Grant Enfinger scores first Truck win of 2023 in Kansas

Kris Wright‘s spin set up a restart with thirty-six laps remaining, which Grant Enfinger capitalised upon in such an impressive manner that he led the rest of the way and beat Corey Heim by over four seconds to score his eighth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory and first at Kansas Speedway.

Enfinger started eleventh but quietly worked towards the front, eventually finishing Stage #2 in second behind Ty Majeski. However, Majeski’s race came to a sudden end when he was trying to lap Rajah Caruth while pursuing Enfinger; Caruth placed multiple blocks on Majeski before being clipped by the latter and sent into the wall.

“We got back up front there with a little bit of strategy. Thought we may have made a wrong adjustment when we were racing the #24 there,” commented Majeski. “He was ultra aggressive blocking, so he blocked once, then twice, and I had a run and he was a little late.

“We weren’t very good the first run, missed our balance from practice a little bit, and we got a good adjustment and we had two-lap fresher tyres than everyone else, which made the truck better. It was a combination of both things, having a little bit fresher tires, but also making those adjustments. Overall, I think we had a good, capable truck to win tonight. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Caruth explained, “It was really close, and we had a long way to go. I was trying to cover the top, and he just kind of hooked me there. I didn’t double-move or anything. I picked the top there, and he just took me.”

The incident set up a restart that resulted in even more carnage when Matt DiBenedetto was hit by Christian Eckes onto the apron moments after taking the green flag. As DiBenedetto attempted to correct his truck, he slid up into Dean Thompson and Carson Hocevar.

At the front, Enfinger notched his first win of 2023 and second for GMS Racing after winning at Indianapolis the previous year.

“From the drop of the green flag, we had a really really good Chevy Silverado,” Enfinger stated. “Just started out really tight. Once Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) made one adjustment on it, I felt like from that point forward, we were potentially the best truck out there.”

Elsewhere in the field, Toni Breidinger scored an impressive fifteenth in her Truck début. Justin Carroll, after multiple failed attempts to qualify, finally cracked his first starting grid and finished twenty-third.

Race results