Trackin' Trucks: Brandon Jones Wins at Pocono Raceway

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

Brandon Jones earned his first career Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, holding off Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed in the final laps of the Pocono Organics 150 to benefit Farm Aid.

“Christian was better at the tunnel than me.” Jones said, “My (Turn) 1 and my (Turn) 3 were just light-out different, so I was working so hard to get clean air. That’s kinda what I felt like I was struggling with, I just needed some clean air on my nose to be good through the tunnel.”

Jones battled side-by-side with Creed before edging ahead for the victory at the Tunnel Turn. Jones led 11 of 60, while Creed earned the Stage 1 and Stage 2 victories.

It was a hectic start to the morning at the Tricky Triangle, whereas the race produced five cautions within 25 laps. There were a record-tying nine cautions in total at the 2.5-mile track, along with two red flags. Just under 50 per cent of the race ran under caution, with the average green-flag run only 3.1 laps.

Matt Crafton and Codie Rohrbaugh made contact on the first lap, which ended the day for the No. 88 and No. 9 prematurely.

Crafton took the worst of the blow, as it dropped the ThorSport Racing driver to 14th in the standings. He is now 114 points back from the leader.

Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger made contact on Lap 12. Majeski spun and hit the inside wall on the frontstretch. He finished in the 36th position, while Enfinger rebounded to finish 11th.

Christian Eckes finished 33rd after suffering a right-rear tire problem while he was leading.

“It sucks for sure and probably caused by me,” Eckes to Fox Sports. “We had a little bit of contact on pit road. It might’ve created a rub or something, I don’t know.”

A Look Ahead (with Points after Pocono)

The Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series have the next weekend off, but they return on Saturday, July 11th, at Kentucky Speedway.

Hill continues to extend his points lead, now 51 ahead of Ben Rhodes. He has scored six top-10 finishes this season. Can he find Victory Lane at Kentucky?

Stewart Friesen and Crafton find themselves outside the top 10 in the standings with 10 races to go in the regular season.

1. Austin Hill
2. Ben Rhodes -51
3. Grant Enfinger -61
4. Sheldon Creed -64
5. Todd Gilliland -66
6. Christian Eckes -74
7. Zane Smith -76
8. Tyler Ankrum -79
9. Brett Moffitt -83
10. Johnny Sauter -85