Mitchell Wins ARCA Kansas Finale, Enfinger Secures Title

Mason Mitchell celebrates winning Friday night’s ARCA Racing Series finale at Kansas Speedway. Photo courtesy ARCA Media

Mason Mitchell wasn’t going to let a teammate or a little thing like an empty fuel tank stand in the way of his third ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory Friday at Kansas Speedway.

Mitchell, in the No. 78 Karl Chevrolet, took the lead from teammate John Wes Townley with seven laps remaining in the Full Throttle S’loonshine 98.9 and went on to win the race. It was his second win of the season and third win of his ARCA Racing Series career.

“It felt great to battle my teammate,” Mitchell said. “It felt great to have two of your race cars battling for the win and racing hard.”

Early this season, Grant Enfinger said he and his GMS Racing No. 23 team worked some crazy hours at the team’s North Carolina race shop. All of that hard work paid off in a big way Friday as Enfinger finished third, securing his first driver’s championship and the car owner’s championship for GMS Racing.

“It means a lot to me to be able to have Maury (Gallagher, team owner) up on stage with me and the trophies,” Enfinger said. “We worked a lot of really, really dumb hours at the beginning of the year to try and get caught up. Those guys didn’t have to do that. Everybody has a life outside the shop and all. The hours they worked were ridiculous. We kind of got where we needed to be about halfway through the season.

Grant Enfinger wrapped up his first ARCA Racing Series title with a third place finish Friday night at Kansas Speedway. Photo courtesy ARCA Media

“To have all of those guys here means a lot. It’s a pretty cool feeling right now. It’s just now starting to soak in.”

Enfinger finished 2015 with six wins, 12 top five’s and 16 top 10’s in 20 races. He started the season with wins at Daytona, Mobile and Nashville and had a streak of three wins in four races late in the season to widen his lead in the driver point standings. He never trailed all season in the point standings, becoming the ninth straight different ARCA champion.

“It’s been somewhat of a roller coaster year,” he said. “We started the season with three straight wins and followed that up with three wrecks. That’s just how the season has gone. The biggest thing is this year we’ve been able to pick ourselves up. We had the ability to deal with most of the issues that came up. Sometimes there were little things that turned into big problems. But, we were able to recover.”

Enfinger now has 14 career victories – all coming since the start of the 2013 season. He began his ARCA career in 2008, running only an occasional race. This year was his third full-time season and first full-time run with GMS Racing, a team he moved to in the middle of 2014.

“The biggest thing this year has been speed,” Enfinger said. “I feel we’ve been competitive everywhere we’ve gone this season. We’ve had a chance to win or lead laps every race it seems.”

On Friday at Kansas, the Fairhope, AL native started fifth and stayed near the front most of the night in the No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet.

“It has been a great season for GMS Racing, Grant and the No. 23 team,” said Jeff Stankiewicz, crew chief of the No. 23 team. “This season was nowhere near perfect, but we grew and learned as a team and that’s what got us where we are standing at today, accepting this Championship.”

The Statesville, NC based organization has competed in 82 ARCA Racing Series races, collecting nine wins, 27 top-five and 43 top-10 finishes and three pole awards.

“I am so proud of Grant and the entire GMS Racing team and what they have accomplished this season,” said Maury Gallagher, team owner. “Winning a Championship is a big step for GMS Racing’s growth and development. None of this would be possible without great partnership from Allegiant Travel, Alamo Rental Car, Champion Power Equipment, Triple K Construction, Chevrolet, Wurth and Portable Shade. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for GMS Racing.”

Enfinger, Gallagher and the rest of the GMS team will be honored at the ARCA post-season banquet on December 12 in Indianapolis.

Enfinger finished third on the night behind Mitchell and Kyle Weatherman, while Ryan Reed and Townley rounded out the top five.

Mitchell pitted on lap 28. There was some question whether or not he could make it until lap 99. He said he had no doubts.

“We didn’t have too many intentions of coming back down pit road after that point,” Mitchell said. “We felt like we were good on fuel mileage. I wasn’t too worried about it. It was just managing tires at that point. We were good on fuel and had a fast race car.”

The rest of the top 10 included Travis Braden, Tom Hessert, David Levine, Matt Kurzejewski and Jairo Avila.

Kurzejewski wrapped up the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge by five points.

Weatherman picked up his eighth SCOTT Rookie of the Race award of the season and cemented his lead in the SCOTT Rookie of the Year point standings.

“I knew I was in a fast car,” Weatherman said. “It is really cool about the Rookie of the Year. It gave our team a lot of motivation.”

The race took one hour and 25 minutes to complete. There were five cautions for 38 laps. Seven different drivers led laps, with Mitchell leading the most at 29. He led from laps 44 to 75 and again from laps 93 to 99. Menards Pole Award winner Daniel Suarez led the first 15 laps while Reed – coming off two straight ARCA wins – led the next 12. Weatherman (1), Will Kimmel (14), Kurzejewski (1) and Townley (17) also took turns at the front of the 33-car field.

Suarez finished 20th and Kimmel 21st.

Fourteen cars finished on the lead lap, including Austin Wayne Self, who finished 12th. The finish was enough for Self to pass Josh Williams for second place on the season-long standings. In two full-time seasons in ARCA, Self has won the Rookie of the Year award and finished second in the driver point standings.

Williams finished third in the standings.

Next up on the ARCA Racing Series schedule is the post-season banquet on December 12 in Indianapolis. The series has set its test for mid-January at Daytona International Speedway.

ARCA Racing Series
Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KS
Full Throttle S’loonshine 98.9 – October 16, 2015

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