CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Saturday night belonged to champions Tyler Reddick and Brett Moffitt as the best in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series were feted on Saturday night at the Crown Ballroom in the Charlotte Convention Center.
Reddick was celebrated following his title driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for the Dale Earnhardt Jr. co-owned JR Motorsports.
“This year was a big character-building year for me and it‘s a great honor to bring JR Motorsports its third Xfinity Series championship,” Reddick said during his champion’s speech.
The 22-year-old California native bookended his season with victories to start the year at Daytona and a championship triumph to close the season at Homestead-Miami. He had come into the postseason as a bit of an underdog, especially when compared to his JRM teammates Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier as well as fellow rookie Christopher Bell.
“Tyler, I was just blown away — not only at Homestead,” Earnhardt Jr. said when presented with the championship owner award. “With each race, he handled his business. He was aggressive and did everything he needed to do. Just really impressed with him. Looking forward to seeing what he can do next year at RCR. It‘s going to be fun to race against him.”
Reddick will defend his crown but with a new team in 2019: Richard Childress Racing.
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The Truck Series champion knew a little something about being an underdog as well. Moffitt surged to six wins in the upstart No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota. The championship was also the first for team owner Shigeaki Hattori. When you consider what the team‘s original plans were for 2018, that is quite remarkable.
“When the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicked off in February, our Hattori Racing team only had four races on the schedule,” Moffitt said during his speech when reflecting on the season. “So to be standing here today in front of you as the 2018 champion is truly an honor and quite unbelievable.”
Moffitt had a knack for coming on strong late in races for wins and that trend continued in the latter stages of the postseason. The Iowa native closed the playoffs with back-to-back wins at ISM (Phoenix) and Homestead-Miami.
Moffitt admitted in a post-race availability after the awards ceremony that he is still working on his 2019 plans.
Each champion received his championship ring and Goodyear presented each title-winning driver with a mini-silver replica of their respective car and truck.
Joey Logano was also honored with the 2018 Comcast Community Champion Award. The drivers who finished second through fourth in each series — Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Christopher Bell in the Xfinity Series as well as Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Johnny Sauter in the Truck Series — each gave speeches discussing their seasons as members of the Championship 4.
The banquet also was the last that will reference the Truck Series as the Camping World Truck Series. That series is being rebranded to the Gander Outdoors Truck Series starting in 2019.
Below is a complete list of the awards that were handed out on Saturday night:
Camping World Truck Series
Mahle Engine Builder of the Year: Victor Garcia, Ilmor Engines
Duralast Brake in the Race Award: Noah Gragson, No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota
Mobil 1 Driver of the Year: Johnny Sauter, No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet
Sunoco Rookie of the Year: Myatt Snider, No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford
Manufacturer Championship: Chevrolet
Champion Sponsor: AISIN Group
Champion Crew Chief Award: Scott Zipadelli, No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota
Champion Truck Owner Award: Shigeaki Hattori, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Champion: Brett Moffitt, No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota (Presented with American Ethanol Award, Sunoco Diamond Performance Award, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Award)
Xfinity Series
Mahle Engine Builder of the Year: Doug Yates, Roush Yates Engines
Duralast Brake in the Race Award: Daniel Hemric, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Mobil 1 Driver of the Year: Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Sunoco Rookie of the Year: Tyler Reddick, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Manufacturer Championship: Chevrolet
Champion Car Owner Award: No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, accepted by Greg Zipadelli
Champion Crew Chief Award: Dave Elenz, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Champion Owner Award: Dale Earnhardt Jr., JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Champion: Tyler Reddick, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet (Presented with American Ethanol Award, Sunoco Diamond Performance Award, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Award)
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