After running up front all day and grabbing the lead in the late going on Saturday (April 5), Brandon Jones snapped his 98-race NASCAR Xfinity Series winless streak in a long-awaited return to victory lane at Darlington Raceway.
The win marks the sixth of Jones’ career, his second at Darlington, and his first since the Spring 2022.
“It’s a group effort, it’s not just me,” he told The CW in his post-race interview. “I mean, I’ve put loads and loads of time into being mentally tough to get through two tough years like I just came off of with no wins. To be able to come back in the No. 20 car… it’s just a lot of emotion.”
Chase Elliott finished an eventful day as the runner-up, followed by Justin Allgaier in third who had the dominant car on the day.
Ross Chastain came home fourth after ruffling some feathers on the afternoon, while Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Christian Eckes rebounded for a much-needed top-10 finish as he came home seventh ahead of Nick Sanchez who capped off his solid weekend with an eighth-place effort.
Sammy Smith cemented a solid day for JRM as he finished ninth ahead of Sheldon Creed who rounded out the top-10 finishers. All JR Motorsports entries finished in the top 10 with three in the top five.
After starting from the pole, Christopher Bell jumped out to an early lead in stage one. While Bell and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Jones paced the field, it quickly became evident that three-time Darlington winner Allgaier would be their greatest competition.
While stage one played out in a fairly calm fashion, a caution on lap 23 for a Kris Wright spin split the stage nearly in half and allowed teams the opportunity to pit for tires in an attempt to charge to the front for stage points.
While frontrunners like Bell and Allgaier opted to save their Goodyear tires for later in the afternoon, drivers like Harrison Burton, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, and Anthony Alfredo opted to use one of their four sets to claim those crucial stage points.
With the final run to the stage end playing out clean and green, these teams were rewarded with solid stage finishes as Burton claimed the stage one win ahead of Allgaier, Poole, Sieg, and Alfredo.
Allgaier started stage two in second after Jones won the race off pit road, but Allgaier wasted no time getting back out front as he quickly swept past Jones and back into the lead to start stage two.
In an incident-free run to the stage caution, drivers like Eckes and Chastain came alive over the longer run to establish themselves as contenders for the final stage. Allgaier cruised to the stage 2 victory followed by Eckes, Chastain, Jones, and Burton.
In the opening laps of the final stage, Allgaier was presented with a challenge for the first time across the last several runs when both Chastain and Bell got around him following the restart. As the run wore on, however, Allgaier once again proved to be the strongest car. Unfortunately for Allgaier, a caution flew as Taylor Gray spun off turn 4 before he could reclaim the lead.
When all the leaders pitted inside 40 to go following the caution, a slow pit stop for Allgaier relegated him to the 15th spot on the ensuing restart. Burton, on the other hand, catapulted up the running order by taking on only two scuff tires.
Burton’s slow launch from the front row on old tires caused a stack up leading to another quick caution as Garrett Smithley spun on entry to turn 3, setting up another restart inside 30 laps remaining in the race.
Notably, Elliott took exception to contact initiated by Chastain on the restart stack up and showed his displeasure with Chastain under the following caution period.
With Allgaier mired back in traffic, Jones, Bell, and Chastain were left to battle for the lead amongst themselves in the absence of their greatest competition on the day.
As Jones controlled the restart and grabbed the lead, Chastain and Bell battled hard for second. Chastain aggravated another of his NASCAR Cup Series peers when he slid into Bell in turn 1, sending Bell into the wall as Chastain claimed second.
While Bell was sent reeling with a tire rub, Chastain chased down Jones and completed the pass for the lead with 20 laps remaining. Although disadvantaged following the contact, Bell was able to continue with no issue.
A caution for a multi-car crash including Leland Honeyman, Sieg, Alfredo, and others set up another crucial pit stop with less than 20 laps remaining.
Jones restarted fifth as the first car on fresh tires as Poole, Jeb Burton, Josh Bilicki, and Sieg stayed out on old rubber. Through all his troubles, Allgaier once again emerged in a position to contend as he lined up seventh as the third car on fresh tires.
Jones quickly dispatched the cars on older tires to claim the lead with Elliott and Allgaier on his heels with equal tires. As the laps wound down, Jones pulled away to a lengthy advantage and comfortably claimed his second Darlington victory.
Xfinity Results from Darlington
The Xfinity Series will return to action next Saturday, April 12, from Bristol Motor Speedway with coverage on The CW at 5 p.m. ET.
