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“My Heart Has Always Been Here” – Grant Enfinger Unravels Tough Decisions Behind His CR7 Motorsports Signing

Published 12/13/2023, 12:16 AM EST

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Grant Enfinger will begin a new chapter of his NASCAR career in 2024. The Craftsman Truck Series driver has announced that he will join CR7 Motorsports as a full-time driver for the upcoming season and take over the No.9 Chevrolet Silverado. Enfinger had a solid finish to 2023 after ending up second in the championship standings post a confusing season finale at Phoenix.

The former GMS Racing driver spoke on a recent episode of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and conveyed that there were multiple teams courting him for a full-time role in the Truck Series. However, his love for the CR7 Motorsports project enticed him to join the team. Enfinger also believes that CR7 is the right place to realize his ambitions and continue advancing in the sport.

Grant Enfinger sheds light on the factors that made him join CR7 Motorsports

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Grant Enfinger was heartbroken when he got to know that GMS Racing was closing shop in 2024. Earlier this year, the team announced its plans to shut down all operations in NASCAR starting in 2024. This gave Enfinger a chance to end his tenure with GMS on a winning note and with the Truck Series championship in the bag.

The 38-year-old has competed in the Truck Series since 2010 and has 173 starts to his name. In that time, he won 10 races and was looking for a possible victory in Phoenix. While unfortunate circumstances didn’t allow him to fulfill a dream ending to the season, it turned out to be one of his best seasons in a truck.

Revealing the opportunities presented to him after his former employer departed from the Truck Series, Enfinger said, “There has been a lot of talk from other teams that I’ve been in the mix with.”

“Honestly, there are various other opportunities out there that probably looked better initially on paper. For me, it’s hard not to consider those. But this one has always felt the best, and my heart has always been here, which is the matter of ‘Hey, how do we do this in the right way? I have no intention to go out there and run top-10 and call it a good day. It’s just not where I’m at.”

Jeff Stankewicz will also join the No.9 team as Grant Enfinger’s crew chief and the duo will reunite after a long time. The driver-crew chief pair won the ARCA Menard Series championship in 2015 and the Talladega Truck Series race in 2016 as well. With adaptability and consistency as the core values, the duo will be hoping to deliver another championship albeit in a different team this time.

Enfinger feels the move to CR7 Motorsports is correct from various perspectives

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In 2023, Grant Enfinger’s statistics read three wins, 9 top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes along with a second place finish in the final standings. These numbers are good enough to push for a championship win and for teams to enquire about his services for 2024.

“There’s just a lot of work in front of it, I don’t want to discount that at all but man everything is shaping up as good as it could possibly have.” said Enfinger, happy with how his new team has resonated with his feelings.

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The team has also signed an alliance with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, apart from adding Grant County Mulch and Champion Power Equipment as sponsors for the No.9 Silverado. Citing the point of views that align with the vision that CR7 Motorsports has for him, Enfinger stated,

“From people’s standpoint, from a Truck and equipment standpoint, a support standpoint, from where we are getting our bodies. There’s stuff that has fallen exactly in place but still, there’s a lot of work in front of us. There’s a couple other personnel in the team that have to be in place, but man, things are shaping up to be exactly what we expected it to be. Everything is coming together really well and can’t be more excited about anything.

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Grant Enfinger will look forward to replicate his 2023 form in the upcoming season. With his team completely focused towards the same, the deal looks like a match made in heaven.

 

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Written by:

Ansuman Abhisek

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Edited by:

Ariva Debnath