Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 33 Wittichen Supply Company Chevrolet, made his superspeedway debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Jones and the No. 33 team used pit strategy and track position to bring the Wittichen Supply Company Chevrolet Silverado home in the second position in the fred’s 250.
After starting from the 13th position Saturday afternoon, the Atlanta native quickly decided that the bottom line was where he preferred to run throughout the day. The first yellow flag waved early, on lap 13, and crew chief Shane Huffman brought Jones to pit road for fuel only. Jones reported no issues with the balance of the No. 33 Wittichen Supply Company Chevrolet and lined up for the lap 19 restart in the 10th position. By lap 20, Jones had moved up to the fifth position and continued to run in the top 10 for the remainder of the 94-lap event. On lap 37, during the second caution period of the day, Jones came to pit road for right side tires and fuel, with no complaints about handling. Until his last stop of the day on lap 73, Jones remained patient and held his line at the front of the pack, running solidly in the top-five before the yellow flag waved on lap 87 with the No. 33 Wittichen Supply Company Chevrolet in the second position. Jones took the lead on lap 90 as the caution flag was displayed once again. After a 14-minute red flag delay, Jones led the field to green for the green-white-checkered finish. Jones battled to maintain the top position with one lap remaining, but was passed on the outside just before the yellow flag waved once again. With only one attempt at a green-white checkered finish allowed, the race was declared official and Jones was scored with a second-place result.
The runner-up finish at Talladega ties Jones’ career-best finish, which was earned in June at Iowa Speedway. Jones now has four top-five finishes and six top-10 results on the season. Jones’ next start for GMS Racing will be October 31 at Martinsville Speedway.
BRANDON JONES QUOTE:
“Everything went our way for the entire race. We had great pit stops all day and we were really in position the whole time to be able to get the lead and stay out front. We knew both GMS Racing teams had a shot at a win today. To have Spencer (Gallagher) up front with us at the end shows the commitment this group has to being a competitive team every week and winning. I didn’t want to give away the preferred groove on the last restart and I knew I had some really strong trucks behind me, so we decided to take the bottom line. Shane (Huffman, crew chief) was telling me on the radio that if I got out front and there was a caution it would be over, so holding the lead before another caution could come out was our main goal and it just didn’t work out that way. After leading laps and bringing home another top-two finish, I can’t say enough about our Wittichen Supply Company team and their efforts today.”
GMS Racing PR
