Joe Gibbs Racing has an incredible stable of drivers in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The team has plenty of young talent in Brent Crews, its youngest prospect at 18, William Sawalich, 19, and Taylor Gray, 21. However, what the team lacks at this level is experience.
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While the O’Reilly Series is meant to help drivers gain experience on track, teams also need experienced input to improve their cars and address any issues. That is exactly where 29-year-old Brandon Jones comes into the picture. He has never been a vocal figure in his time in NASCAR since his debut as a 16-year-old in the Truck Series back in 2013. Yet it seems he’s taking up that role now, both as a vocal figure in team meetings as well as mentoring teammates.
“It’s interesting because I’ve really never been in this kind of role before,” Jones told NASCAR.com about his evolving role at JGR. “When I went to [JR Motorsports], it was Justin (Allgaier). Sure, I’ve got a lot of years, but Justin has 10 more on top of that. Now, it flip-flopped.”
Jones joined JGR in 2018 as a 21-year-old and spent five seasons with the team before moving to JR Motorsports in 2023. He returned to JGR in 2025, and his role has since evolved into that of a crucial source of feedback for the engineering team.
“I’ve been the guy to go to for, ‘Are we on the right path? Is this how the cars have felt through the years in transition, what are we missing?’” said Jones. “I’m trying to be the bridge of the gap and not be the bad guy, but the one that is speaking up a little more when the uncomfortable situations happen, when you don’t want to be the one to the team saying, ‘What are we doing, guys? These aren’t good days.’ Top fives are OK, but we need to be winning every week. If we’re not leading laps and [winning], they are not really good days.
“I’m trying to be that guy who raises the standard a little bit. It’s been going good, but something that isn’t in my nature to be that kind of, ‘I’m the big dog, move out of the way here.’ It’s not the way I’ve expressed it, either.”
Jones isn’t the kind of figure who will see his teammate do something wrong and call them out for it or help them on the spot. He prefers it if his teammates come and ask questions that they have of him rather than imparting his knowledge without anyone asking for it.
“If I see one of them 15th on the board in practice and I’m P1, I’m not running down there and being like, ‘I just found it — lift at this mark.’ Absolutely not,” said Jones. “I need to find a tiny little advantage, if I can find one.”
Jones, in turn, goes to his teammates if he feels they can give him valuable advice. The 20 JGR Toyota driver has often asked Brent Crews, driver of the 19 JGR Toyota, for input regarding road courses.
Why is Jones’ role at JGR crucial?
Jones got his first win in the NOAPS with a JGR car back in 2019 in Kansas. In his time in the series, he’s picked up eight victories, the last of which came at Chicagoland earlier this year.
Having driven in the same series for over a decade, what Jones brings to the table is a wealth of experience that includes understanding how bad the bad days are and how good the good ones can be, and what the car should feel like at various tracks that he visits every single year.
Steve deSouza, JGR’s EVP of O’Reilly Auto Parts Series/ Development, and Jones’ crew chief, Sam McAulay, both expressed how important the new role that Jones does for JGR can be.
“I think he’s done a really good job being a spokesman in our drivers’ meetings,” said deSouza. “He is open to a good day and a bad day and knows, ‘I didn’t do something right’ or ‘the car wasn’t right, or I wasn’t comfortable’ — whatever the things are that a driver goes through. Now, he is at that age where he has a lot of experience, and he can help some of the other drivers go through some of those things. He is very even-keeled, so there’s not a lot of highs or a lot of lows.”
For Jones, a lot of that confidence to express himself and be a vocal figure comes from several intense analysis sessions with his crew chief, McAulay.
“I think it’s been cool to see him become more vocal,” said McAulay. “He has internalized areas where he’s confident; he’s going to speak his mind and help the group. He is detailed with what he’s looking for, which is what we want. We try to make sure everything is exactly what he’s looking for and maxed out as far as making our stuff as nice as we can make it and continuously improving everything. I think from last year to this year, he has become more vocal for the group in drivers’ meetings and is always willing to help his teammates.”
While he’s mentoring the youngsters, Jones is also JGR’s best hope at winning the series this year. While Toyota has been the dominant force in the Cup series, it’s Chevrolet in NOAPS.
The No. 20 JGR driver enters the race at World Wide Technology Raceway 8th in points after a 10th-place finish in Darlington that saw him drop down from 6th.
Jones currently has a 58-point deficit to make up on Justin Allgaier, but he believes the tracks in the Chase are suited to the JGR, and he is hoping to get several top-five finishes and a win or two when possible.