XFINITY: Hard luck Brandon Jones caught up in rare Turn 3 pileup at Sonoma
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard
Brandon Jones picked up the 7th last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at the Sonoma Raceway when his #9 Menards / Jeld-Wen Chevrolet was collected in a multi-car pileup after 49 of 79 laps.
The finish, which came in Jones’ 284th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since August 27, 2021 at Daytona, 90 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 15th for the #9, the 395th from a crash, and the 642nd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 60th for the #9, the 1,379th from a crash, and the 1,943rd for Chevrolet.
Since he was last featured here, Jones scored his fifth and most recent series victory in a physical race at Martinsville in 2022, where he passed teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap. He also finished top-ten in the point standings for a fifth consecutive season, coinciding with his time driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. But that era ended on the worst possible terms when, as the series returned to Martinsville, Gibbs dumped Jones out of the lead and the Championship Four. He then made the move to JR Motorsports, replacing Noah Gragson at the #9 team, but struggled through a winless season that continues into the current year. Even a season-best runner-up to Cup regular Chase Elliott at Charlotte came two rounds ago, only to be followed by a hard crash off Portland’s tight Turn 12.
At Sonoma, where Jones finished 21st in last year’s inaugural event, he began the weekend 15th in practice, then qualified 15th in Qualifying Round 1B with a lap of 1 minute, 16.621 seconds (93.499mph), which secured him 27th on the starting grid. Jones also participated in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series West event, where he qualified 3rd and overcame an early pit stop to finish 8th. The race was won by one of his JR Motorsports teammates in Sam Mayer.
For the third-straight XFINITY Series race, the Joey Gase Motorsports team failed to qualify. Each came with a different driver. Following Akinori Ogata at Charlotte and Frankie Muniz at Portland was Sage Karam, whose solid effort at Portland for Sam Hunt Racing was spoiled by a radiator hose that came loose in a stack-up on a restart. Karam gained sponsorship from Rich Mar Florist on the #35 entry, but struggled with a persistent carburetor issue that made the car lose time coming off the low-speed corners. He also drove off-course at Turn 2, but avoided serious damage. In the final tally, his best lap of 1 minute, 17.063 seconds (92.963mph) was faster than two other drivers in his group, but not quite enough to make the show.
Karam was far from the only driver to struggle in practice. Josh Bilicki logged the slowest time, his session cut short after only three laps following a catastrophic mechanical failure. Entering Turn 7, his #92 SBC Contractors, Inc. Chevrolet broke a truck arm, nearly ripping the rear wheels from beneath the car. The #92 spun over the “island” separating the corner’s two exits, then ground to a stop. The car arrived in the garage, where the rear was placed on jack stands with both wheels removed. The DGM Racing crew then unloaded the #36 with which Preston Pardus finished last following a chassis break in the opening laps of Portland, one which caused the rear of the car to swivel side-to-side by one crewman’s touch. The crew repaired the damage and brought it along as the team’s backup, but NASCAR reportedly stepped in, telling the #92 team to repair the primary. Thus, the team stayed well after the garage closed, and their former driver Josh Williams was among those helping. By Saturday morning, the car was presented for inspection, and Bilicki qualified 31st.
Just ahead of Bilicki in the queue came Boris Said, who was making his series return for the first time since the Charlotte “Roval” last fall, when a different series of mechanical gremlins prevented him from qualifying Hendrick Motorsports’ fleet #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. The team arranged for Said to return at Sonoma, site of 17 of his 55 career Cup starts, but none of his 29 in XFINITY. Late in the practice session, where he turned 11 laps, Said lost control in Turn 1 and slammed the concrete barrier with the right side, shoving the right-front wheel against the frame, knocking the rear decklid from the car, and filling the cockpit with dried grass. Said walked away without serious injury, and this time NASCAR did allow them to go to a backup car. Without one on hand, it was some time before an undecorated matte black Chevrolet rolled up to the hauler from JR Motorsports. By Saturday morning, white number and graphic decals were added, and Said secured 35th on the starting grid. The backup car incurred him the day’s only tail-end penalty.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Garrett Smithley, who carried sponsorship from Dozer Winch on the team’s white #4 Chevrolet. When Said dropped to the rear before the start, he occupied the final spot in the right lane while Smithley trailed the left. By the end of Lap 1, Said had already gained back three positions, dropping Matt DiBenedetto to 37th in the #38 Viking Motorsports Ford. (Incidentally, it was Smithley and DiBenedetto who turned slower laps in qualifying than Sage Karam’s DNQ.) Smithley kept DiBenedetto in his sights, but the gap gradually increased through Lap 4. The next time by, DiBenedetto caught and passed 36th-place Hailie Deegan, whose #15 VIVA Tequila Seltzer Ford had pushed wide coming off Turn 11. Deegan caught DiBenedetto on Lap 8 as the #38 now struggled to pass 35th-place Kyle Sieg in the #28 RSS Racing Ford. DiBenedetto finally passed Sieg by Lap 9, and Smithley radioed he had issues with lateral grip.
Garrett Smithley’s #4 in the 38th spot during the early laps.
On Lap 12, Deegan missed Turn 11 again, and this time swung well wide at corner exit. This dropped her into the clutches of last-place Smithley, who immediately made up his deficit. Two laps later, Sheldon Creed was the first driver to pit when he pulled his #18 MRC Construction Toyota into his stall. Creed took over last as he rejoined the track, but was so close to Smithley and Deegan that he caught and passed them both by Lap 17. As he did, Smithley pulled alongside Deegan, and the pair rain door-to-door off Turn 11. The advantage went to Smithley, who put the #15 back to last place. Again, this was only for a moment, as Ed Jones (of no relation to Brandon) pitted his #26 Synergy Modular Careers Toyota, soon to be followed by other drivers. Jones took over last by Lap 19, and was the first to be caught and passed by eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen the next time by. On Lap 22, as the caution fell to end Stage 1, Jones was directly behind van Gisbergen, who had himself caught Deegan and Smithley. The duo stayed on the lead lap, awarding the “Lucky Dog” to Jones’ #26.
Hailie Deegan in the garage for an electrical issue.
By the Lap 25 restart, Kyle Sieg had incurred a pit road speeding penalty, and lined up in the last spot on track. But this was no longer 38th position, as by then Deegan had pulled the #15 behind the wall. Reporting she’d lost power, she went to the XFINITY garage, where her car was pointed away from her hauler and toward pit exit. Crew members from her AM Racing team were joined by others wearing Stewart-Haas Racing and Roush-Yates Engines uniforms as they attended to the electrical system. An issue with the distributor rotor button led to the entire wiring harness being removed and replaced, so that by Lap 28, she returned to the track. By then, she had not only taken last place, but was a full seven laps down to the leader. She remained in this position on Lap 47, when the caution fell to end Stage 2. However, new 37th-place runner Leland Honeyman, Jr. had by then lost at least one lap in his #42 RandCo Industries Chevrolet, awarding him the “Lucky Dog” instead of Deegan.
Sammy Smith in the garage for two new axles.
Once again, there was a new contender. On Lap 46, NASCAR reported that Sammy Smith’s #8 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet had pulled behind the wall. There, the JR Motorsports crew had already removed the left-rear wheel and were soon removing the brake rotor, then the axle. Minutes later on Lap 48, the crew did the same to the right-rear axle, bringing out a new one and the tools to install it. It was as the crew worked that Brandon Jones, too, would make his trip to the garage.
Brandon Jones (#9) racing Leland Honeyman, Jr. (#42) in the early laps.
On the Lap 50 restart to begin the final stage, the battle for 10th exploded into a mutli-car pileup in Turn 3. At the crest of the hill, the middle of the field stacked up as contact from Ty Gibbs’ #19 Starkey / Soundgear Toyota into the rear of Jeb Burton’s #27 FVP / Bommarito Auto Group Chevrolet sent Burton into Chandler Smith’s #81 QuickTie Toyota and Josh Williams’ #11 Ally Employer Services Chevrolet. This caused both Smith and Williams to spin, blocking the entire track behind. Among those caught in the resulting 12-car logjam was Brandon Jones, who was cresting the hill around the 16th spot at the time. He, too, had struggled in Turn 11 during the early laps, getting booted out of line by Josh Bilicki on Lap 1, then running off-line on Lap 11. This time, he got in the back of Jesse Love’s #2 Whelen Chevrolet, was turned by Ed Jones’ #26, and backed into Williams’ wrecked #11. Jones pointed his car the right way, but stopped off course entering Turn 4. He, Williams, and Burton all climbed out, done for the day. Soon to join them was Gibbs, who was credited with one more lap complete after the nose of his car had been removed.
Jeb Burton’s #27 in the garage after the Turn 3 pileup.
Back in the garage area on Lap 52, Sammy Smith’s crew was nearly done replacing the rear axles, their driver still behind the wheel with the window net up during the entire process. Members of Smith’s crew watched video replays of the wreck on their phone, and two NASCAR officials watched along to track which cars were involved in the incident. On the other side of the garage, Burton’s car had already been dropped off behind its hauler on the front side of the XFINITY garage. Soon, there were reports that three cars were being towed to the garage area. By Lap 54, first Williams’ car, then those of Gibbs and Jones were brought in through the rear entrance across from the media center parking lot. By then, Burton’s car had already been parked in front of the team’s hauler on the other side of the XFINITY garage. In the chaos of coordinating three tow trucks, Jones’ car was put into gear, so when the truck stopped, it swung violently back and forth, nearly hitting the back of the truck. It was dropped off safely without further damage.
The wrecked cars of Ty Gibbs (#19), Josh Williams (#11), and Brandon Jones (#9, far right) arrive in the garage.
On Lap 55, one lap after Smith took last from Deegan, Smith’s car was taken off the jack stands, the driver fired the engine, and he returned to the race. At the time, Jones was ranked the lowest of the drivers involved in the multi-car wreck, and was about to be caught by Deegan for 36th place. Deegan did this, followed by Smith on Lap 59, dropping Jones, William, and Burton to the final three spots. Gibbs took 35th a lap later. In the end, Smith climbed to 33rd at the finish. The last car he passed was that of ARCA part-timer Thomas Annunziata, whose NASCAR national series debut ended with late-race transmission issues on the #6 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet.
Austin Green and Peterson Racing team stun with hard-fought 4th-place finish
Easily the biggest underdog storyline of the race involved one Austin Green, who has finished no worse than 15th in all three of his XFINITY Series starts. Running for his Trans-Am effort, the Peterson Racing team, using their crew and car with support from Jordan Anderson Racing, Green finished 7th in his series debut at COTA, took 15th last week in Portland, then on Saturday ran as high as 2nd on a late-race restart. Coming off the final corner, he was locked in a door-to-door battle with Sam Mayer for the 3rd spot. Mayer barely took the spot, but the crew was elated. Among them was NASCAR veteran turned official David Green, Austin’s father.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #9 in a XFINITY Series race since July 16, 2022, when Noah Gragson’s #9 Bass Pro Shops TrueTimber BRCC Chevrolet finished 4th, but was disqualified for failing post-race heights at Loudon.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #9-Brandon Jones / 49 laps / crash
37) #11-Josh Williams / 49 laps / crash
36) #27-Jeb Burton / 49 laps / crash
35) #19-Ty Gibbs / 50 laps / crash / led 26 laps / won stage 2
34) #6-Thomas Annunziata / 63 laps / transmission
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) DGM Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports, Jordan Anderson Racing, JR Motorsports (2)
2nd) Alpha Prime Racing, Kaulig Racing, Motorsports Business Management, Stewart-Haas Racing (1)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (8)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (2)
2024 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
