Bringing Down the Curtain … Jake Garcia is bringing down the curtain on his impressive rookie season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) on Friday night at Phoenix Raceway. The driver of the No. 35 Quanta Services Chevrolet Silverado RST is making his 22nd start of the season and his 27th overall with MHR. Garcia was a quick study to NCTS competition as an 18-year-old rookie by posting a 10th-place finish in his first start of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first at a 1.5-mile track. The Georgian displayed his versatility by finishing sixth in his first dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. Other highlights of his season include a pair of top-five finishes at Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway.
Strong on Familiar Ground … The finale at Phoenix marks the sixth track this season where Garcia has previous NCTS experience. In his five previous races at tracks where he had least one prior start, Garcia excelled with finishes of 13th or better in each race. A season-high result of fourth at Richmond Raceway showed Garcia’s application of his short track knowledge and experience, along with a 10th-place run at World Wide Technology Raceway. He’s scored an average finish of 9.8 in those five races and looks to lower that mark in his second appearance at Phoenix on Friday night.
Season to Date … With one race remaining, Garcia is 14th in the NCTS driver championship standings and second in the Rookie of the Year standings. In 21 races, he’s scored two top-five’s and eight top-10 finishes with an average finish of 14.6. He’s showcased his consistency over the last seven races with six finishes of 15th or better, and has five finishes of 13th or higher during that span.
Tune In … Coverage from Phoenix begins Friday on FOX Sports 1 with qualifying at 6:00 p.m. ET, followed by NASCAR Raceday (FS2) at 9:00 p.m. ET and the green flag at 10:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 35 Quanta Services team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Jake Garcia Quote:
On wrapping up his rookie season:
“It’s been a fun year and I’ve been able to get a lot of experience racing at all these tracks for the first time and seeing so many different situations. I have to thank everyone at MHR, our partners at Quanta Services and Adaptive One. After going to so many different tracks, it’s nice to finish the year at Phoenix since I was able to race there last year. We had a really fast Chevrolet at Gateway and Milwaukee earlier this year, both flat tracks, so hopefully that will translate to Phoenix this week so we can end the season on a positive note.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
