Competing in his sixth full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Brandon Jones is set to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Playoff event at Texas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will reach 200 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones made his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway in May 2015. By then, he had achieved two victories in the ARCA Menards Series and one victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, all while competing for Turner Scott Motorsports. Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing on a part-time basis, Jones started fifth and finished eighth in his Xfinity debut.
Jones returned for four additional Xfinity races in 2015, starting at Iowa in August, which was followed by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August, Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Kentucky Speedway in September. During this span, Jones notched a career-best fifth-place result at Kentucky.
In 2016, Jones took over the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor. Commencing the season with a seventh-place result at Daytona International Speedway, Jones achieved a total of 12 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule. He also made the inaugural Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he was eliminated following the first round, and settled in 10th place in the final standings.
While Jones achieved his first Xfinity career pole for the 2017 season-opening event at Daytona in February, he only achieved a total of three top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule and failed to make the Playoffs before ending up in 16th place in the final standings.
Following the 2017 season, Jones departed RCR and joined Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 19 Toyota Camry for the 2018 Xfinity season. Starting the season with a 10th-place result at Daytona in February, Jones achieved a pole, two top-five results, 17 top-10 results and a spot in the Xfinity Playoffs, where he was eliminated from title contention following the first round and went on to settle in ninth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 Xfinity career starts.
Finishing in third place in the 2019 Xfinity season opener at Daytona, Jones logged in four top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to make the Playoffs based on points. After finishing 11th, 16th and 37th in the Playoff’s first round, however, Jones was one of four competitor who were eliminated early from title contention. Jones rebounded the following weekend at Kansas Speedway in October by avoiding late calamity and fending off top Playoff contenders to score his first Xfinity Series career victory. He went on to finish in the top 10 in two of the final three races before settling in 10th place in the final standings.
The following season, Jones achieved his second Xfinity Series career win at Phoenix Raceway in March following a late pass on teammate Kyle Busch. Following NASCAR’s return to action in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jones completed a last lap pass on Austin Cindric to win for the second time in 2020 at Kansas in July. Six races later, Jones overtook teammate Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain prior to the final lap to achieve his third victory of the season and fourth of his career at Darlington Raceway in September. Returning to the Playoffs for a third consecutive season, Jones remained in title contention through the Round of 8 at Martinsville Speedway in October, but he fell short in making the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and contending for his first NASCAR title. Nonetheless, Jones and his No. 19 JGR Toyota team finished in sixth place in the final standings, which marks Jones’ best points result to date.
This season, Jones has recorded a stage victory, three runner-up results, 11 top-five results and 16 top-10 results through 29 scheduled Xfinity starts. After qualifying for the Xfinity Playoffs for a fifth season, Jones is coming off three consecutive top-10 results and is one of eight competitors to transfer to the Round of 8. He is currently lined up in eighth place in the Playoff standings with 3,003 points as he continues his pursuit for his first NASCAR national touring series championship.
Through 199 previous Xfinity starts, Jones has achieved four career victories, three poles, 30 top-five results, 85 top-10 results, five Playoff appearances, nearly 600 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5.
Jones is set to make his 200th Xfinity Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
