Grant Enfinger scores first Truck win of 2023 in Kansas

Kris Wright‘s spin set up a restart with thirty-six laps remaining, which Grant Enfinger capitalised upon in such an impressive manner that he led the rest of the way and beat Corey Heim by over four seconds to score his eighth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory and first at Kansas Speedway.

Enfinger started eleventh but quietly worked towards the front, eventually finishing Stage #2 in second behind Ty Majeski. However, Majeski’s race came to a sudden end when he was trying to lap Rajah Caruth while pursuing Enfinger; Caruth placed multiple blocks on Majeski before being clipped by the latter and sent into the wall.

“We got back up front there with a little bit of strategy. Thought we may have made a wrong adjustment when we were racing the #24 there,” commented Majeski. “He was ultra aggressive blocking, so he blocked once, then twice, and I had a run and he was a little late.

“We weren’t very good the first run, missed our balance from practice a little bit, and we got a good adjustment and we had two-lap fresher tyres than everyone else, which made the truck better. It was a combination of both things, having a little bit fresher tires, but also making those adjustments. Overall, I think we had a good, capable truck to win tonight. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Caruth explained, “It was really close, and we had a long way to go. I was trying to cover the top, and he just kind of hooked me there. I didn’t double-move or anything. I picked the top there, and he just took me.”

The incident set up a restart that resulted in even more carnage when Matt DiBenedetto was hit by Christian Eckes onto the apron moments after taking the green flag. As DiBenedetto attempted to correct his truck, he slid up into Dean Thompson and Carson Hocevar.

At the front, Enfinger notched his first win of 2023 and second for GMS Racing after winning at Indianapolis the previous year.

“From the drop of the green flag, we had a really really good Chevy Silverado,” Enfinger stated. “Just started out really tight. Once Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) made one adjustment on it, I felt like from that point forward, we were potentially the best truck out there.”

Elsewhere in the field, Toni Breidinger scored an impressive fifteenth in her Truck début. Justin Carroll, after multiple failed attempts to qualify, finally cracked his first starting grid and finished twenty-third.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	11	23	Grant Enfinger	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	134	Running
2	12	11	Corey Heim	TRICON Garage	Toyota	134	Running
3	7	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	134	Running
4	14	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	134	Running
5	17	41	Ross Chastain*	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	134	Running
6	6	2	Nick Sanchez	Rev Racing	Chevrolet	134	Running
7	2	51	Kyle Busch*	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Chevrolet	134	Running
8	4	35	Jake Garcia	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	134	Running
9	19	17	Taylor Gray	TRICON Garage	Toyota	134	Running
10	23	16	Tyler Ankrum	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	134	Running
11	21	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Ford	134	Running
12	16	13	Hailie Deegan	ThorSport Racing	Ford	134	Running
13	10	43	Daniel Dye	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	133	Running
14	28	32	Bret Holmes	Bret Holmes Racing	Chevrolet	133	Running
15	24	1	Toni Breidinger	TRICON Garage	Toyota	133	Running
16	5	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Ford	133	Running
17	34	45	Lawless Alan	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	133	Running
18	8	15	Tanner Gray	TRICON Garage	Toyota	133	Running
19	27	04	Johnny Sauter	Roper Racing	Ford	133	Running
20	26	46	Brennan Poole*	G2G Racing	Toyota	133	Running
21	31	20	Nick Leitz	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	133	Running
22	30	56	Tyler Hill	Hill Motorsports	Toyota	132	Running
23	32	90	Justin Carroll	TC Motorsports	Toyota	132	Running
24	29	22	Josh Reaume	AM Racing	Ford	132	Running
25	9	98	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Ford	131	Running
26	36	12	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	131	Running
27	33	33	Mason Maggio	Reaume Brothers Racing	Ford	131	Running
28	25	02	Kris Wright	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	91	Accident
29	18	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	81	DVP
30	1	19	Christian Eckes	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	78	Accident
31	20	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Accident
32	22	5	Dean Thompson	TRICON Garage	Toyota	78	Accident
33	3	4	Chase Purdy	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Chevrolet	78	Accident
34	13	24	Rajah Caruth #	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	72	Accident
35	15	9	Colby Howard	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	55	Accident
36	35	47	Tim Viens	G2G Racing	Toyota	2	Transmission

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points