Pit Stop Radio News

• IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  Brandon Jones and the No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen Toyota team head to Auto Club Speedway this weekend to complete the final of three races on the West Coast swing.  This will be Jones’ third start on the two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped superspeedway.  Auto Club Speedway drives very similarly to Michigan where Jones has had a lot of success in the ARCA Series.  The team is carrying a lot of momentum from their strong runs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway and feels like this track suits Jones’ driving style, which should produce another strong finish.

·        JGR AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY: JGR has 55 total starts at Auto Club Speedway in the NXS, earning nine wins, 22 top-five finishes, 32 top-10 finishes and 10 pole-starting positions.  The team has led 1,189 laps, completed 7,905 of 8,258 attempted laps (95.7%) and earned an average start of 11.1 and an average finish of 11.8.  Kyle Busch has six of the team’s wins, Joey Logano with two and Tony Stewart with one.

·        JONES’ NXS RACES WITH MENARDS: Menards’ third race of their 10-race schedule is at Auto Club Speedway this weekend and the No. 19 Menards Toyota Camry will display Jeld-Wen on their hood for the second time this season.  Menards will continue to have one partner-specific brand on the hood of the racecar for each of the following Menards races.  Jones will be piloting the No. 19 Menards Camry for JGR next at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14, Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, Chicagoland Speedway on June 30, Kentucky Speedway on July 13, Iowa Speedway on July 28, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 11 and Dover International Speedway on October 6.

• IT’S GREAT TO HAVE MENARDS AS PART OF THE JGR TEAM: Menards has been involved with NASCAR since 2001 and has supported a wide variety of racing ventures for several years.  Currently, Menards is the title sponsor of the ARCA Racing Series as well as sponsoring entries in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck, Xfinity, and Monster Energy Cup Series, and in the Verizon Indy Car Series.  Menards is a family-owned company that started in 1958 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which remains Menards headquarters today.  Menards has grown to be a highly innovative home improvement industry leader totally dedicated to delivering superior customer service in sparkling, modern, well-stocked stores.
• RACE INFO: NASCAR Xfinity Series 300 at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 2 p.m. PT. Watch and listen live on FS1, SiriusXM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.

Jones’ Career NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats at Auto Club Motor Speedway:

Jones’ 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats:

Jones’ Career NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats:

From the Cockpit:

Brandon Jones:  “We’re coming off a really great race just barely missing the top 10 in Phoenix, and we have a lot of confidence going into Auto Club Speedway in our Menards/Jeld-Wen Camry. ISM Raceway and Auto Club Speedway are two very opposite tracks, but Auto Club does have a lot in common with Michigan, where I’ve had multiple victories in the ARCA Racing Series. It’s a really big track and the race usually has a lot of green flag runs, so I’m expecting some green flag pit stops in that final stage. As far as grip level, it’s actually pretty similar to Atlanta, which is still fresh on my mind having raced there just a couple weeks ago. One thing that helped me in Phoenix was sharing time at the TRD simulator with Christopher Bell, so we’re going to use that same tactic to get ready for this weekend. All-in-all, I think we’ll have some good speed, especially after running laps on the simulator and studying past races.”

From the Pit Box:

Chris Gabehart: “Auto Club Speedway marks the last stop for the West Coast swing and the last race before the NASCAR Xfinity Series takes a two week break. We had some very specific goals in these first five races, and so far, Brandon and the team have done a great job meeting nearly all of them. If we can get through Fontana with a clean bill of health, I think we have a great shot of running top 10 and will go into the two week off stretch with a lot of building blocks to work with to help the No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen team keep getting stronger.”

Joe Gibbs Racing PR