Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 Race Preview
Race Information
- Round: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race No. 14 of 23
- Track Location: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Lexington, Ohio
- Race Name: O'Reilly Auto Parts 150
- Broadcast: Saturday, July 8th at 1:30 PM ET live on FS1 (TV), MRN (Radio), and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90
- Team Entrants:
No. 23 | Grant Enfinger & Jeff Hensley - Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet
No. 24 | Rajah Caruth & Chad Walter - Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet
No. 43 | Daniel Dye & Blake Bainbridge - Giuseppe's Steel City Pizza Chevrolet
Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet Silverado RST
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Stats
- NCTS Starts: 1; Best start: 12th; Best finish: 11th (2022)
NCTS Road Course Stats (Canada, COTA, Daytona, Mid-Ohio, Sonoma, & Watkins Glen)
- Combined Starts: 9; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 4th (COTA, 2021); Top 5s: 1; Top 10s: 3, Laps led: 1
2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats
- Starts: 13; Wins: 2 (Kansas I & Gateway); Best start: 2nd; Top 5s: 5; Top 10s: 7; Laps led: 133; Current points position: 3rd
- About Sunseeker Resorts: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
- About Champion Power Equipment: Since 2003, Champion Power Equipment has earned a reputation for designing and producing the market’s finest power equipment. From our original headquarters in Santa Fe Springs, California, Champion has expanded its North American footprint to include facilities in Jackson, Tennessee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Toronto Canada. Today, Champion’s product line has expanded to include portable generators, home standby generators, inverter generators, engines, winches and log splitters. With over 2.5 million generators sold in North America, Champion is a market leader in the power equipment field. Visit ChampionPowerEquipment.com for more information.
- Chassis History/Info: Enfinger and the No. 23 team will compete with GMS Racing chassis no. 145 this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The chassis’ debut came earlier this season at Circuit of The Americas where Grant walked away with a respectable 12th place finish.
- Hensley Returned One Year Ago: Before this race last summer, GMS Racing announced the return of Jeff Hensley to take command of the No. 23 team. Since the announcement, Hensley and Enfinger have accumulated a long list of top-fives, top-10s and three wins in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. This dynamic duo has a combined total of over 60 years of experience in the industry.
- #FearTheFinger Playoffs Profile: Mid-Ohio, Pocono, and Richmond are the three remaining tracks left on the schedule in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season. Grant Enfinger and the No. 23 team have locked themselves into the 10-driver playoffs by virtue of the two wins at Kansas Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway, and currently have a total of 11 playoffs points in their tally, fourth highest of all drivers. Enfinger is third in the points standings heading into this weekend's race, only 31 behind point leader, Corey Heim.
- GE Appearances: Fans attending the O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 will have an opportunity to meet Grant Enfinger on race day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
NCTS Autograph Session I Saturday, July 8th: Enfinger will be signing autographs in the Mid-Ohio Frontstretch Pavilion Saturday morning with the majority of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series field at 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM local time.
- From The Driver's Seat: What are your thoughts and expectations heading into Mid-Ohio and the last few races before the playoffs?
“I am excited to return to Mid-Ohio this weekend. Last year we learned a lot for our first time being on the track. The most important takeaway was being adaptable to different racing conditions. I feel like the track provided good racing. Hopefully we can take what we learned last year and use it to gain some more points towards the regular season championship and the playoffs. Our No. 23 team has worked hard this year and put in long hours lately to make sure we have a fast Chevrolet to compete with. Looking forward to making the awesome people at GMS Racing proud.”
Rajah Caruth, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet Silverado RST
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Stats
- Rajah Caruth will make his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at Mid-Ohio on Saturday
- ARCA Starts: 1; Best start: 5th; Best finish: 9th (2022); Top 10s: 1
NCTS Road Course Stats (COTA)
- Combined Starts: 1; Best start: 20th; Best finish: 13th (COTA, 2023)
2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats
- Starts: 13; Best start: 3rd; Best finish: 6th (Darlington); Top 10s: 1; Laps led: 1; Current points position: 16th
- About the Wendell Scott Foundation: Founded in 2011, The Wendell Scott Foundation, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization inspired by Wendell Scott, Sr. and provides services such as job-skill training, STEM education opportunities, mentoring, and other supportive services to at-risk, underserved youth between the ages of 8-18 years in Danville, Virginia and surrounding areas.
The Foundation's mission of using educational attainment to end racial disparities in education and health is vital in addressing economic inequality and improving future success in African-American communities. For more information, please visit www.wendellscott.org.
- Chassis History/Info: Caruth and the No. 24 team will compete with GMS Racing chassis no. 138. This chassis has raced a total of six times prior to this weekend, all on road courses. Sheldon Creed owns the best finish on this truck's record with a third place outing at Watkins Glen International in 2021. Grant Enfinger competed with this truck three times last year at all three road courses on the schedule, with his highest finishing position being a 10th place run at COTA. Rajah raced this truck earlier this year out at COTA, where he finished 13th.
- All Around Driver: Outside of the main focus on his NASCAR national series races, Caruth hones his craft racing Micro Sprint Cars and Late Models. Last week, he competed in his second Micro Sprint Car race in his career at Millbridge Raceway in Salisbury, N.C., where he earned a career best fourth place finish. On the asphalt side of things, Rajah will be competing in the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series "Locked In 200" race at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, S.C. on August 30th.
- Sunoco Rookie Battle: A fantastic start to the night in Nashville in which Rajah fought for the lead early on resulted in heartbreak as he was forced to bring the truck behind the wall with mechanical issues. A final result of 32nd place was the fifth highest rookie finish of the race. Caruth remains third in the rookie points standings following Nashville, currently 123 points behind leader Nick Sanchez and 60 points behind Jake Garcia in second.
- RC Appearances: Fans attending the O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 will have an opportunity to meet Rajah Caruth on race day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
NCTS Autograph Session I Saturday, July 8th: Caruth will be signing autographs in the Mid-Ohio Frontstretch Pavilion Saturday morning with the majority of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series field at 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM local time.
- From The Driver's Seat: What have you done differently to prepare for the road course race at Mid-Ohio than you would for a typical oval track?
“In preparation for Mid-Ohio this weekend, I can’t say I’ve done much different. I have just increased some things from my side from the amount of iRacing and the type of racing I do at home on my simulator to my preparation for the Chevrolet DiL simulator when I go with my crew chief and engineer. I've also been heavily reviewing the past few years' races in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series and even the NASCAR Xfinity Series. I'll be relying on my experience in the ARCA car last year in both the rain and dry. I feel really good about this weekend; I think we have a really good shot with our Wendell Scott Foundation Silverado.”
Daniel Dye, No. 43 Giuseppe's Steel City Pizza Chevrolet Silverado RST
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Stats
- Daniel Dye will make his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start at Mid-Ohio on Saturday
- ARCA Starts: 1; Best start: 11th; Best finish: 8th (2022); Top 10s: 1
NCTS Road Course Stats (COTA)
- Combined Starts: 1; Best start: 36th; Best finish: 18th (COTA, 2023)
2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Season Stats
- Starts: 13; Best start: 9th; Best finish: 11th (Gateway); Laps led: 5; Current points position: 17th
- About Giuseppe's Steel City Pizza: Giuseppe’s has been proudly serving the Daytona Beach and Port Orange areas since 1982 when our family relocated here from Freeport, Pennsylvania, a small town just outside of Pittsburgh. We aren’t a chain, we are a family operation. You will always find one or more family members in the kitchen cooking up your order every hour of every day. We use only the highest quality, freshest ingredients, serving generous portion sizes, and offer it all at a reasonable price. Everything is homemade fresh daily, including our pizza dough, sauces, garlic bread, lasagna, pastas, soups, wing sauce, and our “to-die-for” creamy Italian dressing. Making our dishes from scratch has always been, and always will be, our promise to you. For more information, please visit www.giuseppessteelcitypizza.com.
- Chassis History/Info: Dye and the No. 43 team will compete at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in GMS Racing chassis no. 140. Zane Smith drove this chassis to a couple of top-10 finishes at the Circuit Of The Americas and Watkins Glen International in 2021, finishing as high of sixth place at the Glen. Daniel raced this chassis earlier this year at COTA for his NCTS road course debut, finishing in the 18th spot.
- Sunoco Rookie Battle: Daniel's 22nd place finish in the most recent event at Nashville Superspeedway was the fourth-highest rookie result of the race. Dye is still scored in fourth position in the rookie points standings, 126 behind leading candidate, Nick Sanchez, but now only three points behind Rajah Caruth in third.
- DD Appearances: Fans attending the O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 will have an opportunity to meet Daniel Dye on race day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course:
NCTS Autograph Session I Saturday, July 8th: Dye will be signing autographs in the Mid-Ohio Frontstretch Pavilion Saturday morning with the majority of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series field at 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM local time.
- From the Driver's Seat: What did you learn about Mid-Ohio last year in the ARCA car that you can apply to this weekend?
“So much about road course racing is being comfortable at that specific race track. Between the ARCA race last year and our training with the Chevrolet drivers earlier this year in street cars, I’ve had two weekends on the race track and I am looking forward to getting back to it. It is a really fun race track. I am looking forward to seeing what we can do with our No. 43 Giuseppe's Steel Pizza team. I'm hoping the rain stays away and I hope we can get a couple of good finishes before the regular season ends.”
