Brandon Jones delivered for Joe Gibbs Racing, scoring his sixth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway Saturday (April 5).
This was on the back of a total team effort as the pit crew put Jones in the perfect position to win after the final set of stops before the penultimate restart with 12 laps to go in the race.
Jones scooted past the four cars restarting up front on older tires of Brennan Poole, Jeb Burton, Josh Bilicki and Kyle Sieg. All while he held off a hard charge of both the No. 17 of Chase Elliott and the No. 7 of Justin Allgaier, who led the most laps on the day with 56. Elliott finished in the runner-up position while Allgaier wound up third.
Ross Chastain came home fourth for JR Motorsports after starting 27th, leading 21 laps and having a few run-ins on track with Christopher Bell and Elliott. Carson Kvapil rounded out the top-five, finishing up a really solid performance for the rookie.
The Winners
For starters, Jones picked up a much-needed win to boost his confidence moving forward is a big deal. After a rough two seasons at JRM, it looks like the Jones we remembered at Gibbs before is still here after all.
Speaking of JRM, the entire team put on a clinic of speed. All five of the JRM cars finished inside the top 10. This continues to put JRM at the top of the totem pole for championship favorites.
Finally, how about giving Harrison Burton a moment to shine here? Not only did he wheel the No. 25 AM Racing Ford to a respectable 13th-place finish, but Burton was the fourth-highest points scorer on the day due to the team’s strategy call to win stage one and a sixth-place finish in stage two. Those 40 points he scored helped in the battle on the bubble to make the playoffs.
The Losers
The rest of JGR had terrible finishes. Bell wound up with a 25th-place finish despite leading the first 27 laps. This poor finish was due to contact with the No. 48 of Nick Sanchez on the final restart that gave the No. 19 damage on the right front ultimately causing Bell to hang on for the final run.
Taylor Gray spun on the frontstretch after contact with the No. 10 of Daniel Dye, sending Gray into the inside wall. The damage effectively relegated the No. 54 to the back with damage that Gray could not come back from. He would ultimately finish in 33rd.
William Sawalich ended the day eight laps down in 35th after a terrible day.
In practice, Sawalich hit the wall in turn 3, which forced him to start from the rear due to repairs. The driver never made up that deficit to put himself in the mix up front.
Fuel for Thought
This is the second win for JGR in the Xfinity Series in 2025. It ties JGR with JRM and Richard Childress Racing with three wins apiece through the first eight races. Is this going to be the norm going forward?
While Haas Factory Team is close to the top of the points, neither driver has reached victory lane yet. With Kaulig Racing struggling to find itself in a race-winning position yet and the only chance for most other teams being the drafting-style tracks later on down the road, could this mean we have to get used to a potential big three at the top of the pecking order this year?
Paint Scheme of the Week
A familiar No. 4 adorning the Kodak colors was hard to miss. While some may mistake it for Ernie Irvan due to how close it was to the original car, it was Parker Retzlaff behind the wheel of his No. 4 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet.
P20 at @TooToughToTame. We struggled with our short run speed but were stout on long run. Another good notebook weekend for this team. Onto one of my favorites, @ItsBristolBaby! pic.twitter.com/zXxREhBgKH
— Parker Retzlaff (@Parker79p) April 5, 2025
Where to Next?
Next Saturday the Xfinity Series heads to the Tennessee hills for the SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The last time the series was at Bristol, Cole Custer took the victory in the regular season finale after leading a race-high 104 laps. Coverage will start at 5 p.m. ET and be broadcast on The CW.
