Brandon Jones

**Brandon Alexander Jones** (born February 18, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series driving the #36 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now the ARCA Menards Series West) in the past.

He was formerly a development driver for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. He competed with them in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 2015 and 2016 seasons driving the #1 Chevrolet Camaro. He drove part-time in the #1 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2015-2016. From 2017-2020, Jones drove the #1 Menards Chevrolet/Chevrolet Camaro full-time.

## Racing Career

Jones began racing in 2010 at age 13, under the supervision of short track racer Bubba Gale and his son former KHI development driver Cale Gale. Jones would race full-time in 2011 in the pro truck divisions at Lanier Raceplex and Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia, winning track points championships at both facilities. Jones raced in late models for Eddie Sharp Racing in 2012, competing in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) and United Auto Racing Association (UARA) series. Jones would make his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East later that year at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, finishing 14th in the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet after wrecking on the last lap while running in fifth place. In 2013 at the age of 15, Jones signed a contract to drive for Turner Motorsports (later Turner Scott Motorsports) to run the full UARA season, the PASS Series, six races in the K&N East Series and one in the West series, and selected NASCAR Late Model Stock races. Cale Gale and Mike Greci would serve as crew chiefs for Jones. Jones would also make his national series debut in the Camping World Truck Series for TSM, running the No. 33 truck for the team beginning at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Jones finished 27th at Bristol, 20th at Iowa, and 19th at Martinsville.

In 2014, Jones would move into the K&N Pro Series East full-time for Turner Scott Motorsports, joining fellow teenager Ben Rhodes. Jones also ran an expanded Truck Series schedule and select ARCA Racing Series events. Jones' efforts would be headed by another former driver Shane Huffman. Jones won his debut ARCA race at Winchester Speedway, scored a second win at Indianapolis Raceway Park and finished third at Madison International Speedway. He would score his first K&N Pro Series win at Iowa Speedway in August, holding off former teammate Kenzie Ruston and Cole Custer. After 14 of 16 races in the K&N East Series and three Truck Series races, which included a fourth-place finish at Dover, Jones would part ways with TSM due to internal issues in the organization, joining Richard Childress Racing for the remaining K&N races. Jones would run the 33 truck for GMS Racing in two additional races, sponsored by Rheem brand Russell. He would finish 4th in the K&N Pro Series East standings.

### 2015

In 2015, Jones signed as a developmental driver for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated to drive the #1 car for their Xfinity Series team full-time. Jones was also signed to drive the #1 car for their NASCAR Cup Series part-time for the team for 5 races due to lack of sponsorship for that car. His Cup Series races were very slow with finishes of 28th, 39th, 42nd, 21st, and 18th.

On the Xfinity Series side of things, Jones was able to grab 2 top 5s and 15 top 10s. He made the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in his rookie year and finished 10th in the overall standings.

### 2016

Jones returned to the #1 car in the Xfinity Series for DEI. He drove 5 more Cup races in the #1 car for the team as well. His Cup results were improved with finishes of: 17th, 24th, 30th, 14th, and 18th. He was not originally supposed to run the #1 car , instead Jeffery Earnhardt was supposed to but was unable to secure sponsorship for the 5 races Jones ended up running.

On the Xfinity side of things, Jones improved even more with 5 top 5s, 18 top 10s, and even his first career win in the 2016 Kansas Lottery 300. He made the playoffs again and finished 8th this time in the standings.

### 2017

In 2017, Jones was announced as the full-time driver for the #1 Dale Earnhardt Incorporated car for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series. Menards would back the entire season with sponsorship. Many saw this as a mistake, Jones needed at least 1 more Xfinity Series season but with no one else to fill the #1, DEI decided to bring him up early. The 2017 rookie season for Jones was horrible. He scored 0 top 5s, 2 top 10s, and finished a disappointing 25th in the standings. He was able to keep the car clean most of the season with only 2 DNFS at both Talladega races.

* 2018
* In 2018, Jones returned to the #1 car with Menards sponsoring for the entire season once more. Jones improved greatly from his terrible rookie season with him getting a single top 5 in the 2018 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky. Jones also scored 5 top 10s. He finished the season of 20th in the standings. This was a great improvement from last season and he told the media: "I just hope to get into the playoffs next season. We've worked so hard at this 1 camp since I came in 2017 and I just hope to breakthrough at some point, next season I got a really good feeling."
* 2019

In 2019, Jones returned to the #1 car with a mission to breakthrough and get the car and himself into the playoffs. Jones' mission was complete with him scoring 8 top 5s, 11 top 10s, and his first career win in the 2019 STP 500 at Martinsville. This allowed him to advance to his first NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. He would have secured a spot on points anyway even without the win. Jones was sadly eliminated after the first round with finishes of: 28th, 10th, and 18th. Jones was looking for a breakout season enter into 2020.