Even though Grant Enfinger has seen his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series lead shrink from 54 to 34 points in the last two races, he’s not about to change the approach that propelled him to the top of the standings.
The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford was 16th at Chicagoland on June 28, ending a streak of eight straight top 10s. At Kentucky on July 11 he was 24th. But those two results aren’t likely to make Enfinger, who hasn’t won yet this season, race more cautiously.
“I don’t think we race conservatively,” Enfinger said on Friday at Pocono Raceway, site of Saturday’s Gander RV 150 (1 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “We really haven’t all year. But I don’t think we do anything differently, to be honest with you. We kind of control our own destiny.
“We’ve got a little bit of a points lead—not a huge one—but, really, at the end of the day, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing, running to the limit of the truck and getting all we can get. Everybody on this No. 98 ThorSport Racing team has done a pretty good job of that all year.
“We’ve had a couple of hiccups the last couple of weeks, but nothing to really change our direction or anything like that. At this point, it’s business as usual.”
There’s another reason for Enfinger to race for wins rather than try to protect his series lead. With three races left in the regular season, it’s a remote possibility that three different new winners behind him in the standings could lock Enfinger out of the Playoffs.
A victory would be the definitive antidote for that nightmare scenario.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- Biffle, Dorton, Sprague join NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 nominees for the first time - April 24, 2024
- NASCAR will experiment with different tire compounds for the first time at All-Star Race - April 23, 2024
- Legacy Motor Club reserve driver Corey Heim to sub for Erik Jones at Dover - April 23, 2024