Grant Enfinger; Allgaier Motorsports Hope Testing Pays Its Dividends At Madison

Topics:  Grant Enfinger, Herr’s Live Life With Flavor 200

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Allgaier Motorsports
August 24, 2011

OREGON, Wisconsin (August 24, 2011) - With the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards poised for its welcomed return to Madison International Speedway for Friday night’s Herr’s Live Life With Flavor 200, Allgaier Motorsports and driver Grant Enfinger hope a recent test session will pay off and allow the team to keep a season of consistency alive.

Enfinger, driver of the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger wouldn’t mind being the first car to take the checkered flag in Friday night’s thrill; as the Fairhope, Alabama native has found himself on the verge of his inaugural ARCA victory but has fallen short several times this season including top-five finishes in two recent short tracks at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and Iowa Speedway respectively.

“We’ve been extremely strong on the short tracks lately and the test session really well, so I’m looking forward to Friday night,” said Enfinger, who currently sits tied for third in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings. “The track reminds me a lot of Montgomery Speedway in Alabama where it has tight corners and drag race type straightaways. I’m hoping that on top of the testing and my experience at Montgomery Speedway will pay off.”

When asked if racing under the light raises the intensity for the drivers and teams, Enfinger paused and then responded, “I don’t know if it is necessarily raises the intensity but I do enjoy racing under the lights. Its cooler for us racecar drivers and the fans seem to love it better compared to day racing. I think we’ve seen this season both in the day and at night that the competition has been tough; yet also aggressive near the end of the race. I don’t expect any different at Madison, but I do know it will be a lot of fun for everyone.”

After racing with crew chief Kelly Kovski last Sunday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield) in the Allen Crowe 100, Enfinger is glad that Kovski is hanging up his helmet for a week to return to the top of the pit box for the 15th race of the season.

“It was a blast to race with Kelly at Springfield,” sounded Enfinger. “He taught me a lot about dirt racing in the ARCA Racing Series and I now know why he enjoys racing on it so much. We were racing there hard together near the end of the race and I’m glad he had a good finish, but I even more glad to have him back as crew chief.”

With five races remaining on the 2011 ARCA schedule, Enfinger is currently tied for third place in the championship standings with Chris Buescher. Enfinger knows that one of the goals for Friday night is to break away from being glued with his fellow competitor while also retake second from nine-time champion Frank Kimmel who stands just a mere 10 points ahead of the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger.

“Our group of second through fifth in the standings is really tight right now and we’re all trying to hunt Ty (Dillon) down. We just have to keep going to the track this week and keeping our No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger in line for Mike (Allgaier, car owner), Justin (Allgaier, 2008 ARCA Racing Series champion) and Ashley (Allgaier) so we can finish as high as we possibly can.”

Before making the hike to Wisconsin this week, Enfinger had the opportunity to hang out with fellow driver and friend Tom Hessert where the two represented the series Wednesday night at the Twenty Third Annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Induction Ceremony in Detroit.

“It was a humbling moment when I was asked to attend the induction ceremony,” offered Enfinger. “It’s not something that a driver has the chance to do often, so I wasn’t going to turn the offer down for anything. I was proud along with Tom (Hessert) to be the drivers that represented ARCA during the prestigious event and I just want to thank ARCA again for asking me to be a part of a very memorable night.”

Entering Madison, Enfinger has 32 ARCA Racing Series starts to his credit. In those events, he has maneuvered 12 top-fives and 21 top-10 finishes including a career-best finish of second three times at Kentucky Speedway (July 2009), Chicagoland Speedway (August 2009), and Toledo Speedway (May 2011). He has controlled the field nine times for 216 laps. His best qualifying run occurred at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway where Enfinger bolted to his first career pole.

The Herr’s Live Life With Flavor 200 (200 laps / 100 miles) is the 15th of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The fourth-ever ARCA event held at Madison International Speedway is a one-day show. Practice begins Friday, August 26 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. An on-track autograph session has been etched into the schedule from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The field will take the green flag shortly after 8:30 p.m. that evening. The event will not be televised but race coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the 1,327th race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards since it was formed in 1953 will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. All times are local.

For more on Grant Enfinger, please visit grantenfinger.com.

Additional input on Allgaier Motorsports is available by logging onto AllgaierMotorsports.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com