Brandon Jones knew what time it was at Martinsville. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images)
Brandon Jones sure seems to win races in rather entertaining fashion like a modern day Cole Trickle.
Much like his victories at Kansas in 2019 and 2020, Jones capitalized in a late race scenario while his rivals slugged it out in the ignominy of defeat.
Despite starting 12th for Friday evening’s Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Speedway, Jones had a solid No. 19 Menards/Lyons Toyota Supra. Jones nabbed a steady seventh in stage 1 before winning stage 2 thanks to a pit strategy that netted him track position over his comrades who pitted, optimizing track position at the stage of stage 3.
All told, while Jones’ car was fast and solid, it looked like another Ty Gibbs kind of textbook win in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Gibbs led on five different occasions for a total of 197 of the race extended 261 laps, well over 75% of the event.
However, Gibbs had a worthy contender to consider in Jones, as both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers had the pace and acceleration, especially on restarts.
The race’s complexion changed in stage 3, mostly when contenders fell by the way side with typical short track incidents.
Namely, five of the 16 cautions were multicar crashes, including a frontstretch, Martinsville masher on a lap 253 restart involving Kyle Weatherman, Brandon Brown, Sam Mayer, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Derek Griffith, defending race winner, Josh Berry, Ryan Vargas, Mason Massey, Myatt Snider and Anthony Alfredo.
From there, it was game on between Gibbs and Jones, with the latter extending his elbows out and completing the winning pass on the final lap. As Jones raced to his first win of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, more madness occurred behind him.
A near three wide tussle pitted Gibbs with Mayer and Landon Cassill heading into turn 4 and onto the frontstretch. Cassill rooted his way on the inside line while Mayer tried feverishly to get past Gibbs.
While Cassill drove onto a sensational second, Mayer and Gibbs washed up the hill, with Gibbs making contact with the wall while some lead lap contenders passed them coming to the stripe.
Following some heated post race fracas between Mayer and Gibbs, Jones soaked in his Friday night lights win.
Jones drove to victory in the shadows of the night. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images)
“I can’t say that we could have called it any better,” Jones said in jubilation. “We made the call to stay out for stage points and drove the thing all the way from the back to the front. We had older tires than all of the guys at the end. Have to thank Lyons, Menards – our GR Supra was certainly as fast as Xfinity internet is.
Perhaps reflecting on his prior wins at Kansas, which delivered with their own excitement, Jones reflected on his spirited battle with his teammate.
“This is a driver’s race track here,” he observed. “I’ve won at a lot of different places now, but this is one that you really have to get after it. Ty (Gibbs) ran a really hard racee. He cleared me really early there in stage three and he had a strong GR Supra as well. It was fun to beat him. He’s hot right now and tough to beat. This was a good one.”
As always, Jones, like any winner at Martinsville, scored a trademark grandfather clock. The Georgian knows exactly what he’ll do with his timeless prize.
“I have an awesome barn I just bought and I know right where it’s going to go,” the mild mannered racer shared.
Beyond the shenanigans between Mayer and Gibbs, Kaulig Racing felt like winners with Cassill’s runner up and Allmendinger’s podium finish. Allmendinger, who retained his points lead over Gibbs by 20 markers, celebrated his own victory as he won the Dash 4 Cash bonus.
“I’m happy with the money,” Allmendinger said. “That was a struggle but all the men and women at Kaulig Racing, to get this $100,000, first of all, thank you for Xfinity and Comcast for doing this. All the programs that they do along with this Dash 4 Cash, so it’s a really big deal. Get the men and women some hard earned money because they’ve been working really hard.”
The Californian delivered with a bonus while doing the maximum without compromising himself at the paperclip.
“We did all we could with this Action Industries Chevy Camaro,” he observed. “It was definitely not where wanted to be. But, my crew chief Bruce…pit stops were phenomenal. So, we were going to maximize it. I thought we were gonna finish third or fourth anyway.
“And then, whatever the hell was going on there. I didn’t see the actual wreck. What I saw on pit road was stupidity. But it is what it is. Awesome job by my teammate, Landon Cassill, to finish second. I thought he might win it going down to the last corner.”
Although the Xfinity Series is off until Saturday, Apr. 23, for Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, Allmendinger can enjoy the fruits of his team’s labor while focused on another championship contending run.
Allmendinger can buy a grandfather clock for Mr. Tickles and Xena. (Photo: Meg Oliphant | Getty Images)
“We got a lot of work to do, no doubt,” he said. “We’re maximizing each race, everything that we can do. Thank you to Xfinity and Comcast. The extra $100,000, that helps.”
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
Gibbs-Allgaier-Ryan Truex-Cassill-Hemric/Allmendinger-Jones-Mayer-Berry-Creed
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Jones-Cassill-Sieg-Brown-Graf Jr./Alfredo-Parsons-Clements-Herbst-Lee
Call 811 Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville Top 10 Finishers
Jones-Cassill-Allmendinger-Hill-Mayer/Herbst-Ryan Truex-Gibbs-Sieg-Clements
