Talladega Superspeedway Love’s RV Stop 250 Race Preview
Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST
Talladega Superspeedway Stats
– NCTS Starts: 9; Wins: 1 (2016); Best start: 2nd (2016); Top 5s: 2; Top 10s: 3; Laps led: 96
– ARCA Starts: 6; Poles: 1 (2014); Best finish: 3rd (2009); Top 5s: 1; Top 10s: 3; Laps led: 89
2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats
– Starts: 20; Wins: 3 (Kansas I, WWT Raceway, Milwaukee); Poles: 1 (Milwaukee); Stage wins: 3; Top 5s: 8; Top 10s: 11; Laps led: 232; Current points position: 4th (+14 to the cutline)
– 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. 146 in Talladega. This truck was purpose-built for the super speedways over the off season, only racing one time before in this year’s season opener. Grant qualified 16th and finished fifth with it in Daytona after scoring points in both stages.
– Bristol Recap: Survive and advance was the keynote for the No. 23 team in the previous race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Starting from the 13th position in a race that was difficult to pull off many passes, Enfinger and crew utilized strategy to gain track position by only pitting once throughout the night. This call proved to be a great one, as it resulted in a fifth place run in stage two, and ultimately, a third place finish at the drop of the checkered flag.
– Sweet Home Alabama: The pride of Fairhope, Alabama returns to his home racetrack this weekend, and has always considered Talladega as one of his favorite races of the season. The local fans have showed their support of Grant for years, usually receiving some of the most cheers during driver introductions. There will be no shortage of No. 23 flags flying high throughout the enormous campgrounds this weekend.
– First Truck Series Start: Enfinger made his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut at Talladega back in 2010. Starting from the 12th position, the Alabama native would hang tough with the pack through his first race, until he was ultimately sidelined just four laps from the finish and credited with a 22nd place finish. 170 races later, Grant will make his 10th Truck Series start at Talladega on Saturday.
– Past Talladega Winner: Running on a limited Truck Series schedule in 2016, Talladega was one of only eight races on Grant Enfinger’s radar. Knowing that he had something to prove to keep his name relevant in the sport, he gave it his all and put it all out on the line. Enfinger qualified on the front row and stayed up front all race long, leading 45 laps en route to his first-career victory. A special day for those who root for the home team, Enfinger was able to celebrate his first win with several close family members and friends that attended the race.
– Hensley at Talladega: Jeff Hensley is one of the only crew chiefs that has contended in every single NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race ever held at Talladega. Making 17 starts since the inaugural race, his drivers have finished in the top-10 eight times including a pair of runner up finishes with Mike Skinner in 2006 and Spencer Gallagher in 2016. Hensley has also called 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series races at ‘Dega, holding one top-10 finish – a seventh place result in 2000.
– GMS at ‘Dega: GMS Racing has won three races at Talladega Superspeedway across two national series. Enfinger was the team’s first Truck Series driver to score a victory at the track in 2016, and in 2018, it was Timothy Peters that ran away with the checkered flag. Earlier that year, GMS broke through to win their first, and only win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, won by Spencer Gallagher.
– #FearTheFinger Playoffs Profile: Currently fourth in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points, Enfinger heads to Talladega with a slim 14 point buffer to the Round of 8 cut line. His three race wins at Kansas Speedway, WWT Raceway, and the Milwaukee Mile are tied for the most of any driver in the series, but strong finishes in the next two races will be crucial to determine his Championship 4 eligibility.
– Roll Tide: A huge University of Alabama football fanatic, Grant has shared similar interests with iconic NASCAR personality and former crew chief, Larry McReynolds, over the Crimson Tide. In nearly every one of his interviews with McReynolds, the two always make it a point to give a big ole’ “Roll Tide” shoutout over the air.
– Breast Cancer Awareness: As we enter the month of October, a team tradition that has taken place for many years will continue for the next two races at Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. All three GMS Racing trucks will carry pink ribbons onboard to honor family members of the respective truck’s crew members that have been affected by breast cancer.
– From The Drivers Seat: You earned your first Truck Series win with GMS Racing here, how special would it be to cap off your time with the team with another win at home?
“Yeah, it was a huge day for my career back in 2016 when we were able to get the win at Talladega in front of the hometown and all the friends and family. There were a lot of people that were at that race that have been instrumental in my career and all the opportunities that I had to that point. So that will always be one of the most special moments that I’ve had in my career. To come back and do it again with our last opportunity to run in that race with GMS Racing would be special from a personal standpoint, but it would be pretty big career-wise to be able to lock ourselves into the Championship 4.
Obviously, that’s the goal for all of us; but there’s only one of the eight that can sleep well at night not having to stress out about this race, and that’s Corey [Heim]. I think our game plan is to try and be aggressive, and hopefully get some stage points. We want to be able to contend for the win. I think there’s some different strategies that teams are going to use; I think some guys are going to try and play it safe, and some guys that have nothing to lose are going to race for the win. We’re not one of those guys, but we’re definitely going to be aggressive. We’ve first got to have enough speed in our Champion Power Equipment Chevy, and hopefully the rest will all take care of itself.”
– From The Pit Box (Jeff Hensley): Your team was able to capitalize on stage points and a good finish at Daytona to start the season off, but will your focus change for this superspeedway?
“If you’re getting stage points, that means you are closer to the front, which hopefully means that you’re out of all the trouble. So, I think it kind of goes hand and hand – stage points and track position. We’re just going to have to play our strategy by ear. Things change during that race a lot from lap to lap, so we just have to see how everything plays out, honestly. We would like to score as many stage points as we can, maybe even win a stage, because that will help us out and set us up to where we can race for the win at the end, hopefully.”
Race Information
– Round: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race no. 21 of 23 (Playoffs Round of 8)
– Track Location: Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Alabama
– Race Name: Love’s RV Stop 250
– Broadcast: Saturday, September 30th at 1:00 PM ET live on FS1 (TV), MRN (Radio), and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90