HomeRace Track NewsTennesseeEnfinger wins at Nashville; record third consecutive ARCA victory

Enfinger wins at Nashville; record third consecutive ARCA victory

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Grant Enfinger
Grant Enfinger

(NASHVILLE, Tenn. – April 11, 2015) – Grant Enfinger doesn’t play guitar, but he might start. The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver is taking one home with him from Nashville.

“It will be even cooler when I learn how to play it,” Enfinger said in a busy victory lane following the Troop Aid 200 Saturday from Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.

The Fairhope, Ala.-driver started in the back of the field but still led the most laps (90) and won his third consecutive ARCA Racing Series event. He has started the season with three straight wins two years in a row, becoming the first driver in ARCA history to win the first three races of the season in consecutive years.

“It’s been incredible,” Enfinger said. “The good Lord has definitely been looking out for us. We had a part failure, but luckily it was in the last lap of practice. It gave our crew a chance to fix it. We really put them through some adversity today. It was a very, very long day for us, but as soon as the green flag dropped, we had a really great car and the class of the field tonight.”

Enfinger’s No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet finished in front of Matt Tifft in the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Toyota, Austin Wayne Self in the No. 98 AM Technical Solutions Ford and Brandon Jones, driving the No. 25 Ansell-Menards Toyota. Menards Pole Award winner Kyle Weatherman finished fifth in the No. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Ford.

Enfinger had to start at the rear of the field for an unapproved adjustment. He quickly began slicing his way to the front of the Troop Aid 200 lineup, however. Weatherman led the first 71 laps, Self the next seven, and then Enfinger led from laps 79 to 133 before Josh Williams charged to the front.

Williams had stopped for four tires earlier while most of the rest of the lead-lap cars only took on two tires. By the time the final pit stops came, Williams had only two tires to take while Enfinger and others took four. Williams had led 32 laps. Enfinger took the lead on lap 166 from Williams and held off Tifft by 2.054 seconds for the win.

“Our motor started blowing up on lap 125,” Williams said. “The oil pressure started bouncing back and forth. We were losing a cylinder or something. You couldn’t tell it on the old tires, because everyone was so messed up.”

Williams, who finished seventh, said he chose to take four tires first because he felt it was going to be a long green flag run.

“I took the two tires late to try and get track position,” he said. “If we wouldn’t have had the motor issue, it might have been different. The car was really, really good.”

Tifft equaled his 2014 finish at Kentucky Speedway by finishing second.

“With 37 to go it was a little outside the tire range,” Tifft said. “I had to get around the No. 6 and that cost us a little bit of time. We got with Grant, and maintained about 10 car lengths back, but we were running the same lap times. We were so even. Track position was just so key.”

Self finished third for Mason Mitchell Motorsports.

“We started out struggling with a loose car but we started to figure it out at the end of practice,” Self said. “We took on a couple tires early and that gave us some momentum. We never gave up. We just kept pushing and putting ourselves in good position.”

Jones earned yet another top-five finish. He’s never finished lower than fourth in his five ARCA Racing Series starts.

“I figured we’d have a lot more cautions,” Jones said. “We were on the same tire strategy as everyone else. The car was good. This was my worst finish in ARCA, so I can’t complain about that.”

David Levine finished sixth in the No. 59 Gary Yeomans Ford-Attorney At Law-TraqGear Ford. Clay Greenfield finished eighth in the No. 55 Sealmaster Nashville-Southern Pipe & Supply Toyota and Levine’s teammate Michael Lira finished ninth. Thomas Praytor finished 10th,his second straight top 10 finish in the DK-LOK Ford.Sarah Cornett-Ching was 11th when the race ended and Bobby Hamilton Jr. was in 12th.

The ARCA Racing Series was making its first appearance at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville since the early 1990s and had near-perfect weather conditions for the 200-lap, 119-mile event. The race, which was available on a pay-per-view basis on the arcaracing.com web site, saw three cautions for 34 laps and was over in one hour and 27 minutes.

With the win, Enfinger extended his series point lead and made it two-for-two in the Calypso Lemonade Short Track Challenge. The next race on the 2015 schedule is the Federated Auto Parts 200 from Salem Speedway on Sunday, April 26.

2015 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #3
Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, Nashville Tennessee, 4-11-15
Troop Aid 200
FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS
1 2 23 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL GMS Racing Chevrolet 200 Running
2 5 52 Matt Tifft/Hinckley OH Federated Auto Parts Toyota 200 Running
3 13 98 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Services Ford 200 Running
4 8 25 Brandon Jones/Atlanta GA Ansell-Menards Toyota 200 Running
5 1 22 Kyle Weatherman/Wentzville MO Cunningham Motorsports Ford 200 Running
6 9 59 David Levine/Highland Park IL Gary Yeomans Ford-Attorney At Law-TraqGear Ford 200 Running
7 6 6 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL Southwest Florida Cable Construction Chevrolet 200 Running
8 3 55 Clay Greenfield/Clarksville TN Sealmaster Nashville-Southern Pipe & Supply Toyota 199 Running
9 4 58 Michael Lira/Port Orange FL Gary Yeomans Ford-Attorney At Law-TraqGear Ford 198 Running
10 14 9 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL DK LOK Ford 197 Running
11 12 2 Sarah Cornett-Ching/Summerland BC Race 101 Chevrolet 197 Running
12 18 97 Bobby Hamilton Jr./Greenbrier TN Nitroforce Industries Titan 1000 Dodge 197 Running
13 11 68 Brian Finney/Merritt Island FL Finney Racing-Bob Steele Chevrolet 196 Running
14 10 42 Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY Crosley Brands-T&T Constr-Glad Precision Dodge 196 Running
15 17 14 Ryan Heavner/Lincolnton NC Triple H Diesel-A Cut Above Stoneworks Chevrolet 196 Running
16 16 06 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Kan Do Dodge 195 Running
17 22 40 Richard Altman/Moreno Valley CA Insignia Graphics Inc. Dodge 189 Running
18 15 5 Clair Zimmerman/Denver PA Huntilar Ford 189 Running
19 7 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Barbera’s Autoland Ford 188 Running
20 24 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 181 Running
21 20 03 Kevin Rutherford/Flower Mound TX Mike Affarano Motorsports Chevrolet 174 Running
22 21 10 Rick Clifton/Circleville OH Fast Track High Performance Driving Ford 132 Accident
23 19 27 A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL Liberty Village-McGladrey Ford 67 Accident
24 23 81 Kevin Campbell/Shepherdsville KY Country Bob’s Sauces & Seasonings Chevrolet 37 Rotor
25 27 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Kimmel Racing Ford 12 Transmssn
26 28 0 Tim Viens/Daytona Beach FL Wayne Peterson Racing Ford 11 Engine
27 29 80 Chris Bailey Jr./South Park PA Finney-Kimmel Racing Ford 5 Brakes
28 25 3 Josh White/Charleston WV Hixson Construction Chevrolet 3 Rear End
29 26 00 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN Wayne Peterson Racing Ford 1 Clutch
01 Bubba Pollard/Senoia GA Goodsen Racing Ford
95 Jordan Williams/New Palestine IN JW Chassis-Hoosier Lawn Care Dodge
Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell: Kyle Weatherman 19.389 (110.661 mph) *NTR
Margin of Victory: 2.054 seconds Cautions: 3 for 34 laps
Time of Race: 1:27:43 Average Speed: 81.529 mph
Lap Leaders: Weatherman 1-71 (71); Self 72-78 (7); Enfinger 79-133, 166-200 (90); Williams 134-165 (32)
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