Enfinger struggles early, shows speed late
Grant Enfinger, driver of the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, sits in his truck after making a qualifying lap in round one. He struggled throughout the practice sessions, but rebounded and qualified fourth for tomorrow’s Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. “We had a coil that went bad, we didn’t know it at the time, but it was going bad,” Enfinger said. “We had no speed and no RPM.”
October 12, 2018
After unloading off the hauler, Grant Enfinger, driver of the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, struggled throughout the morning practice sessions only to rebound and qualify fourth for tomorrow’s Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. He posted a time of 53.146 while running a speed of 180.183.
“We just unloaded a couple little issues that we had to fix in the first round of practice,” Enfinger said. “They fixed them for the second round. I felt like we could qualify top six, and ended up P4. I’m happy with that.”
Enfinger talks to a member of his crew while standing on the side of pit road. He faced an issue with a coil pack in his car and a vibration. This caused him to place 16th in the first practice session with a max speed of 185.90 miles per hour and a fastest lap speed of 51.737 seconds.
In the first practice, Enfinger struggled to find his speed, finishing the session 16th with a top speed of 185.90 miles per hour and a fastest lap speed of 51.737 seconds.
“We just had a vibration issue so we just changed the drive shaft,” Enfinger said. “I do feel good about the speed we have [in our] Champion F-150. I think we can qualify up front, and race upfront tomorrow.”
In the 30-minute break between the first and second sessions, the team replaced the faulty coil. This caused Enfinger to find his speed, and place second in the final practice session. His fastest time was 53.037 seconds with a lap speed of 180.533 miles per hour.
“Overall, we’ve got speed in the truck,” Enfinger said. “We’ve narrowed the gap from some of these guys from Daytona to here just in qualifying speed. I think that should be better for the race as well.”
Enfinger set the pace for ThorSport Racing. Teammate Matt Crafton, driver No. 88 Fisher Nuts and Menards Ford, placed ninth in the qualifying round with a time of 53.337 running a speed of 179.583 miles per hour. Ben Rhodes, driver of No. 41 Carolina Nut Co. Ford, placed 14th hitting a speed of 178.897 miles per hour with a time of 53.528 seconds. Rounding out the ThorSport stable, Matt Snider, driver of No. 13 RideTV Ford, placed 28th with a speed of 176.139 miles per hour, hitting a time of 54.366 seconds.
The trucks will hit the track tomorrow for the Fr8Auctions 250 race at 12 p.m. CDT broadcast on Fox.
