Settled In: After spending the last three seasons with SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt (2020 – 2022), Joe Graf Jr. moved to RSS Racing during the offseason, where he’ll spend the majority of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season competing for the Sugar Hill, Ga.-based team. In addition to RSS Racing, Graf will also compete in a limited NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Welcome Aboard: RSS Racing with Lefcourt Brothers Racing and driver Joe Graf Jr. welcome race entitlement partner Food City as a co-primary partner for Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, Food City is a local, family-owned company operating 152 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama. The company serves as the title sponsor of the Spring Cup Series Food City Dirt Race and fall Food City 300 Xfinity race. Celebrating more than 30 years of racing, Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest-running sponsor and the second-longest in NASCAR Motorsports. Glad To Have You Back: Joining Food City as a co-primary partner this weekend at Bristol is Bucked Up Energy Drink. The team will promote Bucked Up’s Miami flavor for the first time this year and the second time in Graf’s Xfinity Series career. Party in the city where the heat is on, all night energy till the break of dawn. Welcome to Miami — Bienvenidos a Miami! Let the strawberry, mango, and pineapple whisk you away from daily drudgery and drop you off at your dream destinations. Sip that neon-berry bliss, feel the energy surging and listen. Because in Miami, the music never ends — pop the tab and taste vacation. More Than Just Energy: Did you know that Bucked Up has continued to expand its footprint since debuting its relationship with Joe Graf Jr. during the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Bucked Up is a sports nutrition and lifestyle brand focused on helping all athletes and individuals achieve their health and fitness goals. Offering over 500 different products ranging from supplements and energy drinks to apparel and accessories, Bucked Up is committed to providing customers with the best products available. Dedicated to using high-quality ingredients and non-proprietary blends, Bucked Up’s pre-workout is the No. 1 best-selling product in its class. The brand’s products are now offered in over 25,000 stores worldwide, including Walmart, Amazon, GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. Driven To Support: Graf will sport a unique pair of driving gloves this weekend at Bristol as part of the Driven to Give Glove Program in collaboration with the Dale Jr. Foundation. At the conclusion of Friday night’s race, Graf will autograph the two-toned gloves, featuring exclusive skeleton imagery, and they will be auctioned off to raise money for the foundation. From Friday night through Monday, September 18, 2023, the gloves will be up for bid at thedalejrfoundation.org. Thanks For Your Support: With a little more than 78 percent of the 2023 Xfinity Series season complete, Joe Graf Jr. and RSS Racing would like to thank their associate marketing partners: ArmsList.com, AVOID, Bass Reaper Bait Company, Bucked Up Energy Drink, CoverSeal, EAT SLEEP RACE Apparel, fgrACCEL, G-Coin®, GTECHNIQ, JACOB Companies, Lefcourt Brothers Racing, Love Motorsports, Model Electronics and ShopRite for their continued support. Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Bristol Motor Speedway Stats: Friday night’s Food City 300 will mark Graf’s fifth Xfinity Series start at the famed 0.533-mile track. In his previous four Bristol efforts, he delivered a track-best of 13th after starting 36th for SS GreenLight Racing in his Thunder Valley debut in June 2020, running of the Cheddar’s 300 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mahwah, New Jersey native also earned a respectable 17th place finish in the 2021 running of the Food City 300 at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Career Speedway Stats: At tracks classified as a short track, Graf has competed in 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series races. He holds an average starting position of 25.5 and an average result of 24.7. Joe Graf Jr. NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats: In 119 career Xfinity Series starts, Graf has earned four top-10 finishes, including a seventh-place outing at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February 2023. During that tenure, he also holds an average finishing position of 25.7. He earned a career-best Xfinity Series qualifying effort of fifth in 2020 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway with SS GreenLight Racing. With Joe Gibbs Racing, he earned his non-superspeedway career-best qualifying effort of 11th at Kansas Speedway in September 2023. Kansas Speedway | Kansas Lottery 300 Race Recap: In the most recent NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway, Graf hunted for his second top-10 finish of the season. In his penultimate Xfinity Series race driving the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing, Graf was able to improve on his practice result and qualify his No. 19 RUT machine 11th and utilized that track position to maintain a strong presence inside the top-15 for a majority of the race. Graf and his car in the closing laps of Stage 3 were mounting lap times equal or better to eventual race winner John Hunter Nemechek, which allowed the former ARCA Menards Series winner to pick up five spots over the closing 30 laps of the race to net a ninth-place result at the checkered flag. The finish delivered Graf his second top-10 finish of the season and his best result for JGR, bettering his 11th-place effort at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway in February. Late Model racer Nick Leitz drove RSS Racing with Lefcourt Brothers Racing No. 38 Ford Mustang to a 31st place finish after encountering some setbacks throughout the 200-lap race. Sneaker Mania: Along with the adrenaline of the Motorsports competition, Joe Graf Jr. also has a vogue for hype sneakers. In his current collection, he owns and wears at least 90 limited edition sneakers – and his collection continues to grow monthly. The current estimated value of his collection tops $100,000. From the Pit Box: Industry veteran Steve Addington is Joe Graf Jr.’s crew chief. He will be crew chief for his 290th NASCAR Xfinity Series race as crew chief on Friday night and his 18th at the historic track in Bristol, Tenn. In his previous 289 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has collected 11 wins, 10 poles, 68 top-five and 118 top-10 finishes. Hello From The Other Side: Graf Jr. has two teammates at RSS Racing. Veteran Ryan Sieg will drive the No. 39 Sci Apps Ford Mustang, while younger brother Kyle Sieg will drive the No. 28 Cooks Comfort Ford Mustang. Ryan Sieg is set to make his 328th career Xfinity Series start overall and 17th at Bristol. Kyle Sieg is poised to make his 44th career Xfinity Series start and first at Bristol. Follow on Social Media: For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafRacing.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on TikTok (@JoeGrafJr), X | Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).
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