Date: July 24, 2020
Event: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 (Race 9 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (1.5-mile tri-oval)
Format: Three Stages; 30 laps/30 laps/74 laps
Start/Finish: 4th/14th (Running, completed 134 of 134 laps)
Winner: Austin Hill of Hattori Racing Enterprises (Toyota)
Brandon Jones battled a loose-handling Barracuda Pumps® Tundra to a 14th-place finish in the first race of a doubleheader weekend at Kansas Speedway. With a 15-truck invert based on tonight’s results for tomorrow’s event, the No. 51 Delta® Faucets team will line up second for tomorrow’s 134-lap event at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Stage One Recap:
- Jones started from the fourth position on a random draw in tiers based on the 2020 Gander Trucks owner’s points, fell back to sixth in the opening laps but rebounded to fourth by the time the first caution occurred on Lap 20.
- Veteran crew chief Danny Stockman summoned Jones to pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop with a trackbar chassis adjustment. The No.51 Tundra lined up 15th for the Lap-23 restart and over the final seven laps of the stage would end up in the 16th position.
Stage Two Recap:
- Having already pitted late in Stage One, Stockman kept his driver on track between stages. Jones lined up fifth when Stage Two went green on Lap 36.
- Jones would finish Stage Two ninth and reported to Stockman that the front end of his Toyota was tight and pushed on exit.
Final Stage Recap:
- When pit road opened, Jones brought the No. 51 Toyota to the attention of his over-the-wall crew who administered a four-tire and fuel stop with several adjustments to try and improve the handling for their driver.
- The Xfinity Series regular lined up sixth when the Final Stage went green on Lap 66. In the early laps, he reported being “a five loose” and fell back to the 14th position when the fourth and final caution occurred on Lap 83.
- Jones hit pit road for a four-tire and fuel stop with several handling adjustments, but shortly after returning to the track learned that he had sped on pit road and would have to start from the rear of the field. Knowing that they were going to be close on fuel, Stockman summoned his driver back down pit road and topped off with fuel on the final caution lap.
- The Georgia native was scored 28th when the field went back green on Lap 87. Over the final 47 laps he was able to advance up to 14th, but still reported that handling issues were keeping him from advancing through the field.
Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 Recap:
- Austin Hill picked up his first Gander Trucks win of 2020 and the fifth of his career. Brett Moffitt crossed the stripe 2.928 seconds behind Hill in the runner-up position. Grant Enfinger came home third, Matt Crafton was fourth and Derek Kraus rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race featured four cautions for a total of 19 laps. There were 16 lead changes among eight drivers.
How Eckes’ KBM Teammates Fared:
- Christian Eckes, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 13th
- Raphael Lessard, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 16th
Gander Trucks Championship Standings:
The No. 51 team fell to second in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Series standings. After nine races, including four wins, the No. 51 team trails the No. 16 team by four tallies.
Next Race:
Jones will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 Delta® Faucets Tundra when the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series resumes action tomorrow, July 25, at Kansas Speedway for the second race of an unprecedented doubleheader event. Live coverage of tomorrow’s race begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Based on a 15-truck inversion from tonight’s results, Jones will start second in tomorrow’s event.
