY Racing / O.B. Builders Chevrolet. This was just one spot short of Dauzat’s career-best 8th-place finish at Talladega in 2018, also with the FDNY team.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #46 in a Truck Series race since May 12, 2023 at Darlington, when Brennan Poole’s unsponsored #46 Toyota lost the engine after 20 laps of the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The number hadn’t finished last in a Truck race at Daytona since February 16, 2007, when Mike Wallace’s #46 DirecTV Hot Pass Chevrolet crashed after 1 lap of the Chevy Silverado 250.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

36) #46-Thad Moffitt / 5 laps / crash

35) #25-Ty Dillon / 5 laps / crash

34) #13-Jake Garcia / 6 laps / crash

33) #38-Layne Riggs / 13 laps / dvp

32) #33-Lawless Alan / 27 laps / overheating

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Faction 46 (1)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (1)

2024 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP