LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Race Preview: Sonoma Raceway

Nov 15, 2023

Race Information

No. 42 | Grant Enfinger & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet Camaro Zl1No. 43 | Erik Jones & Joey Cohen – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL

Grant Enfinger, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Sonoma Raceway Stats

NASCAR Cup Series: Grant Enfinger will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway

NASCAR Truck Series: Starts: 1; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 11th; Laps Led: 1

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.

NASCAR Cup Series Debut: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series veteran Grant Enfinger will make his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Sonoma Raceway. He will be substituting for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Noah Gragson. Enfinger has never driven a NASCAR NextGen car before but has an impressive resumé in other forms of stock car racing. In 2015, Enfinger won the ARCA Menards Series championship driving for GMS Racing, securing Maury Gallagher's first championship as a team owner. Enfinger was promoted to a full-time Truck Series ride in 2017 and has regularly competed for the championship ever since. Today, he is known as one of the most accomplished and well-respected drivers in the series, earning a total of nine wins at nine different racetracks. He currently ranks third in Truck Series points with two wins this season. Enfinger sits only nine points behind the series leader with four races left to run in the 2023 regular season.

Most Recent NCTS Winner: Enfinger recently made headlines at World Wide Technology Raceway where he performed in dominating, yet dramatic fashion as he scored his second NCTS race win of the 2023 season. Already in the playoffs with a convincing win at Kansas Speedway, Enfinger, along with veteran crew chief Jeff Hensley, were bold in their race strategy as they went off-sequence from the majority of the field, resulting in a win in Stage 1. As the race continued to play out, Enfinger once again found himself near the front of the pack, where with just a handful of laps to go, two of the race leaders got together, allowing the driver of the No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Silverado RST to narrowly slip by and hold off his nearest competitors for his second win of the year. On top of that, he pocketed a coveted $50,000 bonus along the way as part of the series’ Triple Truck Challenge program.

Baby On Board: During his post-win celebratory interview with FOX Sports analyst Regan Smith, Grant Enfinger made a shockingly wholesome announcement that he and his wife, Michelle, were expecting the birth of their second child. The couple have been blessed with one son already in their family, Carson Enfinger, who will turn two-years-old later this month

Past Road Course Experience: Grant has one prior race under his belt at the challenging road course in Sonoma Raceway, which was held last year in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series return to the facility. On that weekend, Enfinger qualified in the eighth position, earned stage points, and even led a lap en route to an 11th place finish. He's no slouch turning left and right, however; Enfinger has had success turning left and right before. In nine total Truck Series road course starts, he has one top-five and three top-10 results, including a best finish of fourth at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in 2021.

Quoting Grant Enfinger: "My thoughts are with Noah, I know how much he loves this team and the guys on it. I’m happy to help out LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and the No. 42 team. With that being said, I am honored to have even been considered as the driver to fill in for him. I am very appreciative of Maury Gallagher, Jimmie Johnson, Mike Beam, Ron Booth, Joey Cohen, Luke Lambert, Chevrolet, Sunseeker Resorts, and Champion Power Equipment for allowing me to fulfill my dream of racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. While we all wish the circumstances were different, the most important thing we can do is put our best foot forward and make the most out of this opportunity."

Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Sonoma Raceway Stats

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West: Starts: 1; Best start: 13th; Best finish: 6th (2018)

NASCAR Cup Series: Starts 5; Best start: 18th; Best finish: 7th (2018); Top 10s: 2; Laps Led: 1

2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats

Starts: 15; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 6th (Talladega); Top 10s: 2; Laps led: 17; Points position: 30th.

About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant's fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit Allegiant.com.

Stonefield Home on the No. 43: Jones will have a local associate partner this weekend at Sonoma Raceway featuring Stonefield Home. Stonefield Home was founded in 1984 by longtime residents of the Central Valley who share a passion for revitalizing neighborhoods and building high quality, value priced homes. Their legacy, a commitment to quality homebuilding- is reflected in every step of the process, from planning to development to building and beyond. Stonefield Home supports non-profit organizations, community events and a wide range of youth-oriented programs including Toys for Tots, as well as the California Highway Patrol, UC Merced, Merced County Spring Fair, and many local medical facilities, among others- is just one of the many ways in which Stonefield Home not only creates beautiful new homes and neighborhoods, but also builds Community. The founders of Stonefield founders live by the commitment to invest in the people who will call these community's "home".

Road Runner: Jones is no stranger to success on road courses. In his 24 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, Jones has three top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Across the three major track types (speedways, short tracks, and road courses), Jones’ has an average start of 22.3 and the series highest differential average finish in the road course category with 15.4. Jones historically moves up an average of 6.9 spots per race on a road course.

Passing with flying colors: Jones has five starts at Sonoma Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series and two top-10 finishes of seventh (2018) and eighth (2019). In last year's race at Sonoma Raceway, Jones ranked sixth in quality passes with 991 passes throughout the event. He also led all drivers with 1,934 green flag passes while finishing 22nd.

Cohen at the Helm: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB VP, Race Operations, Joey Cohen will serve as the interim crew chief this weekend for the No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet. Cohen, 38, has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and has extensive experience in the crew chief position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and in the Truck Series where he earned two victories with drivers Ben Kennedy and Chase Elliott.

Jones Takes it to the Bank: Erik Jones won the Super Late Model "Money in the Bank 150" race at Berlin Raceway on Wednesday, taking home the $10,000 prize. Jones is one of only two Super Late Model drivers to win the "Money in the Bank 150", and the "Battle at Berlin" events at the historic Michigan short track.

Meet Erik Jones: Jones will sign autographs on Sunday, June 11th for approximately 100 fans at the United States Air Force activation display in the Sonoma Raceway fan midway at 9:30am local time.

Erik Jones Ticket Package: Byron, Michigan native Jones will return to his "home" track of Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in August. To honor the hometown hero, MIS will offer a special Erik Jones Fan Experience ticket package which will include a DJ, games and a chance to meet Jones. The Erik Jones Fan Experience will be located in Lot 3 – click here for details.

Quoting Erik Jones: "Going out to Sonoma will be a good time, it's our first time at a road course this year since COTA. We learned a lot. I think we have seen growth as a team since COTA, this track should show the steps we have taken and put them to the test. We have what it takes to get out front and compete this weekend; the whole No. 43 team has made steady progress as a group. Hate the circumstances to not have Dave come to Sonoma, but confident Joey will do a great job filling in for us. Looking to have a good run still."

ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty "The King" serves as team ambassador.

In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR's elite level.

Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.

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