Grant Enfinger
Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 98 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. Before moving up to the Truck Series, Enfinger competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, where he drove for GMS Racing and won the 2015 series championship.
Grant Enfinger | |||||||
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Enfinger at Martinsville Speedway in 2019 | |||||||
Born | Grant McArthur Enfinger January 22, 1985 Fairhope, Alabama | ||||||
Achievements | 2015 ARCA Racing Series Champion Most consecutive seasons with a win in the ARCA Menards Series (2013–2017) 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Regular Season Champion | ||||||
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
106 races run over 8 years | |||||||
Truck no., team | No. 98 (ThorSport Racing) | ||||||
2020 position | 4th | ||||||
Best finish | 4th (2020) | ||||||
First race | 2010 Mountain Dew 250 (Talladega) | ||||||
Last race | 2020 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
First win | 2016 Fred's 250 (Talladega) | ||||||
Last win | 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of November 6, 2020. |
Racing career
ARCA Racing Series
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, occurring 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.[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
In 2010, Enfinger made his first career start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,[14] finishing 22nd.[15] Enfinger attempted to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, but failed to qualify for the event.[16] In October, he ran in the truck races at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway.[17][18]
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]
In December 2011, Enfinger was released from his contract by Sinica Motorsports. Neither he nor the Sinica-owned team attempted any Sprint Cup starts in 2012. Instead, Enfinger ran in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012 for Bragg Racing Group at Daytona International Speedway,[22] and also competed at Rockingham Speedway in the No. 60 for Turn One Racing.[23] He returned to the series in August at Bristol with Allgaier Motorsports. He raced at Las Vegas for Brad Keselowski Racing in the No. 29.
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.
ThorSport Racing hired Enfinger to drive the No. 98 Toyota Tundra full-time in 2017.[26] He finished 11th in the standings.
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.
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 claiming his 3rd career championship also with no wins.
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.[33] Enfinger was the lone non-GMS Racing driver of the final four and would finished fourth in points.[34]
Enfinger scaled back to a part-time schedule in 2021 as he shared the No. 98 with Christian Eckes.[34]
Other racing
In March 2019, Enfinger made his Michelin Pilot Challenge sports car debut at Sebring International Raceway, driving a Ford for Multimatic Motorsports alongside ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, and Myatt Snider.[35]
Personal life
Enfinger was born in Fairhope, Alabama, located in Baldwin County on the Gulf of Mexico, in 1985.[1][19] Enfinger attended the University of South Alabama, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in marketing.[36]
Enfinger got married on January 16, 2016 in Fairhope, Alabama.
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.)
Sprint Cup Series
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | NSCC | Pts | Ref |
2011 | Sinica Motorsports | 93 | Chevy | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | MAR | TEX | TAL | RCH | DAR | DOV | CLT | KAN | POC | MCH | SON | DAY | KEN | NHA | IND | POC | GLN | MCH | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | NHA | DOV | KAN | CLT | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM DNQ |
84th | 01 | [37] |
Camping World Truck Series
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
ARCA Racing Series
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
References
- "Enfinger, Grant". Drivers. ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- "RAB Racing forms alliance with Grant Enfinger Racing for 2010". GrantEnfinger.com. January 29, 2010. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
- "Grant Enfinger 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". racing-reference.info. October 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- Demmons, Doug (October 14, 2011). "Alabama driver Grant Enfinger lands a NASCAR Sprint Cup ride". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, AL. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- "Driver Grant Enfinger 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info.
- "Driver Grant Enfinger 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Driver Grant Enfinger 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info.
- Inabinett, Mark (July 25, 2014). "Grant Enfinger changing teams in ARCA Racing Series". al.com. Alabama: Alabama Media Group, Advance Digital. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- "Victory sweet for Enfinger, GMS Racing team". arcaracing.com. Marine, Michigan: ARCA. August 9, 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- Inabinett, Mark (September 1, 2014). "Grant Enfinger gets dirty in pursuit of ARCA Racing Series championship". AL.com. AL.com, Advance Publications. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- Inabinett, Mark (February 14, 2015). "Fairhope's Grant Enfinger starts ARCA Racing Series season with Daytona victory". The Birmingham News. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
- "Grant Enfinger wins ARCA title; Mason Mitchell wins race at Kansas". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
- Baggett, Heather (October 30, 2010). "Enfinger set for NASCAR debut at Talladega". The Daily Home. Talladega, AL. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- "TRUCKS: Mountain Dew 250 Results". National Speed Sport News. October 30, 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- Demmons, Doug (February 17, 2011). "Alabama drivers fail to make the field for Daytona truck race". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, AL. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
- Demmons, Doug (October 22, 2011). "For Grant Enfinger it was deja vu at Talladega Superspeedway". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, AL. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- Knight, Chris (October 26, 2011). "Allgaier Motorsports; Grant Enfinger Set To Take On Martinsville". Allgaier Motorsports PR. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- Hembree, Mike (October 14, 2011). "CUP: Three Fuel Injection Tests Scheduled By NASCAR". speedtv.com. SPEED Channel. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
- Adamczyk, Jay (December 12, 2011). "#93 Team News and Rumors". Jayski.com. ESPN. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
- Warden, Steve (November 20, 2011). "Becoming a sponsor just a blur: polishing business backs NASCAR team". The Journal-Gazette. Fort Wayne, Indiana. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- "Grant Enfinger and Sinica Motorsports Inc. Part Ways for 2012 Season". Grant Enfinger Racing. December 16, 2011. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
- Adamczyk, Jay (April 13, 2012). "Fitzpatrick no-go for next two in #60; hoping for Charlotte return". Jayski's Camping World Truck Series Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- McFadin, Daniel (December 3, 2015). "GMS Racing announces Truck Series driver-crew chief lineup for 2016". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- Associated Press (October 22, 2016). "Grant Enfinger scores first NASCAR victory in Talladega trucks race". USA Today. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- Weaver, Matt (January 31, 2017). "Grant Enfinger lands full-time NASCAR Truck Series ride with ThorSport". Autoweek. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- "Grant Enfinger clinches Gander Trucks regular-season championship". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
- Albert, Zack (September 26, 2019). "Ilmor, NASCAR taking preventive steps after Las Vegas engine issues". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- Page, Scott (September 30, 2019). "Ilmor, NASCAR taking preventive steps after Las Vegas engine issues UPDATE: ThorSport asks to be put back in Playoffs, NASCAR denies". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- Engle, Greg (February 15, 2020). "Grant Enfinger Survives to Win Crash-Filled Truck Race at Daytona". Autoweek. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- Bonkowski, Jerry (June 6, 2020). "Grant Enfinger wins Atlanta Truck race with last-lap pass of Austin Hill". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- Long, Dustin (September 10, 2020). "Grant Enfinger wins Richmond Truck race". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- Cain, Holly (October 30, 2020). "Grant Enfinger races into Championship 4 with Gander Trucks win at Martinsville". NASCAR. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- Estrada, Chris (February 4, 2021). "ThorSport Racing re-joins Toyota; Grant Enfinger going part-time". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
- "NASCAR Stars Swap Trucks for Mustang GT4s at Sebring". Sportscar365. March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- "USA Degree, Not Just Speed, Fuels Enfinger's Success". University of South Alabama. December 10, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2009 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2013 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2018 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Grant Enfinger – 2020 ARCA Menards Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grant Enfinger. |
- Official website
- Grant Enfinger driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Grant Enfinger crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference