Grant led the most laps by any racer at last Friday’s Talladega 250 ARCA race. Grant’s 42 lap lead evaporated on the back stretch of the last lap on the 2.66 mile superspeedway. Grant had stayed on the bottom of the race track while leading a pack of 11 cars at 190 miles per hour when the white flag flew. Grant knew that parade would not continue, as racers would do whatever they needed to advance their positions. The #55 car of Steve Arpin had been in 2nd place and Grant felt comfortable with him pushing from behind. Arpin was the season points leader and had won the 2 prior ARCA races. Grant expected Arpin to stay on his bumper until the final turn, when Grant expected him to then try to pass Grant for the win. Instead of that strategy, Arpin decided to pass Grant on the long back straight stretch.

GRANT LEADING THE RACE AT TALLADEGA

That decision by Arpin was detrimental for both he and Grant. When Arpin began moving around Grant, Grant responded by blocking Arpin. That meant Grant was driving 190 miles per hour while watching his mirrors, moving back and forth in front of Arpin. Because Grant had to leave the bottom line unprotected, the cars behind Arpin formed 2 packs—one high and one low. Those cars advanced quickly to the front. At that point, if Arpin had fallen back in line behind Grant, there would have been a 3 wide finish and a wild conclusion to the race. Arpin, however, kept searching for a better position and that resulted in him moving down the track in the path of the #16 car of Joey Coulter. Arpin wrecked, and that left Grant without any drafting help going into turn 4. One car alone is a sitting duck when multiple cars are hooked up at Talladega. Grant, out by himself, struggled to finish 6th in an exciting finish. Dakota Armstrong, in the #22 car, won the race, due to he and a group of cars sticking together to the end of the race when it became every man for himself.

The following article was written by Birmingham News Motorsports Editor Doug Demmons and appears today on www.al.com.

Grant Enfinger with the #09 Ford Fusion. (The Birmingham News / Joe Songer)

The disappointment was evident as Grant Enfinger walked back to his hauler on Friday.

“I don’t know what else to do,” he told a well-wisher who gave him a hug.

Enfinger coaxed his one-car, part-time ARCA car about as far as he knew how to take it in Friday’s ARCA 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, but that first victory once again slipped away.

He had led the final 30 laps and took the white flag, one lap from victory, before getting freight-trained and ending up in sixth place.

“I was trying to stay in front of the 55,” he said of Steve Arpin, who had given Enfinger a huge push to keep him out front in the closing laps.

But on the backstretch two lines of cars got a head of steam and blew past him on either side.

“If it had been one line coming we might have made it,” Enfinger said. “I looked around and the 55 wasn’t there anymore.”

Arpin ended up wrecking on the last lap and finished 14th. Dakoda Armstrong, the polesitter, stormed to the front with a push from Patrick Sheltra and they finished 1-2. It was Armstrong’s first ARCA win.

Tim George Jr. finished third, followed by Craig Goess and Mikey Kile in fifth.

Enfinger figures he has good equipment with a Roush Yates engine under the hood of his No. 09 Ford. He just needs to catch a break.

“We’ve done this 75 percent of the time we’re at the track,” he said of running in the top 5. “We’ve done everything but win.”

Enfinger is only running a partial schedule this season, as much as sponsorship financing will carry him. His next scheduled race isn’t until summer at Michigan.

But he’s still hoping that he made enough of a good impression on Friday to get noticed by a top-flight team in need of a driver.

“It’s absolutely a good day for us,” he said. “From where I was sitting I did everything I could.”

The original article can be found here.

Grant placed the BeasleyAllen.com ARCA car on the outside of the 4th row for this afternoon’s Talladega 250 race. Grant’s qualifying lap speed was slightly more than 185 miles per hour. That speed was reached despite the fact that all the race cars must use “restrictor plates” which limit the amount of fuel which is sent to the engine. Without that restriction, the ARCA cars would likely exceed 200 miles per hour.

Grant feels the car is good enough to run up front, but recognizes that luck plays a bigger role at Talladega that at most other tracks. Because the cars will be running in packs, one driver’s error or a tire failure can cause “the big one” which is a crash involving multiple cars. When something bad happens at 190 miles per hour (the cars’ speeds will increase during drafting) there is no time or room for evasive action and the drivers are just along for the ride.

“Racing at Talladega is a dream come true and I am going to do my best to get to the front of the field. Whatever happens, I appreciate the chance to come race at stock car racing’s biggest track and to be the only Alabama native to race here this weekend. The entire team is going to do its best for Beasley Allen.”

The 250 mile race will begin at 4 pm CDT this afternoon and be televised live on Speed TV. It will broadcast by internet streaming “radio” through www.arcaracing.com .

Grant & the crew rolled the BeasleyAllen.com ARCA speedway car slowly through long inspection lines at Talladega SuperSpeedway all day Thursday. Now that those inspections are complete,Grant will drive the car at speeds of more than 185 mies per hour on the high banked track today. The team will have one practice session, scheduled from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. to dial the car in for both qualifying and race set ups. All cars will carry transponders which allow electronic timing to convey speeds for the practice session and qualifying runs. Those times can be accessed live this morning through www.Arcaracing.com. Go to the site and click on “live timing & scoring.” That same link can be used at 5 p.m. today for this afternoon’s qualifying. ARCA radio, streamed through the same website, will broadcast the qualifying session with driver interviews and commentary on all of today’s ARCA activities.

LONG LINES DURING WEDNESDAY INSPECTIONS AT TALLADEGA

The Talladega 250 race will begin Friday at 4 p.m. It will be televised live on Speed TV.

Grant & Zach visited with race fans at Montgomery’s downtown Farmers Market Cafe Tuesday, on their way to Talladega SuperSpeedway. Race fans had the opportunity to meet Grant and inspect the speedway car which will be circling the big track later this week at speeds in excess of 190 miles per hour. Grant & Zach delivered the race rig to Talladega Tuesday afternoon, to be in line for track entry to the infield garage at 6:30 this morning.

ZACH & GRANT WITH RACE CAR IN MONTGOMERY TUESDAY

Wednesday will be spent in technical/safety inspections which are extensive and time consuming. Bodies, chassis, suspension, engine and safety items will be measured, fitted with templates and even the fuel cells will be removed and double checked . If any item is found out of compliance, the race teams return to the garage to fix the problem, then go back into the long line of cars creeping through the inspection garage.

Thursday will find the teams on the high banked track for one practice session before qualifying. 2 lap time trials Thursday afternoon will decide who makes the 250 mile race and who is sent home, and will set the field for the Talladega 250 race which begins at 4 p.m. Friday. The practice and qualifying sessions timing will be available live through www.arcaracing.com, with ARCA radio (streamed through the same web site) providing a live broadcast during qualifying.