Mobile, AL (March 15, 2015) – Brandon Jones continues to impress on the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards tour earning his fourth consecutive top-3 series effort with his runner-up finish inSaturday’s ARCA Mobile 200 at Mobile International Speedway.
Jones, who made his first season start driving Venturini Motorsports’ No.25 Ansell-Menards Toyota, demonstrated traits often associated with veteran drivers by managing a near flawless 200-lap game plan before settling for second place behind race winner Grant Enfinger.
“We were close today – just one spot away from being very happy,” said Jones after getting out of his car.
After rain washed away Friday’s Menards Pole qualifying presented by Ansell, Jones started sixth as the driver’s lineup was determined by the previous year’s car owner points. Riding comfortably inside the top-5 most of the race Jones navigated around lap traffic biding his time until the end.
On lap 193 of 200 and trailing Enfinger by nearly six car lengths, Jones jumped up on the wheel with a sense of urgency catching the race leader on lap 197. As Jones pulled to Enfinger’s bumper seemingly ready to make his move, the 11th caution flag of the day appeared resetting the field for extra innings and a two lap shootout to determine the winner. Unfortunately for Jones, Enfinger had been strong all day on the restarts and the final time was no different as Jones chased but settled for second at the checkered flag.
“Honestly I felt like we were pretty conservative the entire race trying to save tires and stay close until the end. We got our chance with about 20 to go that’s when we started reeling-in Grant (Enfinger) but as we got to his bumper the caution flew setting up that green-white-checker which hurt us a bit and ended up finishing second.”
In just four career ARCA starts since 2014, Jones has never finished worse than third and has already won twice including in his series debut at Winchester Speedway in 2014 and again a few weeks later at Lucas Oil Raceway.
“I’ve had some success early here in my career but still a long way to go. Everyone at ARCA has been very good to us and I just go to thank Menards and Ansell for coming onboard to support the 25 program. Hopefully we’ll get a couple of victories for those guys.”
Jones’ runner-up Mobile finish earned him the Scott Highest Finishing Rookie of the Race honors. Jones who is equally splitting the No.25 driving duties with Frank Kimmel is scheduled to make the next three ARCA starts for the Ansell-Menards team.
In addition to Jones’ 10 ARCA starts in 2015 he is also scheduled to race in 15 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events for GMS Racing and five NASCAR XFINITY Series races for Richard Childress Racing.
ABOUT ANSELL:
Ansell is a global leader in protection solutions. Headquartered in Iselin, NJ, 11,000 employees across 42 countries design and manufacture innovative products relied on by millions of consumers, workers, first responders and healthcare professionals. The Ansell vision is to create a world where people enjoy optimal protection against the risks to which they are exposed by delivering safety, peace of mind and performance with unmatched quality, comfort and technology. This vision is delivered by the Ansell core brand products, from the HyFlex®, AlphaTec®, TouchNTuff®, ActivArmr®, Projex®, VersaTouch®, Trellchem® and Viking product lines.
ABOUT MENARDS:
With 287 stores in 14 Midwestern states, Menards has the tools, materials and supplies for all your home improvement needs whether just needing a light bulb or can of paint to building a deck or new home. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader; it’s no wonder their famous slogan – “SAVE BIG MONEY” – is so widely known and easy to remember. Menards does things right – the company’s strength and success can be seen in the well-stocked and maintained stores, the lowest prices in town and the way guests are always treated like family in a hometown hardware store atmosphere.
ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS:
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott, Kevin Swindell, John Wes Townley, Erik Jones, and Justin Boston. Over the years the Venturini name has become synonymous with modern-day racing in America. In 2012, the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (www.NIASHF.org) and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano.
Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com | Twitter: @VenturiniMotor | Facebook: Venturini Motorsports
RT @OnPitRoad_: ARCA: Brandon Jones Impresses with Runner-Up Finish at Mobile http://t.co/n29fIQaDZf