Grant Enfinger Race Recap:
Grant Enfinger, driver of the No. 98 RIDE TV Toyota Tundra, made his track debut at Gateway Motorsports Park (GMP) in Saturday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Drivin’ for Linemen 200. Starting 14th, Enfinger finished 12th in Stage 1, and fourth in Stage 2. Restarting sixth in the final Stage, the ThorSport Racing driver maintained a position just outside the top-five through the final 83 laps. With 33 laps remaining, crew chief Jeff Hensley brought the No. 98 machine to pit road, for a scheduled stop under green, for two tires and fuel. With a mix of strategy on pit road, and a late-race caution, the RIDE TV driver was able to muscle his way to a fifth-place finish behind race winner, John Hunter Nemechek.
The solid run was Enfinger’s third consecutive top-five finish.
Quote:
Are you happy with your finish tonight?
“It turned out that way because these guys busted their tails all day. We had a great test here a few weeks ago, but we got caught-up in that crash during practice, and these guys had to work their tails off to get it fixed. We had a better truck, I feel like, than fifth, but it gets dicey on the restarts, and you’ve got to put yourself in compromising situations to even have a shot at it. We got pushed around a little bit, we pushed around a little bit, but that’s just the way it goes. I’m proud of everybody on this RIDE TV team. We’re making gains. Every time we go to the track myself, Jeff Hensley (crew chief), everybody is just clicking, so I feel good going into the heart of the season.”
Team Information:
Started: 14th
Finished: 5th
Laps: 160/160
Laps Led: 0
Status: Running
Driver Points: 6th
Owner Points: 7th
Notes:
- The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) had two practice sessions on Saturday morning in preparation for Saturday night’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200. Grant Enfinger was 10th, and 18th, respectively, in each session.
- Early in final practice on Saturday afternoon, Enfinger and the No. 21 of Johnny Sauter made contact, forcing the RIDE TV driver into the wall, and resulting in damage to the right rear quarter panel of the No. 98 machine.
- In his GMP debut, Enfinger started 14th, ran as high as fourth, and finished fifth. The top-five result was Enfinger’s third consecutive top-five finish.
- The RIDE TV driver earned bonus points in Stage 2 for finishing inside the top-10.
- In eight starts in 2017, the ThorSport Racing driver has led 18 laps en route to three top-five and five top-10 finishes.
- In 22 career NCWTS starts, Enfinger has one pole, one win, and has led 68 laps en route to five top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes.
- Enfinger’s ThorSport Racing teammates finished fourth (Crafton), eighth (Rhodes), and 12th (Coughlin).
- Up Next: The M&M’S 200 at Iowa Speedway in Newton on Friday, June 23 at 8:00pm ET.