Stand-up standout
- Updated: October 22, 2016
Enfinger scores his first Truck Series victory with Spencer Gallagher right behind, giving GMS a 1-2 finish
Grant Enfinger (24) rides comfortably out front on his way to winning the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. (All photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
TALLADEGA — Spencer Gallagher recognized Grant Enfinger as a stand-up guy long before the rest of the world. Saturday afternoon, Enfinger was standing up all right – on the top of his Chevy truck in the middle of Victory Lane.
Enfinger parlayed his ample but underrated driving expertise in plate races to score his first Camping World Truck Series victory, staying in front of GMS teammate Gallagher down the stretch to win the fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
On a normal day, Enfinger is a fabrication guy in the shop for one of the GMS trucks that would probably win for somebody else on the team. On this day, though, he stepped up and was the one taking the checkered flag.
He was followed across the line by Gallagher, Timothy Peters, Rico Abreu and another GMS teammate, Ben Kennedy.
“It’s definitely an unbelievable feeling, just so special with everybody who’s here,” Enfinger said. “My racing career started as a fan up here. Definitely a lot of emotion; a lot of friends and family at this race and just definitely very, very special.”
The Fairhope native won the race in his 13th Truck Series start with a piece that was on the tubing rack just a month ago. A few months ago even he didn’t know he was coming to the race.
“We definitely had to have the stars line up for us and the good Lord was looking out for us,” he said. “It just all worked out. Pretty unbelievable.”
The race was an eliminator for the Series Championship. William Byron, Christopher Bell, Peters, Matt Crafton, Kennedy and Johnny Sauter advanced to the Round of 6 that starts in Martinsville.
Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek, the seventh and eighth placeholders coming into the weekend and the first two to experience trouble in the race, were left behind.
Nemecheck was done early, his engine blowing after 14 laps. Hemric was involved in three separate incidents, including The Big One that collected 14 trucks midway through the race, but somehow managed to get back in the hunt. He missed the cut by 13 points.
Enfinger cut his teeth on the asphalt tracks of Mobile and Pensacola, eventually making a splash with an ARCA Championship in 2015. His star was rising, but he was running out of funding with championship aspirations that could’ve stalled everything.
In what he called “probably a testament of stubbornness” he stayed on course. GMS gave him a shot and it’s proven to be a good investment on both ends.
“I struggle to think of a racer with a reputation more sterling than Grant’s,” Gallagher said. “To use a baseball analogy, he is the true five-tool player. He is a great team player. He’s in the shop every day working on his own stuff. He is extraordinarily talented with a wrench in his hand and even moreso with a wheel in his hand.
“We had noticed Grant quite a lot in some of those early races when I was still in the ARCA Series and we thought this is a real stand-up guy. At GMS we try to provide opportunities for people who deserve it and there isn’t anybody I can think of more deserving for the opportunity and this win than Grant Enfinger.
“He has worked his whole life to be where he is right now. I can’t tell you how much good that fills my heart with to see someone succeed like that with our banner on it.”
Team owner Maurice Gallagher said Enfinger is “as good as they get” and is working to get his latest winner into a program next season.
Enfinger crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz felt pretty good about his driver’s chances when he got to the track Saturday, but admitted having doubts in the closing laps. That’s until the teammates kicked in to help. He eventually held them off at the end, too.
Enfinger managed to avoid all the trouble during the race, leading a race-high 45 laps, blocked off runs high and low after a late restart and stayed out front all the way to the finish.
“A lot of times it’s not an advantage to be leading on the last lap here, but we had a truck good enough that I think it was an advantage,” he said. “I’ve led here before and taken the white flag and finished eighth or tenth. This truck was good enough to where we couldn’t make a mistake but we could overcome some bad positions we were put in.
“When we were leading the pack those guys couldn’t really get to our back bumper and push us really hard. That’s a good thing. They weren’t getting big runs behind me. It just worked out perfectly. The truck we had was definitely the best piece on the track.”
Race winner Grant Enfinger (24) drives in tight quarters.
Timothy Peters (17) finished third and was one of the six drivers advancing to the next round of the Truck Series championship chase. Cody Coughlin (51) finished 31st.
Pole sitter Cole Custer looks down on the mangled remains of his truck after it was involved in a 14-truck wreck midway through Saturday’s Fred’s 250.
Track workers bring the remains of Ben Rhodes’ truck off the wrecker after it got caught up in the biggest incident of the race. Rhodes was running in third when he got bumped from behind and touched off a wreck that collected 14 trucks.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login