Grant Enfinger has received a warm welcome on his return to CR7 Motorsports. A few weeks ago, the team announced the addition of the former GMS Racing driver to its 2024 Truck Series roster. Following GMS’ announcement to shut down its operations across NASCAR in the upcoming season, Enfinger was courted by CR7 for a possible return, and the 2023 Truck Series runner-up has revealed the motivation behind a homecoming in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Grant Enfinger opened up on the difference this move makes to his career and how CR7 Motorsports has allowed him a bigger say in important decisions. Another major reason has been the companionship of his former crew chief, Jeff Stankewicz, and long-time engineer Dan Tomany, who will reunite with Enfinger in 2024. As the interview moved forward, he also acknowledged the unity in the team’s atmosphere. He claimed that having familiar faces around is more of a reason to succeed on the racetrack.

Grant Enfinger discloses the difference between CR7 Motorsports and other teams

CR7 Motorsports has been preparing to fight for the 2024 Truck Series championship. When the team realized GMS Racing’s shutdown opened up a chance for them to recruit Grant Enfinger again, CR7 swooped in. Enfinger, a 10-time race winner in the Truck Series, will drive the No.9 Chevrolet Silverado in 2024.

Grant Enfinger has always had a soft spot for CR7 Motorsports. Following a part-time stint at ThorSport Racing in 2021, Enfinger joined CR7 for nine races and finished in the top ten three times, along with a memorable 4th-place finish at COTA. Owing to this, it took him only a short time to be convinced about the team’s project.

“It is somewhat a little bit of a mix from what I was on early into my career to what I’ve been with for the last 8 or 9 years,” claimed the Alabama native. “Since I started running full-time in the Truck Series, I’ve been with huge organizations that had 3 or 4 trucks on the team. In the last couple of years, my opinion has been valued, and I’ve been able to help our organization grow and help with things.”

CR7 Motorsports has bolstered its strength significantly. Earlier this season, the team announced an alliance with Bill McAnally Racing, which vehicle manufacturer Chevrolet is also backing. This move puts them in a strong position to contend for the 2024 championship and opens a window of opportunity for future recruitment. For Grant Enfinger, these developments meant increased influence on the team’s growth.

He has learned to add more value to CR7’s project by leading the team from the front on the racetrack. “I feel like at CR7 Motorsports, I’ll have even more influence on the direction of the team and where we go to find speed. If we’re on the right track, I can help push us down that further, and if we’re on the wrong track, I feel like I can influence the decision to go in a different direction,” said Enfinger, speaking to EssentiallySports.

Along with Enfinger, his primary partners, Champion Power Equipment and Grant County Mulch, have also continued their support. Champion Power Equipment has been his primary partner since 2016, but it is not the only company he will be reuniting with.

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Amid a reunion with his former crew chief, Enfinger highlights the depth of personnel at CR7 Motorsports

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Jeff Stankewicz and Grant Enfinger are a dynamic duo. The pair’s history goes back to 2015 when they won six races and the championship in the ARCA Menards Series. Continuing their partnership in the Truck Series, the pair collaborated again to win at Talladega in 2016. Apart from Stankewicz, race engineer Dan Tomany will accompany Enfinger in the new chapter of his career. Elaborating on his dynamic with his two long-time crew members, Grant Enfinger said, 

“It’s not a completely different mentality here, but there are some familiarities. I’m getting reunited with a former crew chief, Jeff Stankewicz. We won the ARCA championship together in 2015. I won my first Truck Series race with him in 2016, and my engineer for five years now, Dan Tomany, came over here with me.”

“What’s a huge part of Truck Series racing nowadays is our engineering department, and so he’s kind of in charge of building up that department here at CR7 Motorsports. He’s excited to come here and get that promotion to have more influence on how we make these trucks go faster than he has in the past years.” revealed the ex-GMS Racing driver, highlighting Tomany’s role in the project. 

CR7 Motorsports has also made some revisions within the team’s hierarchy. 2012 Truck Series winning crew chief with Turner Motorsports, Michael Shelton, has stepped up as the team’s general manager. Shelton worked as the team’s crew chief last season for the Codie Rohrbaugh-owned outfit. Continuing the interview with EssnetiallySports, Grant Enfinger reiterated the importance of Rohrbaugh’s vision for 2024 and his trust in him as he said,

“There’s also a few people that were already here, namely Michael Shelton, whom I’ve known forever. He’s our general manager and boss, so to speak. I trust him emphatically; I trust Codie Rohrbaugh and his family emphatically. We want to build this to what our vision is. It’s not there yet, but so much has happened in the last three months.”

“We’ve all got a couple of people lined up now with everything. From the people’s standpoint, from the truck’s standpoint, and from a performance standpoint, everything is lined up perfectly. So I’m just really excited about the future and being part of building something.“

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Grant Enfinger then spoke about a change in his input to the team’s decisions and partnerships. Convincing the necessary members for a successful project has been the hard part for CR7 Motorsports, and Enfinger has assisted in that. While the presence of top-class equipment is a major boost for the team, the presence of crew members and drivers to utilize it in a championship-winning manner is also important.

“I’ve never been on the inside of some of the conversations like we had with Chevrolet and convincing these guys that this is the right move for both of us to be successful and be able to win races and win championships and convincing the guys that have been a huge part of my career for so long, you know, it’s a different deal for them. So this is more of a family atmosphere, but we are all about performance, and we are going to show you guys that. In a lot of ways, it has been a breath of fresh air.“

From what one can assume from Grant Enfinger’s exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, he is ready to win the 2024 Truck Series championship, and so is CR7 Motorsports.