Grant Enfinger -- Daytona International Speedway Road Course Preview

How do you prepare for the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, with no practice, and the added pressure of this being the first race of the Triple Truck Challenge?

“Pretty much the only preparation we’ll get for the Daytona Road Course is through simulation and I’ve been able to log quite a bit of laps on the simulator through our friends at Ford Performance. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of questions that we won’t have answers to until the race starts. So, this race is gonna be crazy, a lot of thinking on your feet. We’ll have to play strategy by ear, based on what happens in the beginning stages of the race, but it’s definitely going to be different than normal because we’ve never raced there. The Triple Truck Challenge this weekend will also add a whole new level of excitement to this event as well, especially for the fans that are getting to come back to a truck race for the first time since Las Vegas (Motor Speedway) in March, making it even more of an incentive to win. Daytona will be the first of the three races in ‘The Trip,’ and there will definitely be some big chances to get caught up in a wreck, so I’m thankful we’re locked-in to the Playoffs, but hopeful that we can avoid all that and challenge for that $50,000 at the end.”

News and Notes:

The Daytona Road Course… For the first time in history, Daytona International Speedway’s world famous 3.61-mile, 14-turn, high-banked tri-oval/infield road course will play host to NASCAR’s top-three series, including Sunday’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Sunoco 159. Enfinger, who won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway earlier this season, on the 2.5-mile track, has a chance to become the first ever driver to sweep Truck Series races at Daytona with a win in Sunday’s 43-lap event.
Road Course Stats… Enfinger, who is in his fourth full-time season in the Gander Truck Series, has three career starts on a road course, at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with an average finish of 14.3.
Triple Truck Challenge… Sunday’s inaugural Sunoco 159 marks the first race in the Triple Truck Challenge, a program that provides drivers an opportunity to win up to $500,000 in bonus money. Slated for the following two races at Dover International Speedway (Aug. 21) and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (Aug. 30), the goal is simple, show up and win. “The Trip,” which is available to all 40 drivers on the entry list, will award a $50,000 bonus to the race winner of any one of the three events, an additional $150,000 to win two of the three events, and a cool half a million dollars to win all three events.
Halfway to Phoenix… Lap 22 of the Sunoco 159 on Sunday will mark the halfway point of the 2020 Gander Truck Series, 23-race season. Enfinger, who has two wins in the series first 11 races, has him atop the Playoff standings with 11 Playoff Points. However, if the Playoffs were to start today, he would be ranked third on the Playoff grid, seven points behind leader, Austin Hill and a mere four points behind second-place, Zane Smith.
This Week's No. 98 Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford F-150... The No. 98 ThorSport Racing team will unload chassis No. 47 for Sunday’s inaugural event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. This is the same chassis Enfinger raced at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, the last three seasons.
2020 Stats… In 11 starts this season, Enfinger has led 86 laps en route to two wins (Daytona and Atlanta), four top-five and five top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 12.0.
Truck Series Stats… Enfinger has 94 career Gander Truck starts to his credit since 2010. His success includes 660 laps led en route to four wins, five poles, 32 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes.
Take Me Back – Michigan… Enfinger started sixth, based on a random draw, finished seventh in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. Collectively, the ThorSport Racing driver led a race-high 38 laps and was leading in NASCAR overtime, but was involved in an incident at lap 105 of 107, resulting in a 33rd-place finish in the 21st annual event.
Welcome Back… For the fifth time this season, Champion Power Equipment, a market leader in the power equipment field, will adorn the No. 98 Ford F-150 for the inaugural event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.