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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Grant Enfinger Emerges Victorious in Kansas Truck Race

Grant Enfinger ensured his dominant performance resulted in a win at Kansas. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

Grant Enfinger ensured his dominant performance resulted in a win at Kansas. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ahead of Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway, Grant Enfinger enjoyed a strong, consistent start to his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.

Ranked sixth in points with two top fives and three top 10s, the 38-year-old Fairhope, Alabama native seemed like a good but quiet contender for the 134-lap race. Starting from the 11th position, Enfinger was in the mix with Kyle Busch, Zane Smith and Corey Heim throughout this incident marred race.

With over 29% of the race slowed down by seven caution periods, this put a premium on the likes of Enfinger and his rivals to maximize track position. In this case, Enfinger bided as time while Christian Eckes, Ben Rhodes, Busch and Smith led the opening stanza.

As Busch tallied the Stage 1 win, Enfinger placed fourth, a strong result as the highest finishing GMS Racing driver. This would be merely the beginning of the 11th year Truck racer’s stellar Saturday night at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Shirley Bassey may need to record a song for Enfinger in the tune of a James Bond film. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

Shirley Bassey may need to record a song for Enfinger in the tune of a James Bond film. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

Although Busch led the opening laps of Stage 2, Enfinger took the lead on Lap 40 and enjoyed the first of three stints toward the front of the field.

However, a Lap 50 caution for Kris Wright’s frontstretch spin jumbled up the running order with Ty Majeski taking the lead soon after. In a dash to the finish, Majeski staved off a determined Enfinger for the Stage 2 win.

From there, it became a race of track position and patience. On Lap 74, Majeski and Rajah Caruth and Chase Purdy tangled in a frontstretch crash while a Lap 80 frontstretch wreck eliminated Dean Thompson, Christian Eckes, Matt DiBenedetto and Carson Hocevar from contention.

Not long after, Wright spun for the second time in the race, prompting the race’s final caution on Lap 93.

Wright’s spin prompted the lead lap contenders, save for Tanner Gray, to pit for tires and fuel. Smith won the race off pit road and wound up restarting on the outside of Row 1 alongside Gray.

With the race back underway, Smith wasted little time getting past Gray but his stint at the front of the pack was short live with Heim scooting past him on Lap 99.

Just as it seemed that the race would be decided between Heim and Smith, Enfinger, who ran a not so distant third, made a bold, three wide pass for the lead on the backstretch with 32 laps remaining.

Enfinger gradually put distance between himself and Heim by at least a tenth of a second per lap. While it may not seem like a lot, it translated to a convincing, 4.358 second victory for Enfinger over Heim.

The 2015 ARCA Menards Series champion soaked in his eighth career Truck Series win, praising his team’s resiliency.

“Kansas has been a good track for us, but we haven’t had a dominant truck like this in a long time,” Enfinger said. “Jeff Hensley (crew chief) did this for me a few years ago. But lights out, we had the best Chevy Silverado out here. Thank you to Champion Power Equipment for sticking with me.”

In spite of a strong, respectable start to the 2023 season, Enfinger felt like his performances lacked that umph like a New York sirloin steak missing its trademark seasoning.

“It’s been a dismal year and a half,” he said. “I know we came up with a win last year but overall, the season has been a little sluggish. Our first seven races was a little sluggish. I was disappointed in our execution, but Jeff talked to me before the race and gave me some encouragement.

“He did a heckuva job tonight but the biggest thing was these guys brought me an unbelievable Chevy Silverado. Thank you to GM and their Military Appreciation Initiative. It’s pretty special, we’ve got a red white and blue truck so definitely very, very cool.”

Youth and enthusiasm may have seemed like prevailing intangibles in the Truck Series this season, but Enfinger outwitted two, tenacious young competitors in Heim and Smith. In Heim’s case, he may have been too preoccupied on staving off Smith over considering the big picture.

Heim gave it all he had in pursuit of his second Truck win of 2023. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

Heim gave it all he had in pursuit of his second Truck win of 2023. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

“I think that last caution put a hole in our strategy a little bit,” Heim said. “If we had that last run go green and we had the same tires as the 23 (Grant Enfinger), I thought we could beat him straight up. As soon as we got that last caution and we were on uneven tires, I knew it was going to be all track position. I got hung up trying to block the 38 (Smith) and kind of took a step back from there and lost track position.

“Huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite, everyone who makes it happen. We’ve been working really hard on our mile-and-a-half program and we have already taken a big leap in a short period of time.”

Similarly, Smith lamented over his podium as he considered a long embraced strategy at the superspeedways.

“There were a lot of people out there who shouldn’t have been out there,” Smith said. “But, the pit crew did a fantastic job of always getting us track position. Just couldn’t really choose the right lane there, and that final restart, just probably should have protected the bottom a little bit better.

“Just didn’t think he was going to be able to clear me while we were wide-open. It is what it is. Fast forward: Kind of gave it to the No. 23 there.”

Regardless, Enfinger will take his first win of 2023 in any conceivable fashion. That said, he chalked up his latest victory to his team’s preparation of his No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado as the series kicks off the first of its five consecutive race weekends.

Enfinger cashed in on a strong evening at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

Enfinger cashed in on a strong evening at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)

“You know Zane helped me out there they side drafted each other a little bit there, but at the end of the day, what made that pass possible was we had the best truck out here so thank you to Jeff Hensley, everyone at the fab shop, Jerry, GMS Fabrication, everybody that’s worked so hard on these things,” Enfinger said. “I don’t think we’ve truly showed it but a few times in the year and a half I’ve been over here, but we’re going to show a lot more of it this year.

“They got side-by-side, and made it a little bit easier on us, but I feel like we had the best truck anyway.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers

Busch-Rhodes-Z. Smith-Enfinger-Purdy/Caruth-Ankrum-Heim-Hocevar-Deegan

Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers

Majeski-Enfinger-Heim-Caruth-Z.Smith/Eckes-Ankrum-Purdy-Friesen-Thompson

Heart of America 200 Top 10 Finishers at Kansas

Enfinger-Heim-Z. Smith-Friesen-Chastain/Sanchez-Busch-Garcia-Taylor Gray-Ankrum

Rob Tiongson is a 30-something motorsports journalist who enjoys sports like baseball, basketball, football, soccer, track and field and hockey. A Boston native turned Austinite, racing was the first sport that caught his eyes. From interviews to retrospective articles, if it's about anything with an engine and four wheels, it'll be here on TPF, by him or by one of his talented columnists who have a passion for racing. Currently seeking a sports writing, public relations, or sports marketing career, particularly in motorsports. He enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson, a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, pursues his Master of Arts in Digital Journalism at St. Bonaventure University. Indeed, while Tiongson is proud to be from Massachusetts, he's an everywhere kind of man residing in Texas.

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