April 5, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Brandon Jones Breaks long Xfinity Series Drought With Victory at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. — After diligently working through a 98-race winless streak over the last three NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones reminded his competitors — and his fans — Saturday that he’s still a race winner and a title contender.

The well-liked 28-year-old Atlanta native took the lead on a re-start with 12 laps remaining in Saturday’s Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at the historic Darlington (S.C.) Raceway – beating 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott to the finish line by a healthy 1.105-seconds to hoist his first trophy since April, 2022 — a span of 98 races.

The 1.366-mile Darlington track may be nicknamed Too Tough To Tame, but it certainly presented a tamer race than the series produced a week ago on the typically wild and wooly Martinsville half-miler. This weekend featured 14 lead changes among nine drivers – none of the changes up front a result of overly aggressive driving.

Instead, strategy, a fast car and unwavering belief in himself and his team made the difference for Jones.

“It’s nice for my confidence, right, but it’s also to prove to the haters and people that said I was incapable of doing it, wrong again,’’ said Jones, whose No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 24 of the races 137 laps.

“This place is freaking awesome man, I love coming to Darlington, ‘’ he added, “Second win and just huge momentum. I knew we were on a high just didn’t know when it was going to happen.’’

Justin Allgaier, who led the most laps (56) on the afternoon and won Stage 2, finished third in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, followed by teammates Ross Chastain and rookie Carson Kvapil. The team, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, had all five of its Chevys in the top 10 with rookie Connor Zilisch finishing sixth and Sammy Smith ninth.

Rookies punctuated the top 10 despite it being the first time most of them had ever raced at the famously challenging venue. In addition to Kvapil and Zilisch, rookies Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez claimed seventh and eighth place with Smith and veteran Sheldon Creed rounding out the top 10.

Harrison Burton’s AM Racing team won the opening stage and JGR’s Taylor Gray was credited with the Xfinity Fastest Lap (160.706 mph) of the day.

“I am proud of Brandon Jones, I know how hard the kid has worked, he’s done a good job and I’m happy to see him get to victory lane’’ said the reigning series champion Allgaier, who has now tied NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Mark Martin with nine-consecutive top 10s in Xfinity Series races at Darlington.

It’s been that kind of year for Allgaier. He’s finished top 10 in six of the last seven races of 2025, including back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami in March and a runner-up finish at Atlanta in February.

“Disappointed,’’ Allgaier conceded of his Darlington day, however, noting his Chevy’s speed was good and the team overcame an early race pit road miscue.

“We were able to get the track position back, at least for the most part. But clean air was too important today. When we were up front, we had it. But I really needed the long runs and just didn’t have that at the end of the race today. Proud of everybody on our BRANDT Chemical Chevrolet. We’re on a heckuva run with top fives right now.’’

The series’ popular Dash 4 Cash incentive program returns with next week’s SciApps 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (5 p.m. ET, The CW Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The highest finisher among Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, Haas Factory Team’s Creed, Allgaier and Alpha Prime Racing’s Brennan Poole will win the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus check from Xfinity, having earning eligibility based on their results in the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway race last week.

Next week marks the first spring race at Bristol since 2019. Christopher Bell was the race winner.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 8
Race Results for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 - Saturday, April 5, 2025
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 147 Laps - 200.802 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/5/2025 @ 05:45 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Turtle Wax Toyota 147 6 4 52 Running 3 24 5
2 8 17 Chase Elliott(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 147  8 0 Running  
3 3 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 147 2 1 53 Running 3 56 1
4 27 9 Ross Chastain(i) Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 147 9 3 0 Running 2 21
5 6 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 147  6 37 Running  
6 16 88 Connor Zilisch # WeatherTech Chevrolet 147   31 Running  
7 9 16 Christian Eckes # Black's Tire Chevrolet 147 7 2 43 Running 1 1
8 15 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 147   29 Running  
9 12 8 Sammy Smith TMC Transportation Chevrolet 147   28 Running  
10 10 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 147 10 10 29 Running  
11 11 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 147  9 28 Running  
12 17 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 147   25 Running  
13 14 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 147 1 5 40 Running 2 12 1
14 5 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 147   23 Running  
15 22 27 Jeb Burton AJ Transport Chevrolet 147   22 Running  
16 19 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 147   21 Running  
17 7 10 Daniel Dye # HELM Chevrolet 147   20 Running  
18 30 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 147   19 Running  
19 23 44 Brennan Poole CW & Sons/Clark's Chevrolet 147 3  26 Running 1 4
20 26 4 Parker Retzlaff Dr Teal's Chevrolet 147   17 Running  
21 18 51 Jeremy Clements Harrison's Chevrolet 147   16 Running  
22 25 71 Ryan Ellis Southern Elevator Chevrolet 147   15 Running  
23 21 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 147   14 Running  
24 31 91 Josh Bilicki Rita's Italian Ice Chevrolet 147 8  16 Running  
25 1 19 Christopher Bell(i) Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 147  7 0 Running 1 27
26 37 53 David Starr The Motorcoach Store Chevrolet 147   11 Running 1 1
27 36 07 Nick Leitz Liberty Brew Chevrolet 147   10 Running  
28 24 31 Blaine Perkins Capital City Towing Chevrolet 147   9 Running  
29 35 45 Mason Massey Capital City Hauling Chevrolet 147   8 Running  
30 34 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl Ford 147 4  14 Running 1 1
31 32 42 Anthony Alfredo Randco Chevrolet 147 5  12 Running  
32 28 14 Garrett Smithley Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 147   5 Running  
33 4 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 147   5 Running  
34 38 35 Greg Van Alst CB Fabricating Chevrolet 146   3 Running  
35 20 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 139   2 Running  
36 29 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 137   1 Overheating  
37 33 70 Leland Honeyman DWC/Nesquik Throwback Scheme Chevrolet 128   1 Accident  
38 13 5 Kris Wright First National Bank Corp. Chevrolet 27   1 Suspension  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 2 / 30.6
54                                                                   
,
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 104.812 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.105 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 25, 7, 44, 28, 42, 20, 16, 91, 9, 00
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 16, 9, 20, 25, 1, 19, 17, 2, 00

Race Comments: Brandon Jones won the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: Nos. 10, 14, 18, 21, 26, 35 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 74 Dawson Cram, 32 Austin Green.

Caution Flags: 6 for 36 laps; Laps: 23-28 (Debris turn 1 [35]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 92-98 (Stage 2 Conclusion [07]); 113-117 (#10, 54 incident
frontstretch [27]); 119-123 (#14, 71 incident turn 3 [54]); 130-135 (#70, 42, 28 incident turn 2 [35]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers; C. Bell(i) 1-27; J. Allgaier 28-38; H. Burton 39-49; D. Starr 50; B. Jones 51-52; J. Allgaier 53-93; C. Eckes # 94; J. Allgaier 95-98; R. Chastain(i) 99-114; K. Sieg 115; H. Burton 116; B. Jones 117-126; R. Chastain(i) 127-131; B. Poole 132-135; B. Jones 136-147.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: April 12, 2025 - Bristol Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875



NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Darlington Raceway
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/5/2025 @ 06:20 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Justin Allgaier 7 8 0 346 0 0 2 3 13
2. Sam Mayer 41 8 0 275 -71 71 0 0 0
3. Austin Hill 21 8 0 267 -79 8 2 4 14
4. Sheldon Creed 00 8 0 251 -95 16 0 0 0
5. Jesse Love 2 8 0 247 -99 4 1 0 5
6. Connor Zilisch # 88 8 0 224 -122 23 1 2 7
7. Brandon Jones 20 8 7 216 -130 8 1 0 5
8. Carson Kvapil # 1 8 1 213 -133 3 0 0 0
9. Ryan Sieg 39 8 -1 210 -136 3 0 0 0
10. Harrison Burton 25 8 5 198 -148 12 0 2 2
11. Sammy Smith 8 8 2 193 -153 5 0 1 1
12. Jeb Burton 27 8 -2 191 -155 2 0 0 0
13. Daniel Dye # 10 8 -2 188 -158 3 0 0 0
14. Aric Almirola  4 -7 186 -160 2 1 1 0
15. Nick Sanchez # 48 8 1 177 -169 9 0 0 0
16. Christian Eckes # 16 8 4 176 -170 1 0 0 0
17. Taylor Gray # 54 8 -5 171 -175 5 0 0 0
18. Brennan Poole 44 8 -1 166 -180 5 0 0 0
19. Dean Thompson # 26 8 0 157 -189 9 0 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 8 1 143 -203 14 0 0 0
21. Josh Williams 11 8 -3 140 -206 3 0 0 0
22. William Sawalich # 18 8 0 126 -220 14 0 0 0
23. Parker Retzlaff 4 7 0 122 -224 4 0 0 0
24. Matt DiBenedetto 99 8 1 113 -233 9 0 0 0
25. Blaine Perkins 31 8 -1 112 -234 1 0 0 0
26. Ryan Ellis 71 8 0 112 -234 0 0 0 0
27. Anthony Alfredo 42 8 0 98 -248 14 0 0 0
28. Kyle Sieg 28 8 0 96 -250 2 0 0 0
29. Josh Bilicki 91 6 1 81 -265 15 0 0 0
30. Kris Wright 5 8 -1 78 -268 3 0 0 0
31. Garrett Smithley 14 7 0 70 -276 8 0 0 0
32. Leland Honeyman 70 5 0 65 -281 5 0 0 0
33. Joey Gase  5 0 59 -287 6 0 0 0
34. Patrick Emerling  3 0 40 -306 19 0 0 0
35. Justin Bonsignore  2 0 33 -313 7 0 0 0
36. Mason Massey 45 4 2 33 -313 0 0 0 0
37. Nick Leitz 07 3 4 32 -314 1 0 0 0
38. Jordan Anderson  1 -2 30 -316 2 0 0 0
39. Alex Labbe  1 -2 28 -318 2 0 0 0
40. Caesar Bacarella  1 -1 24 -322 4 0 0 0
41. Brad Perez  2 -1 23 -323 1 0 0 0
42. Greg Van Alst 35 5 3 23 -323 0 0 0 0
43. Patrick Staropoli  1 -1 21 -325 2 0 0 0
44. Ryan Truex  1 -1 20 -326 1 0 0 0
45. Mason Maggio  3 -1 20 -326 0 0 0 0
46. Corey Day  1 0 16 -330 4 0 0 0
47. Cj Mclaughlin  1 0 12 -334 4 0 0 0
48. Austin Green  2 0 12 -334 0 0 0 0
49. Carson Ware  2 0 12 -334 0 0 0 0
50. David Starr 53 1 -50 11 -335 1 0 0 0
51. Myatt Snider  2 -1 11 -335 0 0 0 0
52. Thomas Annunziata  2 -1 9 -337 2 0 0 0
53. Dawson Cram  2 -1 7 -339 2 0 0 0
54. Sage Karam  1 -1 5 -341 2 0 0 0
55. Preston Pardus  1 -1 1 -345 4 0 0 0
56. Baltazar Leguizam?n  1 -1 1 -345 0 0 0 0
57. William Byron(i)  1 -1 0 -346 1 0 1 0
58. Alex Bowman(i)  1 -1 0 -346 0 0 1 0
59. Chase Elliott(i) 17 1 -59 0 -346 0 0 0 0
60. Kyle Larson(i)  1 -2 0 -346 0 0 1 0
61. Ross Chastain(i) 9 2 -2 0 -346 0 0 0 0
62. Riley Herbst(i)  1 -2 0 -346 0 0 0 0
63. Christopher Bell(i) 19 1 -63 0 -346 0 0 0 0
64. Corey Heim(i)  2 -3 0 -346 0 0 0 0
65. Carson Hocevar(i)  1 -3 0 -346 0 0 0 0
66. Tyler Tomassi  0 -3 0 -346 0 0 0 0
67. Jj Yeley(i)  0 -3 0 -346 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series