NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: Lucas Oil 150 (Race 22 of 23), 150 Laps –45/45/60; 150 Miles
Location: ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. (1-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: Nov. 8, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Brandon Jones will get back behind the wheel of the No. 51 DuPont Air Filtration/Menards Tundra for the penultimate race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season. Jones will be trying to help the No. 51 team advance to the Championship 4 in the owner’s portion of the Gander Trucks playoffs. The No. 51 team enters the final event in the Round of 6 third in the owner’s standings, 20 points above the cutoff line for advancing the championship race next Friday night at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. Jones will be the third different driver to pilot the No. 51 in this round, Riley Herbst finished third in the opening race of the round at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and in the second race Christian Eckes was in the top-five and battling for a win as the field took the white flag at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, but a last lap incident relegated him to a 17th-place finish.
- Jones will be making his fifth and final Gander Truck Series start for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) this season. He has two-top five finishes across his four starts for KBM this season, including a runner-up finish at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., in June. Most recently, Jones piloted the No. 51 at Kentucky Speedway in July, where he was leading late in Stage Two when he got collected in a wreck and finished 23rd. The Georgia native also made five starts for KBM in 2018, collecting two top-five and four top-10 finishes. Overall since making his Gander Trucks debut in August of 2013, Jones has recorded four runner-up, 12 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes across 44 Gander Truck Series starts.
- The 22-year-old driver has two truck series starts at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., with an average starting position of 11.5 and an average finishing position of 22.0. His best result was a 12th-place finish in the 2014 event. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Jones has seven starts and two top-10 finishes with an average finish of 12.0. He has finished seventh in each of his last two Xfinity Series starts at the Arizona track.
- Jones, a NASCAR Xfinity Series regular, will be pulling double duty this weekend, also competing in Saturday’s race for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has compiled one win, six top-five and 15 top-10 finishes across 31 NXS starts this season. He picked up the first victory of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City last month.
- Veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle leads the No. 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 28 wins, 23 poles, 69 top-five and 105 top-10 finishes across his 134 races calling the shots for the organization. At ISM Raceway, Fugle’s drivers have recorded six starts, with one win in 2013 by Erik Jones, two top-five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.8. Fugle has led the pole winning effort for the last four Truck Series races at ISM Raceway and his driver has led 40 or more laps in each of the last five races.
- PPA Industries, Inc. is headquartered in Hickory, N.C. and distributes residential air and water filtration throughout North America. Included in the PPA Industries portfolios are a wide range of DuPont branded products. The two companies teamed up to bring new ingredient technologies to water and air filtration that help optimize filter life and improve overall filter performance.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders, it can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and are used under license by PPA Industries, Inc.
Brandon Jones, Driver Q&A
What are you looking forward to this weekend?
“We’re headed into what will be my last Truck Series race this season with KBM at ISM Raceway. For a long time now, I have been wanting to check off a win in the Truck Series, and I think this is our opportunity to do so. After having so much speed in our last race together, I don’t see any reason why our No. 51 team wouldn’t be in contention in Phoenix. Rudy Fugle is a very talented crew chief and I’m confident that he’ll bring another strong piece for us this weekend. Likewise, I think the Truck race will be key in my preparation for Saturday’s XFINITY race — allowing for me to get in some extra laps and get a better handle on the track. We have Menards back on board with a new hood partner in DuPont Air Filtration, so I’m looking forward to having a strong showing for them in our Toyota Tundra.”
Brandon Jones Career Highlights
- Jones has made nine total NGOTS starts for KBM since 2018, recording five top-five and six top-10 finishes.
- Overall since making his Gander Trucks debut in August of 2013, Jones has recorded four runner-up, 12 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes across 44 starts.
- The Georgia native – who is also in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) in 2019 with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) – has registered one win, two poles, eight top-five and 48 top-10 finishes across 134 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 DuPont Air Filtration/Menards Tundra:
KBM-058: The No. 51 DuPont Air Filtration/Menards team will unload chassis KBM-058 which is brand new this year. Owner-driver Kyle Busch piloted it to Victory Lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway earlier this season, then Christian Eckes raced it at both Pocono Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing in the top-five both times.
- In 24 starts at ISM Raceway, KBM drivers have five wins and five poles, including five poles in the last five years at the one-mile facility. They’ve led 876 laps and recorded nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes, resulting in an average finish of 10.2 and an average starting position of 6.2.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch earned the first ISM Raceway victory for KBM in 2011, while Brian Scott won in 2012, Erik Jones won in both 2013 and 2014 and Daniel Suarez earned the organization’s most recent victory in 2016.
- KBM has claimed the pole position for every Truck Series race at ISM Raceway since 2014.
- KBM holds the Gander Truck Series records for most career wins (75) 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).
- The No. 51 is the winningest number in the KBM stable with 30 trips to victory lane in Gander Trucks action.
