Tie Rod Failure Shortens Brandon Jones’ NCWTS Road Course Debut

Brandon Jones’ first trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park resulted in a 26th-place finish after a broken tie rod led to contact with the turn two wall after just 45 laps.

As the only road course event of the year, the 2.459-mile course at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park brings a series of different challenges for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams.  After utilizing two practice sessions to familiarize himself with the course, Jones qualified in the 11th position for Sunday’s 64-lap race. When the race began, leaders immediately began working on their fuel strategy to ensure that they would be able to make it to the end of the race with just two pit stops. Just seven laps into the event, Jones brought his Exide Chevrolet down pit road.  Initially battling a tight condition, crew chief Shane Huffman called for four tires, fuel, and both an air pressure and track bar adjustment.  After rejoining the field in the 19th position Jones noticed a vibration, which brought him back down pit road during the lap 19 caution period.  Once again servicing the Exide truck with four tires and fuel, Jones was sent back on track to settle into a rhythm. The Atlanta native had worked his way into the top 10 when a tie rod failed as the No. 33 Exide Chevrolet crossed the start-finish line on lap 45 and caused Jones to make contact with the wall in turn two.  With significant damage to the Exide Chevrolet, Jones’ NCWTS road course debut came to an early end as he was credited with a 26th-place result. The No. 33 Exide Chevrolet is now ninth in NCWTS Owner Points.

BRANDON JONES QUOTE:

“Today was tough. We were running well and had a fast Exide Chevrolet, we were just caught in the back for a bit when we took tires early in the race and then again when we had a flat tire that caused a vibration. We had finally made our way back to the front and had something break going into turn one. At that point, unfortunately there wasn’t anything I could do. This GMS Racing team works hard to bring fast trucks to the track each week and I hate it for them.”

GMS Racing PR