The NASCAR Truck Race at Homestead-Miami has officially concluded. Grant Enfinger picked up where he left off last time out at the Talladega Superspeedway with a second consecutive win. The best part is that he is already a playoff driver and has more than sealed his Championship 4 spot. But what exactly helped him?

During the regular season, Enfinger had not won a single race. Instead, he has just turned in consistent performances with a handful of Top 5 and Top 10 runs. Once the playoffs began, he kicked it into high gear and became a bit of a late bloomer. Then again, as the saying goes, ‘better late than never’, and it looks like Enfinger has taken this to heart. However, when he spoke about his overall season and recent good form, he confessed that he could have had the chance to add a third win in 2024.

Grant Enfinger opens up on the one that got away

The race track in question was the Darlington Raceway, back in May. During that particular race, Enfinger could only finish 16th fastest. However, he believes that the final result did not tell the whole story of that Truck Series race. Coming back to this race, he praised his team and his team members for their contribution to his triumph.

After early contact with Christian Eckes forced an unexpected pit stop, Enfinger found himself back in the 20th. Yet, with 83 laps to go, he was one of the few drivers equipped with fresh tires—a move that would be pivotal. As the leaders made green-flag pit stops with around 35 laps left, Enfinger’s tire strategy paid off. Charging up the field, he quickly overtook Riggs with an outside pass for the lead with 22 laps to go, while Heim trailed by roughly 30 seconds.

As Grant Enfinger spoke to Amanda Busick for FOX Sports in the victory lane, he said, “We’ve had a truck actually just as good at Darlington. Just had bad circumstances, my buddy Tyler Young let a tear-off get on our grille. Kind of took us out of contention there. The truck we had here, was equally as good. I feel like we were able to take a disadvantage with whatever happened on that restart. Didn’t think I did anything wrong, my buddy Christian was trying to split the middle and just cut our tire a little bit. Just racing!”

Further elaborating on how fast the car was, and the strategy he and crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz played, Enfinger added, “Tim wanted to carry, wanted to restart on the bottom. I wanted to restart on the top, I guess he was right on that one, I was wrong. At the end of the day, Jeff Stankiewicz had the best truck out here. The Chevy was really fast after 5 laps yesterday, and it was the same today. Tim did a good job of managing me with the tires, Jeff did a good job managing me with the fuel. I felt like I saved at least 20% more than I did in the first run. Jeff was on me pretty hard obviously, but the #38 ran out, looked like the #2 ran out as well. Hard to beat, these two weeks.”

Judging by his comments, he and his crew chief were not exactly on the same page at times. However, whenever crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz was vindicated, Enfinger was man enough to admit that he was wrong. What made him happy was that this pace was not unexpected, because he knew he could do it right from practice. “It’s definitely good (to be me right now),” smiled Enfinger. “We’ve had potential all year, and there’s been some times I didn’t execute and there’s been some times we just had bad luck. But maybe this is the time we got our momentum.”

Which Truck would lead the way at Phoenix?

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With this truck race done and dusted, there are just two races left in the season. The first on the hit list is the Martinsville Speedway, but Grant Enfinger is under no pressure. After all, he has already sealed his Championship 4 berth, so he has nothing to lose next weekend. Instead, his focus will be on Phoenix, which is the season finale, as he bids for a maiden Truck title.

He continued, “My buddy tells me all the things I need to know. That should mean we got a pit stop choice, and pit stall choice for Phoenix. Just overall, proud of the execution of these guys. More than anything, just proud of the speed. We had the fastest truck all day, when you do that, you can even have some slip-ups or mistakes and overcome them.”

Now the big question will be about who will join him in Championship 4. There are seven drivers vying for three spots, and among them are Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, and Ty Majeski.

However, Heim looks secure at +49 points, Christian Eckes at +38, and Ty Majeski is at +22. Other contenders sitting within the elimination zone are Rajah Caruth (-22 points), Taylor Gray (-24 points), Tyler Ankrum (-41 points), and Sanchez (-43 points). Sadly, Ben Rhodes will not be defending his crown, as he was eliminated earlier, alongside Daniel Dye.