NASCAR Playoff Prospect Grant Enfinger Ready For Wild Card Race At Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Superior Essex/Curb Records/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – Gander Trucks 250

Race No. 18 of 23

Team Info/Stats:

Crew Chief: Jeff Hensley

2019 Driver Points Standings: 4th (-28)

2019 Owner Points Standings: 5th (-26)

Playoff Position: 4th (-13)

Spotter: Gary Mann

News and Notes:

#NASCARPlayoffs Profile… The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs are heating up! Grant Enfinger, who entered the Playoffs seeded second, is currently fourth in the standings following the first race in Round 1, at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sunday’s Gander Trucks 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP) will mark the second race in Round 1, and Talladega Superspeedway will round out the third and final race in the three-race elimination round. The top-six drivers following Talladega will advance to Round 2.
Road Course Prep… Enfinger and his ThorSport Racing teammates have made two starts with Multimatic Motorsports in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series, on behalf of Ford Performance, in preparation for Sunday’s 64-lap event at CTMP. The ThorSport Racing quartet competed at the 3.74-mile, 17 turn, Sebring International Raceway in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 in March and most recently at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn Canadian Tire Motorsports park, in the CTMP 250, in July.
Off-Weekend Fun… Following Thursday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Enfinger flew to Springfield, Illinois to crew chief for his good friend, Kelly Kovski in the No. 16 Allgaier Motorsports entry, in the ARCA Menards Series Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Kovski started eighth and finished sixth, at the one-mile clay oval.
Welcome Aboard – Superior Essex… Superior Essex, the leading manufacturer and supplier of communications cable in North America, will make their debut on board Enfinger’s No. 98 Ford F-150 in Sunday’s Gander Trucks 250 at CTMP.
Canada Eh’ … Enfinger will make his third start at CTMP in Sunday’s Gander Trucks 250. In two previous starts, the ThorSport Racing driver has a track-best start of 11th (2018) and a track-best finish of 13th (2017).
Chassis Chatter... The No. 98 ThorSport Racing team will unload chassis No. 47 for Sunday’s 64-lap event north of the border. This is the same chassis Enfinger piloted at CTMP in 2017 and 2018.
Ford Fact… Ford powered F-150's have found victory lane 99 times since 1995 in the Gander Trucks, including two times at CTMP with drivers Ryan Blaney (2014) and Austin Cindric (2017).
Take Me Back – Bristol… Enfinger started 14th, finished 11th in Stage 1, ninth in Stage 2 and led 57 laps in the final Stage to finish fifth in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Truck Series Stats… Enfinger has 77 career Gander Trucks starts to his credit. His success includes five poles and 564 laps led en route to two wins, 26 top-five and 49 top-10 finishes.
Catch Grant In Canada… Enfinger will participate in the Gander Trucks autograph session Saturday, Aug. 24, from 2:00 – 2:45 p.m. ET under the tent in Paddock E at CTMP.

Chatting with Grant Enfinger...

On road course racing and this race being the “Wild Card” in the Playoffs

“I’m actually not much of a road course racer, but Ford Performance has allowed us to run a lot of laps on a road course this year, even some at Mosport, so I’m really excited about getting back there this weekend. We had pretty good speed last year with the same group of guys, same truck, with me driving and Jeff Hensley tuning on it, like he does every week. The reason it’s a wild card is because I think we’ve only been there one time when the leader hasn’t been dumped on the last lap, so there’s not much respect that goes on at a road course. With this race being in the Playoffs, there is that much more on the line. You’ll definitely see some tempers flare, but hopefully we can stay out of the drama because I still feel like this is a race we can win. I don’t think I’m going into it as a favorite or anything, but I feel like we’ll unload with a solid top five Ford F-150 and at that point, anything can happen.”

What’s the trickiest part of getting around the course?

“The most important turn at Mosport is Turn 5 because the exit of Turn 5 sets you up for the really long straight away. If you slip, even a little bit, or get hung up with someone trying to pass on the exit of Turn 5, you can lose a second on your lap time. The section I have to work on the most, personally, is Turns 8, 9 and 10. I got a lot better there last year, but that’s where I’m going to focus my energy in practice.”