Grant Enfinger: A Young Talented Racing Professional

Talented, smart and ambitious that describes Grant Enfinger. Grant Enfinger( born January 22, 1985 in Fairhope Alabama, located in Baldwin County on the Gulf of Mexico) is an American professional race car driver. Grant earned a marketing degree from the University of South Alabama Mitchell School of Business. Grant has many accomplishments on his racing resume that he should be proud of. He has worked very hard to get where he is at in his racing career.

Grant started racing Go-Karts at the age of 11, then he progressed to Legend Cars and then Late models. Competing on short tracks in the southeastern United States, Enfinger posted the fastest lap in the 2007 Snowball Derby.

He began competing in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards in 2008, competing in four races during that season and continued racing in the series on a limited basis during the next two seasons. His best finish, second occurring twice in 2009 at Chicago land Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. During this period he primarily drove for a family- owned team, which merged with RAB Racing in 2010.

Grant made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in 2010, finishing 22^nd. Enfinger attempted to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Season- Opening event at Daytona International Speedway, but unfortunately he failed to qualify for the event. In October, he ran the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Talladega Super Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.

In 2011, Enfinger competed in his first full season in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards with Allgaier Motor Sports. He won one pole at Berlin Raceway and he finished fourth in series standings at the conclusion of the 2011 season.

In October 2011, Grant Enfinger got an amazing opportunity to move his racing career to the next level. He moved to The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with Sinica Motor Sports, a start up team founded by Argentine Businessman George Sinica. George Sinica and Jason Miles are the team owners of Sinica Motor Sports. When I asked Grant how this opportunity came up for him to move to the Sprint Cup Series he said," I met the general manager, Jason Miles, last year before the ARCA race at Rockingham and he has been watching me since then. When this opportunity came up for Jason and George Sinica to partner up in the Cup Series they chose me and I’m thankful for the opportunity." Enfinger attempted his first Sprint Cup Series Race for the team at the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Season Finale at Homestead - Miami Speedway, but unfortunately Grant failed to qualify for the event. Grant said, "I am definitely disappointed that we missed the show at Homestead. It is definitely a big learning experience for all of us involved. We have a lot of great people at Sinica Motor Sports, but not many of us have much experience at the Cup Level so we are all learning together. We feel like we know where our weaknesses are so we can make them better over the off season." When I asked Grant what are his goals for the 2012 season and what are his goals for the future he said," My goals for the 2012 season is to make all the races that we attempt at Sinica Motor Sports and by the end of the year be competitive. My goals for the future is to help build this team into a solid legitimate effort that at the end of the day has the resources the other big teams have and can compete for wins."

I had the privilege to ask the talented Grant Enfinger a couple more questions via email and this is what he had to say:

"When I was 15 years old, I started winning a lot of legend car races all over the Country and I realized I was good at it and that is when I decided to chase my dream. Surprisingly no one in my family has raced or knew much about racing until me."

Grant said that his biggest inspiration is" The guys that have worked their way up the ladder and made most of the opportunities that they have had. Not the ones that just wrote a check."

" The hardest part of my racing career has definitely been when I was running the team myself. I did this while racing late models in Alabama and a part time ARCA Schedule for two years. Find the Sponsors, working with a very small budget, trying to keep everything going without actually having employees and then finding the time to work on the cars and get them ready. Nothing was more heartbreaking than working on the car months in advance hoping to find a sponsor to make a race and not being able to go because of funding."

"The best part of my racing career has been being able to drive for some really good people over the last couple of years. George Bragg whom I drive for in a limited schedule for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, Mike Allgaier who blessed me with a full time ride in the ARCA Series in 2011 and now with Sinica Motor sports in 2012."

"To Physically prepare to be a race car driver, You must have a lot of stamina to make it through a long race, the heat is usually the hardest thing to prepare for. The most effective workouts for me involve 80% running with 20% weights. I try to do that with the heat on and wearing warm clothes."

"I enjoy fishing and watching college football, but the past 5 or 6 years of my life haven’t involved much free time to enjoy things outside of racing."

"I have a shop here in concord, NC where I seem to always have some sort of project going on, but the biggest part of the off-season is getting cars prepped for the next year and putting together sponsor packages."

"Pocono is probably my favorite big track because every corner is different, but I usually like all the short tracks."

"I am very competitive. Whether it’s racing or fishing or whatever the circumstance, I want to win."

"The skills that are required to become a good race car driver are ,You have to have a lot of patience, be able to think and decide what the car is doing very quickly and be able to relate it to the guys helping. You have to be able to relax and still get 100% out of the car, you can’t be on edge for a 4 hour race, it take awhile to learn how to do this. A race car driver must be able to deal with high pressure situations whether its from inside the car, media, sponsors, car owners , etc. "

" My best memory is finishing 3^rd in my first race at Talladega. Talladega is where I grew up watching my heroes. I finished 3^rd with our own team and with all my volunteer buddies that helped me when I was racing late models."

"What I enjoy most about racing is the competition , you aren’t just racing one other team. You are racing 40 other teams that are giving it everything they have."

" I think social media is definitely a good way to get the word out there and let people know what’s going on and lets them see more of the day to day activities in someone’s life that you normally wouldn’t get."

I truly think we will see Grant win some races in the future in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Race fans: Keep your eyes on this young racing professional in 2012 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, I truly believe the future looks bright for Grant Enfinger.

To Grant Enfinger: Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions so this article could happen. Good luck with the 2012 racing season with Sinica Motor Sports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Race Fans: To  "Like" Grant Enfingers  Facebook fan page Click Here.

(Grant and his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car. Credit goes
to Grant and Sinica Motor Sports)