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GMS Racing shuttered its doors at the end of 2023 and ended one of the more competitive teams in the Craftsman Truck Series. Enfinger's last campaign with GMS would net three wins and 13 Top-10 finishes en route to a runner-up finish in the points. By a lot of measures, it was a career-best campaign for the 39-year-old veteran. Enfinger now moves to the young CR7 team and the No. 9 Chevrolet. This team has only been in existence for six seasons and only racing full-time for the past two years. They're looking to step up to the big time with the combination of Enfinger's experience and sponsorship that comes with him, as well as veteran crew chief, Jeff Stankiewicz. The team has a technical alliance with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, which will help as the picture comes into focus and the team grows.
Enfinger is now one of the older drivers in the series at 38-years-old, but he's shown little signs of slowing down. His 150-career starts have netted seven victories, 89 Top-10 finishes and Top 10 points finishes in four different seasons. While Enfinger has lacked the luck and extra little push to capture a championship, he has consistently been of the satellite drivers around the upper tier in the Craftsman Truck Series. He returns to the No. 23 Chevrolet of GMS Racing for this season and will look to build on the one-win 12 Top-10 campaign he posted in 2022. Enfinger is a consistent and seasoned driver who should fetch dependable results.
Enfinger will looking to bounce back from a poor season in 2021. The GMS Racing star collected no wins and just 11 Top 10's en route to an 11th-place finish in the driver points. The campaign was a four-season low in terms of performance for Enfinger. He's been used to being in the thick of the championship battle, but was not last season. A team change should be just what the doctor ordered for 2022. Enfinger moves to GMS Racing and takes over the team's No. 23 Chevrolet. He'll be paired with crew chief, Jeff Hensley, and the two will look to jump back into the championship battle. Enfinger has shown the ability in recent seasons to win multiple races and push the high teens in terms of Top 10's. He should regain that potential in the upcoming season.
Enfinger turned in a career-best season in 2020. The 36-year-old veteran posted his first multi-win season with four victories and 13 Top-10 finishes. While the wins came in droves, some of the consistency of past seasons was lost. Enfinger saw his average finish climb from 8.5 in 2019 to an inflated 10.4 in 2020. That lack of consistency likely caused him to stumble in the final races of the playoffs. The ThorSport Racing driver is tabbed to drive the No. 98 Toyota one again this season and he'll team with Jeff Hensley as crew chief of the operation. Enfinger has proven over the last four seasons that he is one of the more talented veterans in this division of NASCAR at this point. While it has yet to pay off with a championship, the team is painfully close to breaking through that barrier at any time.
Enfinger posted a career-best season in 2019. He piloted the No. 98 Ford truck to 10 Top-5 and 18 Top-10 finishes and came up seventh in the final driver standings. While he didn't win a race like he did in 2018, it was a far more consistent performance with a better average finish and more laps led for the season. The 34-year-old veteran is not likely to grab many, if any, wins in the upcoming season. However, we should continue to see strong qualifying and good racing by Enfinger. Jeff Hensley is poised to return to this team at crew chief, and he should continue guiding Enfinger to consistent finishes in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.
At the time of this writing the team's plans have not been announced, but we expect Enfinger to be back for season three in the No. 98 Ford F-150. The veteran driver posted career-best marks last season with this race team. Enfinger raced to his second-career truck series victory (Las Vegas), 15 Top-10 finishes and a lofty fifth-place finish in the final driver standings. He was shut out of racing for the championship at Homestead, but that could change in 2019. The 34-year-old driver should be paired once again with Jeff Hensley at crew chief, and continue to build on the upward momentum they've developed the past two seasons.
The 33-year-old journeyman driver will return for a second season of competition with Curb Racing. The team makes the shift from Toyota to Ford in 2018 and we'll see if that pays dividends. Enfinger peddled to a surprising nine Top-5 and 15 Top-10 finishes in 2017 with this same race team. They'll set their sights higher for this campaign. Jeff Hensley will return at crew chief and continue to build on what the two accomplished last season. Enfinger may be older than the average truck series driver, but he is no less talented. He won 16 races in 10 years of ARCA Series competition and won the 2015 championship in that racing series.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of sponsorship, the Rico Abreu experiment ended at the No. 98 ThorSport Racing team. It could have been slightly affected by lack of performance. The rookie driver struggled to just five Top-10 finishes in his debut in the truck series and wound up a somewhat disappointing 13th in the final driver standings. Now, one of the premiere stables in the Camping World Truck Series has two vacancies to fill. With the lack of sponsorship, the No. 98 team could fall under the axe. However, if a driver and sponsor could be found, this is a team that could break into the tail end of the Top 10 of the driver rankings. The silly season days of late January and early February will determine the fate of this team, so be watching closely. - UPDATE - Enfinger has signed to drive the strong No. 98 Toyota Tundra in 2017. There's loads of potential with this talented youngster and this good team together this season.
The reigning ARCA Series champion will move up full-time to the truck series in 2016. GMS Racing has given him the seat of the No. 33 Chevrolet and expanded to three teams this season to get the 30-year-old veteran into this division of NASCAR. Enfinger has impressive numbers in the ARCA Series. Along with his one championship, he has 14 victories and 64 Top-10 finishes over 91-career starts. While Enfinger has limited experience in the trucks with just a scant six starts, he has the years of driving experience that you look for in terms of potential to succeed when making a jump like this one. He’ll be paired with crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz and together the two should be up for some big things this season.
