Enfinger in the No. 36 ARCA car for Allgaier Motorsports at Pocono in 2011
After previously competing on short tracks in the southeastern United States as well as in the 2007 Snowball Derby, a race in which he posted the fastest lap, Enfinger began competing in the then-ARCA Re/Max Series in 2008, competing in four races during that season and continued racing in the series on a limited basis during the next two seasons. His best finish, second, occurred twice in 2009 at Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.[1] During this period he primarily drove for a family-owned team, which merged with RAB Racing in 2010.[2]
Moving to Allgaier Motorsports for 2011, Enfinger competed in his first full season in ARCA, winning one pole at Berlin Raceway and finishing fourth in series standings at the conclusion of the 2011 season.[3][4]
Enfinger would race a limited schedule in 2012, running events for Allgaier Motorsports, BRG Motorsports and Team BCR Racing.[5] In what would be a breakout season, he would make 9 starts for Team BCR in 2013, collecting his first ARCA Racing Series win at his home track of Mobile Speedway and following that with a win at Iowa later in the season.[6]
2014 would start off in record fashion, with Enfinger winning the first 3 races of the season (Daytona, Mobile, and Salem).[7] He would follow that up with a win at Elko for his 4th win of the season.[8] Prior to the race at Lucas Oil Raceway in July, it was announced that Enfinger, who was second in points at the time, would be moving from the Team BCR Ford to GMS Racing, taking his No. 90 and sponsor Motor Honey with him. Allegiant Travel will provide additional sponsorship.[9] Enfinger finished 4th in his first race for GMS at IRP, but crashed at Pocono with Frank Kimmel. The next race at Berlin Raceway, Enfinger dominated, leading 181 of 200 laps to win the Federated Auto Parts 200 and move within 25 points of the points leader Mason Mitchell.[10] He would move within 20 points of the lead after winning at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack, earning him the Bill France Four Crown Award.[11] In spite of his six wins, Enfinger would finish second in points to Mitchell after an engine failure and a crash in the final two races respectively.
Enfinger won the season-opening race at Daytona again in 2015.[12] After winning five additional races, he won his first ARCA championship at the end of the season.[13]
NASCAR
Enfinger in the No. 60 truck for Turn One Racing at Rockingham in 2012
In October 2011, it was announced that Enfinger would be moving up to the top level of American stock car racing competition, the Sprint Cup Series, with Sinica Motorsports, a start-up team founded by Argentine businessman George Sinica. The team intended to run a limited schedule of 10 to 15 races in the Cup series during the 2012 season.[19][4] Enfinger attempted his first race for the team at the 2011 Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway,[20] where he failed to qualify for the event.[21]
Enfinger's race-winning No. 24 truck for GMS Racing at Talladega in 2016
Enfinger returned to the Truck Series in 2016, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for GMS Racing.[24] He began the year off with a bang winning his first career pole for the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, the season opener, he would finish 20th though in the race after being caught up in the "big one" with six laps to go of the race. He finished in the top 5 in the next race, at Atlanta. But, he was still demoted to a part-time role with the No. 24, and replaced by Kaz Grala and Ben Kennedy in the No. 33. Enfinger ran 5 races later in the season for Gallagher's No. 24 team. For the running of the Fred's 250 at Talladega, Enfinger would start 2nd and would run great all race long, leading the most laps and getting his first career Truck win.[25] This proved to be Enfinger's last race for Gallagher, although he ran the last race of the season at Homestead with RBR Enterprises.
Enfinger in the No. 98 truck for ThorSport Racing at Pocono in 2017
In 2018, ThorSport Racing switched to the Ford F-150. Enfinger scored his second career win at Las Vegas and finished fifth in the standings.
Enfinger making a pit stop in the April 2019 Truck Series race at Texas
In 2019, Enfinger clinched the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Regular Season Championship following the Michigan race.[27] He was eliminated from the playoffs at Las Vegas when he finished 31st after experiencing an engine failure that also plagued three other trucks. Ilmor, the manufacturer of the engines, took responsibility for the NT1 engines that suffered from severe detonation due to the combination of the high engine load condition combined with the extreme weather conditions in Las Vegas.[28] Despite Ilmor's announcement, NASCAR denied ThorSport's request to reinstate Enfinger and Johnny Sauter into the playoffs.[29] He finished 7th in the final points standings despite winning no races, with teammate Matt Crafton winning his third career championship and also had no wins.
Enfinger's photo finish with Jordan Anderson in the Truck Series season-opener at Daytona in 2020
In 2020, Enfinger broke a 28-race winless streak by winning the season opener at Daytona over Jordan Anderson by 0.010 seconds in overtime, his third career victory and 100th win for Ford in the series.[30] He scored three more wins at Atlanta, Richmond, and Martinsville; the Atlanta and Richmond victories came when he passed leaders Austin Hill and Crafton with one and seven laps to go respectively,[31][32] while his Martinsville win enabled him to qualify for the Championship Round. Enfinger was the lone non-GMS Racing driver in the final four.[33] He would finish fourth in points.
Due to a lack of sponsorship, Enfinger was reduced to a part-time schedule in 2021, as he shared the No. 98 with former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes.[34] On March 1, 2021, it was announced that at Las Vegas in March, which was one of Eckes' races in the No. 98, Enfinger would drive the No. 9 truck for CR7 Motorsports, normally driven by the team's owner, Codie Rohrbaugh. Enfinger won the fall race in Las Vegas in 2018.[35] On April 26, CR7 announced that Enfinger would return to the No. 9 in the race at Kansas, which was the next race where Eckes was in the No. 98.[36] While splitting driving duties with ThorSport and CR7, Enfinger was able to compete in 21 of the 22 races during the 2021 season. He accumulated six Top 5's and eleven Top 10's, finishing 11th in the point standings.
On May 29, 2021, it was announced that Enfinger would make his debut in the Xfinity Series in the race at Charlotte that day. He drove the No. 26 for Sam Hunt Racing. With the race having practice and qualifying (and therefore, a field of only 36 cars instead of the usual 40) and the car being slowest in practice, normal driver Brandon Gdovic decided to step out of the car. Despite never having been in an Xfinity car, Enfinger did qualify for the race.[37] However, he crashed out after making contact with the #13 MBM Motorsports Ford of Chad Finchum.
On October 1, 2021, GMS Racing announced that Enfinger would return to the team in 2022 and drive their No. 23 truck full-time in 2022 and 2023, replacing Chase Purdy. Champion Power Equipment will also move with Enfinger from ThorSport Racing and CR7 Motorsports and sponsor him at GMS for the majority of both years.[38]
Enfinger began the 2022 season with a 29th place finish at Daytona. He scored three top-fives and seven top-10 finishes to make the playoffs. During the playoffs, Enfinger scored his first win of the season at Indianapolis Raceway Park.[39]
Enfinger started the 2023 season with a fifth place finish at Daytona. He scored wins at Kansas, Gateway and Milwaukee.[40] Enfinger's consistency during the season allowed him to make the Playoffs. Enfinger finished fourth at Homestead to make the Championship 4.[41] He finished sixth at Phoenix and second in the final points standings.[42]
Enfinger also returned to ARCA in 2023, driving the No. 97 car for CR7 Motorsports, who he drove part-time for in the Truck Series in 2021, in the race at Charlotte.[43]
On June 8, 2023, Legacy Motor Club announced that Noah Gragson would not run the race at Sonoma due to experiencing concussion-like symptoms after his crash in the previous week's race at Gateway. Enfinger, who drives for LMC co-owner Maury Gallagher's GMS Racing team in the Truck Series, was selected to fill in for Gragson in the No. 42 car. He would make his Cup Series debut[44] and first Cup Series attempt since he failed to qualify for the season-finale at Homestead in 2011. Enfinger would finish 26th.[45]
On December 12, 2023, it was announced that Enfinger will return to CR7 Motorsports and run full-time for the team in 2024, driving their No. 9 truck. He previously ran part-time for the team in 2021.[46] Enfinger started the 2024 season with a 17th-place finish at Daytona. Despite not scoring a win during the regular season, he stayed consistent with five top-fives and eight top-10 finishes to make the playoffs. Enfinger gave CR7 its first win at Talladega and made the Championship 4.[47] He followed it up with another win at Homestead.[48]
Enfinger married Michelle Dupre on January 16, 2016, in Fairhope, Alabama. They have one son, Carson, born in June 2021, and will have a second child as he announced in his post-race interview after winning at Gateway in 2023 that his wife Michelle is pregnant.[51]
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold– Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics– Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. *– Most laps led.)
Jonathan Joseph Sauter is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports, and the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises, and the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He has also driven in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series in the past. Sauter is the son of former NASCAR driver Jim Sauter, the brother of NASCAR drivers Tim Sauter and Jay Sauter, and the uncle of Travis Sauter. He is the 2016 Truck Series champion.
ThorSport Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing and is based in Sandusky, Ohio. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife Rhonda, it currently fields five teams: the No. 13 for Jake Garcia, the No. 66 part-time mainly for Conner Jones, No. 88 for Matt Crafton, the No. 98 for Ty Majeski, and the No. 99 for Ben Rhodes. The team has won six Truck Series championships, three with Crafton, two with Rhodes, and one with Majeski in 2024. The team is also the longest continually tenured team in the truck series, having fielded at least one truck in every season since 1996.
Tyler Reed Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. He has also competed in what is now the ARCA Menards Series, what are now the ARCA Menards Series East and West, and what is now known as the NASCAR Canada Series in the past.
GMS Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, fielding three Chevrolet Silverado trucks: the No. 23 for Grant Enfinger, the No. 24 for Rajah Caruth, and the No. 43 for Daniel Dye.
Brandon Alexander Phillip Jones is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, and ARCA Menards Series East in the past.
Noah Quinn Gragson is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving a Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West driving the No. 30 Ford for Rette Jones Racing. He previously drove full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports from 2017 to 2018 driving the No. 18 Toyota Tundra.
Justin C. Haley is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He previously went by his nickname J. J. Haley, until he switched to his first name in January 2016 to avoid confusion with fellow competitor J. J. Yeley. Haley owns Darkhorse Racecars, a dirt late model and dirt modified chassis manufacturer.
Christian Donald Eckes is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Eckes is the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion, won the Snowball Derby in 2016, and was formerly a development driver for JR Motorsports and later Toyota.
Zane Michael Smith is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in an alliance with Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He won the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship driving for Front Row Motorsports.
Charles Russell "Chase" Purdy III is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.
Codie Benjamin William Rohrbaugh is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 97 Chevrolet Silverado for his family team, CR7 Motorsports. He also has competed in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East in the past.
Samuel Adam Mayer is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Haas Factory Team. His father is the founder of QPS Employment Group, and former IndyCar Series driver, Scott Mayer.
The 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series was the 26th season of the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 14. The regular season ended with the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on September 10. The NASCAR playoffs ended with the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway on November 6, where Sheldon Creed won the championship over his teammates Zane Smith and Brett Moffitt in a 1-2-3 sweep for GMS Racing in the standings. ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger finished fourth in the standings, the other driver to advance to the Championship 4. Austin Hill won the regular season championship and was the points leader for most of the season, but failed to advance to the Championship 4 and finished 6th in the standings.
CR7 Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, fielding the No. 9 full-time Chevrolet Silverado for Grant Enfinger and the No. 97 part-time for Codie Rohrbaugh. CR7 also operates in the ARCA Menards Series with the No. 97 Chevrolet part-time for Jason Kitzmiller. The team has a technical alliance with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
Antoinette Marie Breidinger is an American stock car racing driver and model. She competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, and part-time in the East and West Series, driving the No. 25 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage.
Kristofer Cole Wright is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for TRICON Garage. He has also previously competed in sports car racing, open-wheel racing, the Euroformula Open Championship, and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Wright is also the 2018 IMSA Prototype Challenge LMP3 class champion.
The 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the 27th season of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 12. The regular season will end with the race at Watkins Glen International on August 7. The NASCAR playoffs will end with the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway on November 5. This season marks the 13th for Camping World Holdings as the series' title sponsor. After two years of advertising their Gander Outdoors retail chain in the title sponsorship, company CEO Marcus Lemonis announced on September 15, 2020, that the sponsorship would switch back to the Camping World brand beginning in 2021, which was the same name of the series from 2009 to 2018.
The 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the 28th season of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started with the NextEra Energy 250 on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded with the Lucas Oil 150 on November 4 at Phoenix Raceway. This was the final season of the Truck Series with Camping World as the title sponsor, as CEO Marcus Lemonis announced the brand would not return for the 2023 season. On August 26, 2022, it was announced that Craftsman would return as the Truck Series title sponsor, although the tool company is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker instead of Sears, who owned Craftsman when they were the series title sponsor from 1995 to 2008. This makes Stanley Black & Decker the series' third title sponsor.
Daniel Wayne Dye is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.
Jason Andrew Kitzmiller is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 97 Chevrolet SS for CR7 Motorsports. He also competes part-time in the Grand National Super Series Presented By ECC, where he's captured multiple victories.
References
1 2 "Enfinger, Grant". Drivers. ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
1973R. Hutcherson 1974R. Hutcherson/D. Dayton 1975 D. Dayton 1976 D. Dayton 1977 C. Myers 1978 M. Smith 1979 M. Smith 1980B. Dotter 1981 L. Moyer 1982 S. Stovall
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