Grant Enfinger; Allgaier Motorsports Make Strides In Iowa; Finishes Fourth

Grant Enfinger; Allgaier Motorsports Make Strides In Iowa; Finishes Fourth

Topics: Grant Enfinger, Prairie Meadows 200

Grant Enfinger; Allgaier Motorsports Make Strides In Iowa; Finishes Fourth

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Allgaier Motorsports
July 18, 2011

NEWTON, Iowa (July 18, 2011) - - Allgaier Motorsports with driver Grant Enfinger continue to mount impressive performances in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards including this past Saturday’s race at Iowa Speedway in the Prairie Meadows 200.

With finishes like the Springfield, Illinois team has dished out this season, Enfinger knows that his first career victory is on the horizon, even though he came up short in the 11th race of the season.

Crew chief Kelly Kovski elected to bring a brand new No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger to the .875-mile paved oval. Shaking down the same machine earlier in the week at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, the veteran ARCA team headed west to embrace ARCA’s yearly stop at the Rusty Wallace-designed facility.

Finishing in the top-five last year at Iowa Speedway gave Enfinger a boost knowing that he knew the particulars of the race track and with a good setup and luck, a strong finish could easily be obtainable.

The team admitted that they struggled finding the ideal setup on their No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger during the two practice sessions on Friday afternoon. After claiming the 13th and 19th fastest laps respectively, Enfinger consulted with his crew where they made some aggressive changes hoping that they would pay off during the race.

In qualifying on Saturday afternoon, Enfinger posted a lap of 24.517 seconds at 128.48 miles per hour lining the 2008 ARCA championship team 20th on the starting grid. Not necessarily worried about where they started, the team knew they just needed to avoid any potential carnage ahead of them that could potentially stall their climb.

With a heat index topping out at 124 degrees outside the car and a sweltering 150 degrees plus inside the car, the stars and cars of the ARCA Racing Series took the green flag shortly after 4:00 p.m. Enfinger gained six positions only to be stalled when the No. 63 spun in turn three on lap one.

Racing resumed on lap six with Enfinger locking the 16th position. The field would stretch into a long-green flag run that saw Enfinger move into the 12th spot by lap 20 and then passed Tom Hessert on lap 38 for 11th.

Inching forward, Enfinger in the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger set his sights on entering the top-10 when the yellow flag waived again on lap 50.

During the caution, Kovski elected to bring his driver down pit road for tires and fuel. Returning to the track in the sixth position, Enfinger climbed into the top-five by lap 64.

Lap 68 found Enfinger himself having to fight to stay in the top-five with charges from behind from Chris Buescher and Chad Hackenbracht. Buescher and Hackenbracht were able to make their away around Enfinger moving the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger into the sixth spot where he stayed until the caution flag waived on lap 90.

Electing to stay out when pit road opened, Enfinger reassumed the Prairie Meadows 200 in fifth place when racing resumed on lap 98.

14 laps later though, Enfinger would slid back to sixth make his final trip to pit road for tires and fuel after the yellow flag was flown two laps earlier for an incident involving the No. 7. A strong pit stop by the Allgaier Motorsports team sent their back into battle claiming the sixth position.

Racing resumed on lap 114 with Enfinger showing patience as he prepared to make his trek back to the front. By lap 130, the avid late model competitor lifted himself to fourth.

Inside 50 laps remaining, Enfinger maintained a position inside the top-five and found himself in a torrid battle with Tim George Jr. for the fourth position inside the final 35 markers of the race. He was able to get around the Richard Childress Racing driver with six laps remaining. While George Jr. attempted to retake the position he lost, Enfinger would fend off the challenges and take the checkered flag behind race winner Ty Dillon, Cale Gale and Chris Buescher.

The Fairhope, Alabama native netted his fourth top-five of the season and ninth top-10 of the year after just 11 races.

“We struggled with the handling of our No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger through the bumps around Iowa Speedway,” offered Enfinger. “We never gave up though. Change after change, the car kept getting better and it showed with our performance on the race track. I know a win is in our future, we just need all the cards to play out for us. I appreciate the hard work of the Allgaier Motorsports team this weekend, especially during the race in the incredible heat. I’m going to get these guys a win soon and we’ll have something to really talk about then.”

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is a welcomed trip back to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, formally known as O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) for the running of the Ansell Protective Gloves 200 set for Thursday, July 28th. The iconic short track event will be aired live on SPEED beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Enfinger will make his inaugural debut at the Clermont, Indiana-based track.

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

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

PHOTO CAPTION: Grant Enfinger, driver of the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger for Allgaier Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

MEDIA CONTACT:

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