by Crystal Clay, Chief Motorsport Correspondent
AVONDALE, Ariz. — A winning recipe starts with the right ingredients, and mental toughness is a crucial part of a champion’s mindset. When tasked with controlling a 3,000-pound machine at speeds of over 200 miles per hour, it’s no surprise that we often see the best drivers in fire suits drenched in sweat and fatigued arms boosted by the adrenaline from the challenge, hoisting the championship trophy in Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway.
Grant Enfinger, Craftsman Truck Series Championship ‘Round of 4’ contender seems to have all the ingredients to come out on top this weekend and claim the championship.
“I’d say, just as a whole this year, you’re always evolving. The guys at Team Chevy, Josh Wise and Scott Speed, are always helping us become better racecar drivers,” Enfinger said of his development throughout the season.
“Through the early-season struggles, when it’s kinda hard to find confidence and things just aren’t clickin’, we really didn’t have the speed we were looking for. We couldn’t find any trends that we were lacking earlier in the year to, you know, bouncing right back and having race-contending speed.”
Enfinger punched his ticket to Phoenix with a win at his home track, Talladega Superspeedway, during the ‘Round of 8’ opener. The victory was significant for Cody Rohrbaugh’s CR7 Motorsports, marking the team’s first win since joining the Craftsman Truck Series in 2018. It was also Enfinger’s 11th career win.
Heading into Championship Weekend at Phoenix, he enters as the No. 1 seed in the series and holds the most playoff wins this season, with seven. As last year’s runner-up, Enfinger understands the confidence and resilience it takes to make it to the Championship 4 once again.
“The round of 8 was really good to us,” Enfinger said. “I felt like we could beat the best in the Craftsman Truck Series when we’re at our best. Our pit crew, our crew chief, our spotter—we have all the ingredients. While we haven’t been as consistent as I’d like to this year, I feel like, at our best we can beat the best. That's what we’ve been focusing on, and I think that all the times when you have those challenges through the course of the year, I think at the end of the day you grow and you become better for it.”
As Enfinger heads into the final race of the season, he’s not just aiming for a title; he’s proving that a commitment to constant improvement, resilience, and teamwork are noteworthy to his success.
With the confidence built through overcoming early-season challenges and a strong support system at CR7 Motorsports, he has all the right ingredients to be crowned champion. In a sport where mental toughness is as crucial as raw speed, Enfinger's recipe for victory is abundantly clear: execute at your best when it matters most, and trust that the hard work will pay off.
As the Championship 4 battle unfolds at Phoenix Raceway, he is ready to prove he has what it takes to be the last driver standing.
WATCH Video: Grant Enfinger talks to Racing Refresh at 2024 NCTS Championship 4 Media Day. November 07, 2024 at Phoenix Raceway
Comments