Grant Enfinger Dominates at Daytona For His First Win at the Sacred Track

       After leading the most laps in the annual ARCA race at Daytona, Grant Enfinger was able to cross the line first and take his third win in the ARCA Racing Series. Enfinger has been a regular in the ARCA Racing Series for many years, but he only received the chance to start a full season one time in 2011. Last year, he took his first two victories in the series, but he still wasn't running full time even though he was extremely successful. This year held the same part time chance, but he went out at Daytona and took the win, which could give a full run in the series once again. Even though Enfinger led the most laps, he had to battle two future stars: Dylan Kwasniewski and Chase Elliott. Both drivers started near the front and looked to win each and every lap on the track. Both fell back late in the event,  but they battled hard to take their first victories at the sacred track in Daytona, Florida. There were also a good many ARCA championship contenders for this year looking to start the year off great. Frank Kimmel, John Wes Townley, Tom Hessert, Mason Mitchell, and others looked to make huge gains as the season started. Plus, you throw in a huge amount of drivers who have never before been on the Daytona surface and you have yourself a very action packed race on the high banks of Daytona. This was definitely the case on this Saturday afternoon and action definitely picked up.

        Dylan Kwasniewski started on the pole. It was his second career ARCA Racing Series pole in only his second career start. The first ARCA race of the season went green and Kwasniewski was able to lead the first lap of the event. The front of the field calmed down early with Kwasniewski running the low line in front of several drivers, but the back of the field was battling side by side the entire time around the track. The first mistake of the afternoon occurred on lap 6 and it was not made by a rookie at Daytona. Bobby Gerhart, the eight time winner of the annual ARCA race at Daytona, made slight contact with the outside wall in turn 1. Gerhart was able to drive away, but the right side of his car was damaged and smoking slightly. He stayed on track for the moment, but he lost a good many spots. Gerhart would get his chance to come to pit road soon after his mistake as the first caution of the race waved on lap 13. Unfortunately for most of the field, the damage from this massive wreck couldn't be fixed.

        Coming out of turn 4, Buster Graham went around because his car had been struggling with a tight condition. Graham went up the track and into traffic. The field stacked up behind him and cars began to spin and crash all over the track. Justin Allison, Will Kimmel, Justin Boston, Benny Gordon, Kody Weisner, Sean Corr, Mark Thompson, Jeb Burton, Mario Gosselin, Tom Buzze, Scotty Hubler, Cole Powell, Terry Jones, and Bobby Grewohl all spun and crashed through the Daytona grass and into both of the walls. A few drivers were able to drive away with minimal damage, but most of the drivers stayed stopped on the frontstretch grass. It was a massive pile-up and a good many favorites were out early in the event. None of the drivers received the lucky dog. The caution resulted in the only pit stops for the teams during the event. Most of the leaders took fuel only with Chase Elliott making his way out first ahead of Dylan Kwasniewski, who had lead the entire race up to the caution. Maryeve Dufault and Thomas Praytor decided to stay on track for the time being. It would be interesting to see how this move worked for these two drivers.

        The race went back green and Thomas Praytor immediately dropped to the back of the field due to a transmission problem. Maryeve Dufault held her ground, but Dylan Kwasniewski quickly took the lead away. The race only went a few short laps before the second caution waved on lap 25. Matt Kurzejewski and Leilani Munter had problems on the race track in turn 2. The two made contact and both slammed the outside wall hard. Munter was able to drive away with huge damage, but Kurzejewski's car sat stopped with heavier damage in the turn 2 grass. None of the drivers decided to come down pit road and the field lined up for a brand new double file restart in the ARCA Racing Series. The race went back green and Dylan Kwasniewski was able to hold onto the lead. He wouldn't hold it long as a legitimate race contender began to make his way to the front.

        On lap 32, Grant Enfinger was able to take the lead for the first time on the day. He looked to run away from the field, but Kwasniewski stayed patient and passed him back on lap 39. Enfinger stayed at bay for the moment, but he once again passed Kwasniewski for the lead on lap 44. Enfinger led a few more laps before Kwasniewski took his place on point on lap 50. Enfinger came back on lap 52 and Kwasniewski began to lose the front field as he was pushed into the outside line. This gave Enfinger the lead, but the field was battling hard behind him looking to make a pass. It looked like the race would go green the rest of the way, but the field would catch a break as the third and final caution waved on lap 68. Kody Weisner went sideways in turn 1 and rode up the track. He slammed the outside wall and slid down the track. He rolled to a stop in the grass with more damage on his car, but he did drive away. Ed Pompa received the lucky dog, but his race would end during the caution. While running at full speed to catch the lead pack, he lost an engine in turn 4 and spun to a stop in turn 1 just on the edge of the grass. His race was over and no driver was added to the lead lap field. This caused the caution to last a bit longer and only seven laps would remain to crown a winner in the first race of the 2014 ARCA season.

        Grant Enfinger chose the inside line on the final restart with Frank Kimmel behind him and Chase Elliott above him. The race went green and Elliott looked to jump in front of Enfinger. Kimmel pushed Enfinger and Enfinger was able to hold onto the lead. This pass cost Elliott as the outside line began to fall backwards. He fell extremely far back as Enfinger and Kimmel remained first and second, respectively. The field began to battle hard as the laps clicked by. Soon, only two long Daytona laps remained for the ARCA field. Enfinger stayed consistent, but the ten time ARCA champion Kimmel was searching behind him. The field took the white flag and the drivers began to look for a way around Enfinger. A few drivers went to the outside on the backstretch, but no one had made a huge charge for the win. Enfinger came out of turn 4 with the lead and he would hold it as he crossed the finish line for his first checkered flag at Daytona. It was a very rewarding victory for Enfinger and it could allow him to run the entire season.

        Sponsorship woes have been rampant in auto racing for a good many years now. Teams with a lot of sponsorship money tend to run up front at all times while teams with little money struggle to finish. Grant Enfinger's team with owner Howard Bixman knows what it it like without a ton of sponsorship money. They haven't run a full season with Enfinger as the driver, but this Daytona win could change things. One win at Daytona could open doors for sponsors from every direction. We could very well see Grant Enfinger run the entire ARCA campaign for the first time since 2011. Plus, he looks good enough to win his first championship. Others, like Frank Kimmel and John Wes Townley, know their teams will run the full season and they hope to continue Daytona success and possibly stand on top of the ARCA mountain at the end of the season. Each of these ARCA regulars battled hard with guys who wanted to race at Daytona for the first times in their lives and others who are off to bigger things this year. That is the beauty of the ARCA Racing Series. All types of drivers can battle on all types of tracks. The same will be the case after the series takes a month off and heads to Mobile, Alabama for the annual race at the track. Will Grant Enfinger win back to back races at Mobile, will Frank Kimmel win the second race of the year as he looks to repeat as champion, or will another driver break through in the ARCA championship battle? We will have to wait a month before we found this out and more.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 13- Buster Graham went around in turn 4 due to a tight condition. Justin Allison, Will Kimmel, Justin Boston, Benny Gordon, Kody Weisner, Sean Corr, Mark Thompson, Jeb Burton, Mario Gosselin, Tom Buzze, Scotty Hubler, Cole Powell, Terry Jones, and Bobby Grewohl piled into the wreck.

2nd Caution: Lap 25- Matt Kurzejewski and Leilani Munter made contact with each other and the outside wall in turn 2.

3rd Caution: Lap 68- Kody Weisner hit the wall in turn 1 and spun down the track into the grass. 

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Unknown
3rd Caution: Ed Pompa

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Grant Enfinger
2nd: Frank Kimmel
3rd: Clay Campbell
4th: Tom Hessert 
5th: Tyler Reddick

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Bobby Gerhart
9th: Chase Elliott
11th: John Wes Townley
14th: Dylan Kwasniewski
29th: Jeb Burton
36th: Justin Allison
40th: Justin Boston




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Special Thanks to a certain full race uploader. I won't add any links because I don't want his races to be taken down.
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2014_Lucas_Oil_200_Presented_by_MAVTV/A
-Image:

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/e7063694e7dcc12e92267c60fb818707974c557f/c%3D0-20-3300-2501%26r%3Dx404%26c%3D534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/02/15//1392508082000-AP-ARCA-Daytona-Auto-Racing.jpg