Christian Eckes and Brandon Jones will again drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2019.
Eckes will pilot the team’s No. 51 in seven races in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series this year, the team announced today (Feb. 5).
He joins Jones, who was revealed to be part of the No. 51’s roster yesterday (Feb. 4), driving five events.
Both competed in the No. 51 for KBM in 2018, Eckes doing so as part of his first season in the series. The 18-year-old, who is now able to compete at all tracks on the Truck Series schedule, ran four races for KBM in 2018, scoring three top 10s.
Jones, meanwhile, drove a KBM truck in five races amid his full-time Xfinity Series campaign for Joe Gibbs Racing (a team to which Jones returns this year as well), finishing in the top five three times and racking up four top 10s.
Eckes’ season will begin in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, while Jones’ first start is at Dover International Speedway.
“I’m very thankful and excited to be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports and Toyota Racing for seven races in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series this year,” Eckes said in a team statement. “With the experience I gained last year, the hard work I’ve put in with the Toyota Racing Development training staff in the off season and now having Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and his team to learn from, I’ll be fully prepared to take advantage of each and every opportunity I’m given this season. I know we are going to be able to contend for the win at every track we go to, starting off at Daytona in the SiriusXM Tundra.”
Added Jones: “I’m really looking forward to being back with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2019 and having another shot at victory lane for KBM in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series. We came close last year with four top-10 finishes in our five races, and I think we’re poised to have an even better run this year.
“I’m excited by the possibilities that come with working with Rudy Fugle and the No. 51 team. Rudy is proven winner on the track with over 20 wins and four championships; I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from him and I think there will be valuable cross over benefits that I can take to our efforts in the No. 19 Xfinity Series Toyota Supra at Joe Gibbs Racing. The Toyota Tundras built by KBM are the class of the field and I’m honored and proud to have Kyle’s support and the opportunity to climb behind the wheel of his great Toyota equipment while representing Chigo Home Appliances along with other great Menards vendor partners.”
Eckes and Jones join team owner Kyle Busch, who is also announced for five races in the truck, beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The rest of the truck’s schedule has not yet been announced. The first race on the Truck Series schedule with a to-be-announced driver for the team is at Texas Motor Speedway in June.
About the author
Rutherford is the managing editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2015 after serving on the editing staff for two years. At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
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