NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Overview
Event: Pocono Organics 150 to benefit Farm Aid (Race 6 of 23), 60 Laps –15/15/30; 150 Miles
Location: Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. (2.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 27, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Brandon Jones makes his first of four NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series starts in 2020 behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Tundra in Saturday’s Pocono Organics 150 at Pocono Raceway. For Saturday’s 150-mile event, Jones’ Toyota will carry sponsorship from Protect Plus Air -DuPont™ Air Filtration. The 23-year-old driver will also compete in the doubleheader weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas, with sponsorship from Delta Faucets on July 24 and Barracuda Pumps on July 25. His final truck series start of the season will come at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 30 with sponsorship from Magick Woods. All four races will also carry associate sponsorship from Menards.
- For Jones, it will mark his first start at The Tricky Triangle in the Gander Trucks. He has a best result of eighth across four Xfinity Series starts and two top fives and an average finish of 2.5 across two ARCA Menards Series starts at the Pennsylvania track.
- Jones registered 53 laps led and three top-five finishes across five starts for KBM in 2019, including a runner-up finish at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway that helped the No. 51 advance to the Championship 4 of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors owner’s playoffs. Overall in 10 starts for KBM since 2018, he has posted six top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.2. Since making his Gander Trucks debut in August of 2013, the 23-year-old driver has recorded five runner-up, 13 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes across 45 starts.
- The Georgia native has had a strong start this season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he has posted one win, one pole, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average result of 11.4 across 11 starts. Jones led 24 laps and brought home his second career series victory at Phoenix Raceway in March. He was able to maneuver his way around KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch and led the final 20 circuits en route to the triumph. He ranks seventh in the Xfinity Series points standings but is currently fifth on the playoffs grid.
- Overall in 148 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Jones has produced two victories, three poles, 443 laps led, 13 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes. Additionally, the 22-year-old driver has collected five career ARCA Menards Series victories and one ARCA Menards Series East win (Iowa Speedway, 2014).
- The No. 51 team leads the owner point standings by nine points over the No. 16 team after five events. So far this season the team has two wins, one pole, three top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 7.4. Busch captured victories at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, while Riley Herbst captured the pole in the season-opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The team leads the Gander Trucks Series with six Stage Wins this season, five with Busch and one with Herbst.
- Veteran crew chief Danny Stockman leads the No. 51 team in 2020. Stockman called the shots for Austin Dillon’s championship efforts in both the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (2011) and the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2013) and has experience as a crew chief in all three national series. In Dillon’s Gander Trucks championship season, the pair totaled two wins, five poles, 10 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. The majority of Stockman’s experience atop the pit box has come in the Xfinity Series, where his drivers have recorded seven wins, 19 poles, 80 top-five and 148 top-10 finishes across 209 starts from 2012 to 2018. At Pocono Raceway, Dillon finished inside the top 10 in both of his starts with Stockman calling the shots, including a fifth-place result in 2011.
- PPA Industries, Inc. is headquartered in Hickory, N.C. and distributes and sells residential air filtration products throughout North America. Included in the PPA Industries portfolio are a wide range of DuPont™ branded products. In 2014, the two companies teamed up to bring science and innovation to air technologies that help optimize filter life, improve filter performance and help consumers have a healthier life.
Brandon Jones, Driver Q&A:
What turn is the trickiest at the tricky triangle?
“I would say the trickiest turn at Pocono would be the tunnel turn. I would think the tunnel turn. You have to carry so much speed through that corner, so you are always on the edge through there. It kind of gives you insecure feelings. I would say that is probably the hardest.”
You’ve come so close to getting a truck win in your career, including a couple times last year, how badly do you want to get to victory lane in the trucks this year?
“We’ve been so close in getting wins in the truck series. There were multiple races that we have been up front the entire time in races last year with KBM, so it would be really big for me to be in victory lane finally with these guys.”
You’ve worked with crew chief Danny Stockman for a handful of Xfinity races in the past, are you looking forward to working with him for your four races this year?
“I’m really excited to get back with Danny Stockman. In the past, I worked with him as I was coming up through XFINITY kind of my first years was with Danny Stockman, so that’s kind of cool having some chemistry and history with him.”
Brandon Jones Career Highlights:
- Jones has made 10 total NGROTS starts for KBM since 2018, recording six top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
- Overall since making his Gander Trucks debut in August of 2013, Jones has recorded five runner-up, 13 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes across 44 starts.
- The Georgia native – who is also in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) in 2020 with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) – has registered two wins, three poles, 13 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes across 148 career Xfinity Series starts.
- Additionally, the 22-year-old driver has collected five career ARCA Racing Series victories, most recently at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 2018, and one NASCAR K&N Pro Series win (Iowa Speedway, 2014)
Brandon Jones No. 51 DuPont™ Air Filtration Tundra:
KBM-060: The No. 51 Protect Plus Air – DuPont™ Air Filtration team will race KBM-060 for Saturday’s Pocono Organics 150 at Pocono Raceway. This is the same chassis that Kyle Busch swept all three stages with while leading a race-high 108 laps en route to victory at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in February.
KBM Notes of Interest:
Across 23 starts at Pocono Raceway, KBM drivers have earned four wins (Kyle Busch 2015 and 2018, William Byron 2016, and Christopher Bell 2017), two poles (Erik Jones 2015 and Kyle Busch 2018), 223 laps led, 11 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 7.9 and an average finish of 7.2
- KBM holds the NGROTS records for most career wins (77) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
