Brett Moffitt survived a banzai move by Noah Gragson in the final corner of the last lap of the M&Ms 200 to score his second win of the season and first on his hometown track of Iowa Speedway. Moffitt hails from Grimes, Iowa.
Gragson dove into turn 4 and overshot the exit, making heavy contact with the wall. He managed to cross the finish line second despite the contact.
Harrison Burton, David Gilliland and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top five.
Two multi-car incidents early in the race set the stage for the dramatic ending.
On lap 31, Christian Eckes moved up the track in a three-wide battle. He clipped Cody Coughlin and was turned into the wall, collecting Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes in the aftermath.
On lap 134, Stewart Friesen and Matt Crafton made contact battling for eighth, pushing the left front tire in on Crafton’s truck. Two laps later, Crafton’s tire blew while he was battling Friesen, Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek and Dalton Sargeant. The caution allowed some of the leaders to pit, leaving Moffitt with a decision to make as to whether to stay out on old tires.
Coughlin survived his incident to finish seventh. Eckes finished eighth, Friesen was ninth, and Snider rounded out the top 10.
STAGE 1 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek
STAGE 2 WINNER: Stewart Friesen
HOW BRETT MOFFITT WON: Moffitt inherited the lead at the beginning of stage three and used the clean air to maintain his position.
WHO HAD A GOOD NIGHT: David Gilliland’s third start of the season was his second top-five finish. His previous top five was a fourth at Dover. … Myatt Snider‘s first Iowa race ended with a 10th-place finish. … Making his fourth start of the season, Jesse Little scored his third top 10 of the year – the sixth-place finish is a career best.
WHO HAD A BAD NIGHT: Todd Gilliland got loose on lap 25 and damaged the right rear of his truck; he was running third at the time. Gilliland (who finished 28th) remained within one lap of the leaders until lap 101 when he spun into the wall and did heavy damage. … Nemechek and Crafton headed to the garage immediately following the lap-136, five-truck accident. … On lap 140, Justin Haley developed an engine problem that cost him four laps and sent him home 16th – ending a five-race streak of top-15s.
NOTABLE: Tanner Thorson lost a lap in the middle of stage two, but managed to stay in contact with the leaders. The midget racer earned his first career top-15 finish.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Just overshot a little bit; committed to the gas and hit the fence.” – Gragson said of his last-lap move to FoxSports 1.
WHAT’S NEXT: Villa Lighting Delivers the Eaton 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park at 8 p.m. ET on June 23 on FS1.
