Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) was considered an underdog in the 2018 Gander Outdoor Truck Series, occasionally scrambling mid-week to secure sponsorship in order to race the next weekend. Against the odds, with Brett Moffitt in the driver’s seat of the No. 16, the team was winning races and always up front, ending the year with six victories and 13 top-tens and allowing them to reach the pinnacle of the sport – the Championship.
Then came the word that Moffitt would not return to the team in 2019. Some within the industry thought that may cause that team to drop back to an underdog status trying to crack the top-ten each week. That is not the case so far this year.
HRE hired a new driver while Moffitt moved on to a different team, forcing the relocation of yet a third driver. Looking at how the dominoes are now falling at the start of this season, it seems that decision is now creating three championship contending teams.
The No. 16 HRE Toyota team brought in 25-year-old driver Austin Hill to wheel their Tundra, a talent who is showing the ability to get the most out of a little. In 51 starts over five years and with 2018 as his only full-time season, Hill has one top-five and eight top-tens, leading a total of 29 laps. In three races so far with the defending Championship-winning team, he earned the season-opening win at Daytona and two top-tens, while leading 39 laps. The win and third position in points makes him a contender this year.
Brett Moffitt made the move over to GMS Racing, who already has a top contending team in the No. 24. In 2018, the Chevy Silverado finished fourth in the Championship Four, second the year before and won the title in 2016. The team won 13 races over those three years. Bringing in Moffitt who is coming off a career year with his own seven career wins and 11 top-fives has to cement the team as an odds-on favorite to possibly repeat.
With Moffitt now in the GMS Racing seat, the veteran driver who brought them past success was looking to find a new home.
Johnny Sauter essentially went back home when the musical chairs game stopped by returning to ThorSport Racing to drive the No. 13. ThorSport is the organization he was a part of from 2012 to 2015, picking up six of his 23 career wins and finishing fourth in points three of those years. While the Ford F-150 finished last year with three top-fives and eight top-tens with a rookie driver, this season Sauter has already earned the team one top-five and two top-tens. The company also fields a truck for another annual contender, 2013-14 back-to-back Champion Matt Crafton. With that kind of track record, they are certainly in contention again this season.
So what looks like the dismantling of a championship team and an open spot for the crown, may actually be the creation of three top-notch teams that will still compete with several other teams to fill the title spot that will only hold but one Champion.