Kansas Speedway Kansas Lottery 200 Race Preview

Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST

Kansas Speedway Stats

– NCTS Starts: 10; Wins: 1 (Spring, 2023); Best start: 3rd; Top 5s: 6; Top 10s: 8; Laps led: 128

– ARCA Starts: 7; Best start: 2nd; Best finish: 3rd (four times); Top 5s: 4; Top 10s: 4; Laps led: 28

2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats

– Starts: 18; Wins: 3 (Kansas I, WWT Raceway, Milwaukee); Poles: 1 (Milwaukee); Stage wins: 3; Top 5s: 7; Top 10s: 10; Laps led: 228; Current points position: 3rd (Locked-in to Round of 8)

– About Champion Power Equipment: Since 2003, Champion Power Equipment has earned a reputation for designing and producing the market’s finest power equipment. From our original headquarters in Santa Fe Springs, California, Champion has expanded its North American footprint to include facilities in Jackson, Tennessee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Toronto Canada. Today, Champion’s product line has expanded to include portable generators, home standby generators, inverter generators, engines, winches and log splitters. With over 2.5 million generators sold in North America, Champion is a market leader in the power equipment field. Visit ChampionPowerEquipment.com for more information.

– Chassis History/Info: Enfinger and the No. 23 team will compete with GMS Racing chassis no. 346 at Kansas, which was the same truck that he used to win with back in the spring. The team has raced this Chevrolet four times this year, earning top-10s every time it was ran. Grant finished ninth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, won at Kansas, and finished fifth at both Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway.

– Milwaukee Winner: Last time the Truck Series held a race, it was all Grant Enfinger who stole the show. Starting off out front, Enfinger earned his sixth career NCTS pole award, adding to the tally of 28 NCTS pole awards for the team, and first since 2021. He would lead every lap in stage one on his way to his second stage win of the year. Grant would have his work cut out for him in stage two after losing the lead on pit road, but would mount a charge and snatch away his third stage win of the season in a late pass. Pit road mishaps hindered the No. 23 team again late in the race, but there was no denying Enfinger the race win. He would go on to take the lead (for the final time) on lap 159, securing his third race win of the year.

– Kansas Winner: Back in May, Grant Enfinger proved that his No. 23 team was putting in the work to become weekly contenders. The hours put in back at the shop had finally paid off, as he displayed pure dominance at Kansas. Though Enfinger qualified 11th, it didn’t take him long at all to maneuver his way to the front of the pack. Once he was able to clear himself away from the field in clean air, his speed became unmatched. In total that race, the veteran led a race-high of 65 laps on his way to victory lane.

– Hensley at Kansas: Jeff Hensley has a long list of races in his notebook for Kansas Speedway, making 23 Truck Series starts along with one Xfinity start. Hensley won back-to-back pole awards in 2006 and 2007 with Mike Skinner, and his drivers have made four total front row qualifying efforts. Enfinger’s win earlier this year was Hensley’s first at the track, but he’s been close on several other occasions as well. Since 2004, Hensley’s trucks have finished inside the top-five 12 times in addition to 17 top-10 results.

– Not Done Yet: Just days after the announcement was made that GMS Racing will be shuttering its Truck Series operations at the conclusion of the season, Enfinger silenced the critics by making a statement in Milwaukee. There’s no laying down here. “None of these guys, including me, have a job next year, but I feel like we proved that we deserve one,” was his response in victory lane. The team is more focused than ever to close out in a historic way, and everyone is pushing hard to make a run at the championship.

– #FearTheFinger Playoffs Profile: Grant’s win in Milwaukee officially locks him into the Round of 8, which will start next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Entering Kansas, the driver of the No. 23 team is sitting on 24 total playoffs points, which is second highest out of the 10 drivers competing for the championship. He is currently third in points, 12 markers back from the overall series leader, Corey Heim.

– From The Drivers Seat: How big of a relief was it to lock yourself into the Round of 8 following the win at Milwaukee last race?

“Being able to lock into the next round allows our team to be more aggressive for Kansas. We had a great Chevy there earlier this year, and we are able to bring back that same truck. I’m proud of our GMS Racing / Champion Power Equipment team, and feel confident that we can go to Kansas and grab another win.”

– From The Pit Box (Jeff Hensley): Since you’re locked in now, how do you approach this weekend’s race at Kansas from a strategy perspective?

“Anything short of a win doesn’t do us any good. We need to score as many stage points was we possibly can. I mean our goal is obviously to win both stages and win the race like we did in Milwaukee, but we need to carry points with us from Kansas into the next round and the easiest way to do that is to win stages and the race. So, we maybe need to be more aggressive, maybe take a chance with taking tires before the end of the stage and getting track position. It does change your outlook being locked in, but we will see what happens.”

Race Information

– Round: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race No. 19 of 23 (Playoffs Round of 10)

– Track Location: Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kansas

– Race Name: Kansas Lottery 200

– Broadcast: Friday, September 8th at 9:00 PM ET live on FS1 (TV), MRN (Radio), and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90