It was a whirlwind of a day for Brandon Jones and his No. 19 IK9 Toyota. Jones qualified on the outside pole on Saturday to give him great starting track position.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to take the lead early, leading eight laps and winning the first stage. This would be the only the time Jones led the race. However he would remain consistent in the second stage and finished fifth.
A big moment came for Jones on Lap 89 of 100, as the No. 22 of Austin Cindric would make contact with him sending Jones up the track in Turn 3. Jones had some damage to his No. 19 but the team was able to get back on track.
“These guys at First Foundation and IK9 volunteers for their fight dogs, so I may have one for them after this race,” Jones said to PRN Radio. “It was just a racing deal, I held him (Cindric) fairly tight going into (Turn) 3 but also his job to control his car as well, so I’m putting it on him a little bit. All in all, Toyotas were really fast this afternoon and yesterday in practice, even qualifying we were 1-2-3.”
Jones was able to rebound for a sixth-place finish in what would be his 12th top-10 finish of the season.
“So that’s something to be proud of, I think our car was definitely the one to win the race. To fight back to sixth like that, I think that’s pretty impressive, so I was really proud of my guys all day today. They always stay behind me every race no matter what happens, so I wouldn’t want to be with any other team than I am right now.”
