Back at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Back in Victory Lane.
Brandon Jones won for the sixth time in his Xfinity Series career but his second win at Darlington Raceway on Saturday snapped a 98-race winless streak and cemented his decision to rejoin JGR after a three season stint at JR Motorsports.
A stint that did not produce any wins.
“It’s hard to explain the mental aspect of this sport of you haven’t done it,” Jones said. “It’s difficult to have self-taljs after a couple of years of not winning races.
“I think there were some performances over the past couple of years that where if this or that would have gone right, we would have won. Those things just never seemed fo line up. There were days I was barely off and days I was never really on and couldn’t put it all together.”
Jones credited the support group around him.
“Trust me, I’ve got a lot of people, behind closed doors that helped me out with that aspect of this sport,” Jones said. “I think that’s probably the number one most overlooked aspect of motorsports — the mental side of it and how you can go through some tough years to then completely switch gears, believe in what you’re doing and you’re on the right path again.”
Back at JGR, with crew chief Sam McAulay, beating a field that contained several champions and Cup winners, Jones is back on the right path.
“At first, this year was about getting me comfortable with Sam,” Jones said. “They had a good season last year with Sheldon (Creed), the most second places I’ve seen in the Xfinity Series and they had a really good package but what they had wasn’t working for my driving style.
“And instead of just saying, well, this has worked in the past, we’re just gonna keep doing this, Sam has really bought into what I need out of a car to make it fast. And the last three or four weeks, we’ve started to make the right adjustments and right changes to show up with a little more speed.”
Jones said these are all subtle changes but that’s the difference between winning and not even being in the top-10.
“Now, we’re unloading a little faster now we’re making the right adjustments over time,” Jones said. “And so it’s just taken those couple of races right, to kind of get through it.
“And the way that the season starts, it’s so tough. It can go two ways — you can luck out and end up in a really good situation with those first two (drafting races) or you can be at the mercy of other people’s mistakes and get taken out.”
Jones said Darlington is a sign of things to come.
“We’re in a stretch right now of races and tracks that are really good for us,” Jones said. “I think starting from Martinsville, I don’t even know, looking way ahead, there’s some really good stuff coming up.
“Bristol’s gonna be another one that they’re gonna have to deal with me there. We’re in a stretch of really good tracks. This is a huge confidence buildrr and confidence is everything in this sport.”
Allgaier’s mixed bag
Justin Allgaier led three times for 56 laps, the most of anyone in the field, but a slow stop during a caution on Lap 113 forced the JR Motorsports No. 7 team to restart third and the lost track position ultimately relegated them to a third-place finish.
“Disappointed to not walk out of here with a win but I’m so proud of everyone on my team,” Allgaier said. “We had the one tough pit stop. All you can ask for is to rebound the next time and they did that.”
He’s also happy for his former teammate.
“Honestly, a great points day,” said Allgaier, the second stage winner. “It’s hard to be upset. I want to be, but I’m so happy for Brandon, he’s a good kid and works so hard.”
Chastain went throwback
In a sense, Ross Chastain threw back to a prior stage of his career when it seemed like he had a way of getting under everyone’s skin with a hard driving style that manifest itself on Saturday in Darlington in a start for JR Motorsports.
Chastain slid into Christopher Bell racing for third and cut a tire on the Joe Gibbs Racing contender’s car that doomed him to a 25th place result.
“He just didn’t give me a lane in 1 and 2,” Bell told NBC Sports’ Dustin Long. “We got into the wall and that ended our race. Ross and I have been really good for awhile now and I understand that it’s Saturday and not Sunday and it’s win or bust, yep.”
But he did concede frustration.
“I am frustrated by it but it is a Saturday race and not a Sunday race and I’m trying to not let it fester.”
Just the run before, Bell threw a half-hearted slider on Chase Elliott too, leading to the 2020 Cup Series champion giving his fellow Cup contender a bit of a door slam and bumper bump under caution.
“I didn’t even think we were close,” Chastain told FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. “He’s running up to me under the caution. I don’t take stuff as personal. I get frustrated, angry and sad and y’all have seen it but I don’t know. Maybe I’m pot kettle but yeah, I thought I left him room.”
As for Elliott?
“Nothing. I enjoyed it. It was great. Want more of it.”
Results
- Brandon Jones
- Chase Elliott
- Justin Allgaier
- Ross Chastain
- Carson Kvapil
- Connor Zilisch
- Christian Eckes
- Nick Sanchez
- Sammy Smith
- Sheldon Creed
- Jesse Love
- Ryan Sieg
- Harrison Burton
- Sam Mayer
- Jeb Burton
- Austin Hill
- Daniel Dye
- Dean Thompson
- Brennan Poole
- Parker Retzlaff
- Jeremy Clements
- Ryan Ellis
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Josh Bilicki
- Christopher Bell
- David Starr
- Nick Leitz
- Blaine Perkins
- Mason Massey
- Kyle Sieg
- Anthony Alfredo
- Garrett Smithley
- Taylor Gray
- Greg Van Alst
- William Sawalich
- Josh Williams
- Leland Honeyman
- Kris Wright
