Catchfence

SALEM, Indiana (September 13, 2011) – - In his first full season of ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards competition, Grant Enfinger has experienced almost everything’s there is to enjoy in a season. However, the driver of the No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger is ready to put the icing on the cake of his strong season with a victory in Saturday night’s Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic by Federated Car Care at Salem (Ind.) Speedway.

Sixteen races down, three to go, the Mike Allgaier-owned team has nothing to be ashamed about in 2011. This year, the team has produced one pole, five top-fives and 12 top-10 efforts and 122 laps led all with the Fairhope, Alabama native at the helm.

Even though Enfinger has yet to enter victory circle in his ARCA Racing Series career, his chances increase significantly as the Allgaier Motorsports team captured the checkered flag in the fall event at the historic short track in their championship season in 2008.

Getting acquainted with Salem’s screeching high banks in May was vital for Enfinger’s comfort at a track he had never raced at before. After starting 13th in the third race of the season, the avid racer kept a good head on his shoulders and raced his way to a respectable 10th place finish.

After working with interim crew chief Tommy Bear in two of the last three races, while regular crew chief Kelly Kovski competed in rounds 14 and 16 of the year on the dirt ovals of the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, Kovski resumes his routine role on Saturday night.

“Believe me it was a blast to race with Kelly at Springfield and DuQuoin,” explained Enfinger. “He taught me a lot about dirt racing in the ARCA Racing Series and was instrumental in making sure our team was taken care of first before his team was attended too. That’s a man of devotion. While it was fun racing side-by-side with him for a spot inside the top-10, it’s a sense of relief knowing that we’re going to the track together on the same turf on Saturday night.”

The 26-year old continued, “The checkered flag to the end of the season is on the horizon and we’re really trying to get this No. 36 Hoosier Tire Midwest / racetires.com Dodge Charger before crossing that line. “Kelly deserves it, the guys have earned it and the Allgaier family (Mike Allgaier, Justin Allgaier and Ashley Allgaier) would love it. For me, it would be satisfying after being so close so many times to finally celebrate as number one. We can’t over confident though. The field is tough every week. We may have to do something out of the box to have that opportunity to win. But, the goal is still to finish as strong as we possibly can.”

Mathematically, the Allgaier Motorsports team still has the potential to surge from fourth to second in the overall championship standings. Sitting just 70 points behind third place runner Frank Kimmel and 135 markers behind runner-up Chris Buescher – Enfinger is hopeful to reclaim the position he once held this year but also is ready to protect his current position with a comfortable cushion over fifth which consists of 170 tallies.

“It’s going to come down to the last lap at Toledo to decide the final rundown in the top-five as far as the championship standings are concerned,” commented Enfinger. “We know that Ty (Dillon) pretty much has the championship crowned wrapped up, but the heat is on from second to fifth. One bad for any one of us and we could lose a lot. We don’t know what these final three races hold for us. All we did know is that we’re going to the track with the same mentality we’ve hoisted all year long.”

Entering Salem, Enfinger has 34 ARCA Racing Series starts to his credit. In those events, he has maneuvered 12 top-fives and 22 top-10 finishes including a career-best finish of second three times at Kentucky Speedway (July 2009), Chicagoland Speedway (August 2009), and Toledo Speedway (May 2011). He has controlled the field nine times for 216 laps. His best qualifying run occurred at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway where Enfinger bolted to his first career pole.

The Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic by Federated Car Care (200 laps / 111 miles) is the 17th of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 87th ARCA event held at Salem (Ind.) Speedway is a one-day show. Practice begins Saturday, September 17 with an hour and a half practice session planned from 1:05 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. The field will take the green flag later in the evening at approximately 7:15 p.m. The event will not be televised but race coverage including live timing and scoring throughout the 1,329th race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards since it was formed in 1953 will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com presented by ARCANation.com. All times are local.

For more on Grant Enfinger, please visit grantenfinger.com.

Additional input on Allgaier Motorsports is available by logging on to AllgaierMotorsports.com.

- Allgaier Motorsports Press Release