NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: JEGS 200 (Race 6 of 23), 200 Laps – 45/45/110; 200 Miles
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (One-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 3, 2019 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and Sirius/XM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Brandon Jones will get behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chigo / Menards Toyota Tundra this weekend at Dover International Speedway for the first time in 2019. In addition to Friday’s JEGS 200, Jones will be behind the wheel of the No. 51 for four Gander Trucks races, Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., and ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz.
- The 22-year-old driver has 40 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races under his belt, with three runner-up, 10 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes.
- At Dover, the Georgia driver has four Gander Trucks starts with one top-five and three top-10 finishes, and in the Xfinity Series, he has recorded six starts and sat on the pole in 2018.
- Veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle leads the 51 team this season. Fugle has guided his team to four Owner’s Championships (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) as a crew chief at KBM, including combined Owner’s/Driver’s Championships with Erik Jones in 2015 and Christopher Bell in 2017. The New York native’s drivers have combined for 26 wins, 22 poles, 60 top-five and 94 top-10 finishes across his 118 races calling the shots for the organization. Fugle has one win at Dover, in 2013 with Kyle Busch.
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Brandon Jones, Driver Q&A
How does it feel to get back into a KBM truck, especially one that has won four of five races entered this year?
“It feels awesome to get back with KBM. After running some races with them for my first time last year, we’ve got a few more with them this year, especially coming back to a track that I’ve been to a lot throughout the NASCAR series. I think my first start was probably the K&N Series at Dover. So, it’s going to be cool to get back with KBM and the 51 truck at a track that I’m really used to.”
What’s the most challenging part of racing at Dover?
“Dover is extremely challenging. Especially in the Truck Series, because you have to be so aggressive. You never really want to get out of the throttle and the track is like a roller coaster. You have very big divots in the track, a lot of the areas you almost pop out like a roller coaster, so that’s what keeps it challenging. The tires never really fall off that much as well, so that’s always a constant game. You always have to continue to push the truck to its max limits.”
Brandon Jones Career Highlights
- Jones made five NGOTS starts for KBM in 2018, recording three top-five and four top-10 finishes, finishing outside the top 10 just once since joining the Toyota Racing camp
- Overall since making his Gander Trucks debut in August of 2013, Jones has recorded three runner-up, 10 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes across 40 starts.
- The Georgia native – who is also competing for the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) championship with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) – has registered two poles, five top-five and 38 top-10 finishes across 112 career Xfinity Series starts.
- Additionally, the 22-year-old driver has collected five career ARCA Racing Series victories, including last year at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and one NASCAR K&N Pro Series win (Iowa Speedway, 2014).
Brandon Jones’ No. 51 Chigo / Menards Tundra:
KBM-053: The No. 51 Chigo / Menards team has prepared chassis KBM-053 for Friday’s JEGS 200 at Dover International Speedway. This chassis made two starts in 2018 with Noah Gragson behind the wheel at Iowa and Michigan.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have recorded three wins, four poles, 820 laps led, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.6 across 22 career starts at the Monster Mile.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch has earned all three of his organization’s victories at Dover (2011, 2013 and 2014).
- The No. 51 is the winningest number in the KBM stable with 27 trips to victory lane in Gander Trucks action
- KBM holds the NGOTS records for most career wins (72) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
