By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
Grant Enfinger clinched the regular season NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Championship following Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 from Michigan International Speedway.
Enfinger and his No. 98 Ford for ThorSport Racing qualified Saturday morning to a ninth place starting spot on the grid and would continue to have a solid day in the Irish Hills of Michigan.
Enfinger would finish Stage 1 in the sixth position, Stage 2 in the third position behind Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill and ultimately cross the finish line in the seventh position for his 13th Top-10 of the season.
With Enfinger’s sixth-place finish in the first stage of the event he had amassed enough points to clinch the regular season NGOTS Championship.
However, Enfinger locked up a spot in the eight-driver postseason field by simply starting the race and taking the green flag.
(Photo: International Speedway Corporation)
“It’s definitely huge. It’s a huge accomplishment. We haven’t won a race yet, but we did get this. It’s a big deal for the playoffs. 15 playoff points but also something to hang our hat on that we got out of hard work, perseverance”, said Enfinger following the race.
“We finished seventh today but had a 27th-place truck yesterday. That’s how our year has been. It hasn’t always been pretty, but we’ve always made the most of it.”
The regular season champ is here to check in!@GrantEnfinger | #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/NFu0ry8air
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 10, 2019
Even being winless thus far in 2019, Enfinger has had a fairly consistent season.
Heading into Thursday’s UHOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway, Enfinger has earned seven Top-5s, 13 Top-10s, two pole awards and led 236 laps.
Enfinger’s best finish of the season to this point is a second-place finish in the season-opener from Daytona International Speedway in February.
Bristol Motor Speedway could be the place where Enfinger captures his first win of the season as he’s never started nor finished outside the Top-10 in his only two starts at the track.
In two starts, Enfinger has finishes of fourth and most recently one year ago, tenth.