Jones Earns Martinsville Xfinity Pole, Ties Track Record

Brandon Jones celebrates the NASCAR Xfinity Series pole Friday at Martinsville Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – He may have to share the track record, but Brandon Jones won’t have to share the top spot on the NASCAR Xfinity Series starting grid at Martinsville Speedway.

With a lap of 19.694 seconds (96.151 mph) that tied the record mark set by Ty Gibbs in April of 2022, Jones placed his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro on top of the heap in qualifying Friday evening.

It marked his ninth career Xfinity Series pole and his second at the .526-mile paper clip.

“Big hats off these guys. This is a really, really good start to our weekend,” said Jones, one of the veteran drivers in the JR Motorsports stable. “This is my place, man. I love this racetrack. This is a good rebound too, after coming off of Richmond with such a strong beginning by starting second and then having the motor failure. We want some redemption, man.

“We want to try to get back on top here this weekend.”

Though Jones qualified fastest, he tipped after his run that he’ll have to drop to the rear of the field due to unapproved repairs that will take place prior to the green flag Saturday night.

“We won’t be able to take full advantage of the pole, because after practice we found a hairline crack in our left-front brake rotor … and we don’t feel comfortable running that in the race,” Jones explained. “We’ll replace that, fall to the back, and see if we can’t work our way back forward with a fast car.”

Defending series champion Cole Custer qualified second fastest, with a time of 19.757 seconds (95.845 mph) in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Sheldon Creed was third in a Joe Gibbs Racing-prepared Toyota GR Supra, with Jeb Burton lining up fourth for Jordan Anderson Racing-Bommarito Autosport and Jones’ teammate Justin Allgaier starting fifth.

Aric Almirola, Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill closed out the top-10 starters, while Jesse Love was the fastest of the rookie drivers in 11th.

Other notables starting deeper in the field Saturday night include A.J. Allmendinger (15th), Parker Kligerman (18th), Riley Herbst (22nd), and Myatt Snider (34th).

Chandler Smith, who had a brake issue in practice and hit the turn-one wall, did not post a qualifying lap and will start 37th in the 38-driver field for the 250-lap race.

With 39 drivers on the property for 38 starting spots, Ryan Vargas was the lone driver who failed to make the show.

Coverage of the DUDE Wipes 250 is slated for Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.