Underdog Moffitt wins Truck championship

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Brett Moffitt capped his remarkable underdog season with a NASCAR Truck Series championship for his underfunded race team.

Moffitt won the season finale Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway to close a storybook chapter in his rollercoaster NASCAR career. The championship with Hattori Racing Enterprises defied the odds because sponsorship troubles nearly shuttered the team.

Moffitt and his Toyota crew were sometimes week-to-week and the organization has nothing announced beyond the finale. Moffitt may move on to something bigger, but he’ll leave with his first piece of real hardware. The 26-year-old has bounced around NASCAR trying desperately to land just one break.

Funding has always stood in the way of Moffitt’s advancement, and the championship was validation that he’s a wheelman who deserves an opportunity.

The championship is the first on the national level for Moffitt, who made his NASCAR debut in 2012 but didn’t get his first full season in any series until this year.

Noah Gragson was the championship runner-up and finished third in the race. Gragson drove for Toyota-backed Kyle Busch Motorsports, the top team in NASCAR and heavy favorite to win the championship.