RED FLAG at Martinsville: Brandon Jones Racks Up a Pile of Cars After Messing Up His Gears

The woes only seem to add up by the minute for Brandon Jones, as JR Motorsports’ #9 Chevy driver triggered the big one in Martinsville on Lap 72. Some of the notable drivers involved in the wreck include Hailie Deegan, Kyle Weatherman, Anthony Alfredo, A.J. Allmendinger, and Austin Hill. 

According to Jonathan Fjeld of The Racing Experts, A.J. Allmendinger, Parker Retzlaff, and Hill’s Martinsville advances are “likely done” for the time being. The front stretch lay littered with almost a dozen cars, reminiscent of 2022’s Martinsville race, as Brandon Jones missed a shift and caused a huge pile-up.

RCR’s own Xfinity aspirant in the #21 Chevrolet was definitely frustrated after his strong runs of top-10 finishes were botched at the ‘paperclip,’ courtesy of Jones. According to Trey Lyle of Frontstretch, voices on the radio fumed, “How many years we got to do this to have our s** together and get through the gears”.

Stage 1 saw only two cautions come at the behest of Dawson Cram and Hailie Deegan. The restart was even more treacherous for the field as Jones, whose pole win was overturned after a broken brake rotor needed fixing, steadily climbed through the field for a shot at a second Martinsville victory in the Xfinity Series.

Aric Almirola wins $100,000, and Brandon Jones disappoints at Martinsville

As the green finally waved on lap 81, post-track clearing, Jones managed to salvage some stage points, finishing P7 behind Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Aric Almirola, and Justin Allgaier, in that respective order. When the green waved in overtime, JGR’s #20 part-time driver Almirola beat out Sam Mayer (P2), Chandler Smith (P3), and Kvapil (P4) for a 100,000-dollar Dash 4 Cash bonus, as well as a career fifth Xfinity Series victory.

Caution was called on the final lap one last time, as Riley Herbst and Ryan Ellis, along with JRM’s #9 driver (again), wrecked on Turn 2 this time. Nevertheless, Brandon Jones ended his race out of the top 20 at P27 for this incident. Dale Jr’s #9 driver has been winless since an ironic Martinsville victory in 2022.

The expectations are certainly rising for Jones, and with the next test of the Xfinity season coming up at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway next week, the fireworks look set to fly at Forth Worth, TX.

“Thank You, Thank You Coach” – Aric Almirola Indebted to Joe Gibbs for a Shot at Vindication