CONCORD, N.C. — For more than two years, Brandon Jones has looked to make it back to victory lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
He switched organizations in 2023, moving from Joe Gibbs Racing to JR Motorsports. Although the No. 9 team missed the playoffs last year, it showed genuine promise down the stretch.
As the laps ticked down Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it appeared Jones had a chance to finally get that monkey off his back.
Ultimately, Cup Series regular Chase Elliott prevailed in a Hendrick Motorsports one-off. But the 27-year-old from Atlanta could nearly taste the victory.
“All in all, a really fun day. I love these hot and slick races you got to prepare,” Jones said after the race. “People falling out of the seat and you just get better at the end, so that’s the fun part for me.
“Wish we could have won, but we’re really, really close right now. This team’s kind of had some ups and downs all year and we just continue to fight.”
Starting 10th, Jones ended up finishing fourth in Stage One but began suffering brake issues in Stage Two. During a caution, he ended up making an unexpected visit to pit road while it was closed and returned multiple times before the race went green.
Just like that, Jones had more heavy lifting.
He ended Stage Two in 25th but battled back through the field and into contention as cautions littered the final stage. On a restart with 11 laps to go, Jones rocketed into second after teammate Sam Mayer slapped the wall and nearly tracked down Elliott for the victory.
“That was really fun to come from the back to the front three or four times right there,” Jones said. “Really fast Camaro right there. Probably needed some track position, I would have liked to been a little bit better on that restart to take advantage of just getting some clean air on the nose.
“I think that’s really what [Elliott] just had at the end. I was a little on the struggle bus to get going, but I was always a little bit better at the end runs.”
Through 12 races, Jones has five top 10s and sits 10th in points — inside the provisional playoffs. Still, Jones would rather just win his way into the championship fight.
“We’re gonna get this thing in the playoffs soon,” he said.