Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Departing Driver Explores NASCAR’s “Hidden Gem” as He Finds the Ropes at JGR

After a journey of ill-timed crashes that collected his teammates, one Xfinity driver is ready to clean his slate. Brandon Jones spent two years under Dale Earnhardt Jr's umbrella in the Chevrolet wing. Poor finishes dotted his experience – this year, he clinched just 8 top-ten and 1 top-five. Now Jones is prepared to leave Chevy and go back to Toyota under Joe Gibbs. But before that, he took a walk down NASCAR's memory lane with his teammates.

Rockingham Speedway is hallowed ground for the series. The 1-mile Richmond County track conducted 120 races for both the Cup and Xfinity Series between 1965-2004. It was abandoned due to the sport's massive growth as NASCAR departed for bigger venues. However, now its comeback in 2025 is being welcomed by many – including Brandon Jones, who ran a test.

Brandon Jones melts over revived asset Indeed, Rockingham Speedway has hosted some memorable races. NASCAR held the last Cup Series race there on February 22nd, 2004, and witnessed an extraordinary feat. Matt Kenseth beat Kasey Kahne to the checkered flag by a mere 0.010 seconds. Kenseth's race-winning Ford Taurus is on display in the NASCAR Hall of Fame's "Greatest Finishes" exhibit. In the shadow of great moments such as that, Brandon Jones paid a visit to the historic one-mile. He accompanied Justin Allgaier, his JR Motorsport teammate, and Sheldon Creed, his future JGR teammate for a tire test.

NASCAR announced Rockingham's comeback in August and scheduled Both Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series during the Easter Weekend next year. And after attending Goodyear's tire test, Brandon Jones heaped admiration for the track. "Yeah, I'm not surprised now that we are back. It's a super cool racetrack. I thought it was kind of a hidden gem... it is a really cool facility so I am glad we are back. I think it's going to make for a cool, cool event. And I missed out on the K&N days whenever they could come here. So I didn't get to run the car but they put on a cool race...it should be fun as last time."

Booked for April 18-19, 2025, Rockingham Speedway will witness Brandon Jones in his new team attire. Jones will return to Joe Gibbs Racing, the NASCAR team he has had the most success with. During his JGR tenure in 2018-2022, he won five races with the organization. "We're thrilled to have Brandon return to Joe Gibbs Racing next season," Joe Gibbs said in a statement earlier this year. "He has a proven history of success with us and is someone that we know will be in the championship hunt each year. His veteran leadership will also be a tremendous asset to our program."

Jones is even willing to move on from the controversial farewell he got from Gibbs' team.

Turning over a fresh leaf Brandon Jones' stellar streak in JGR lasted till the final races of 2022. He was quickly proving to be a championship contender that season, with a spring win in Martinsville. But his Fall return to the Paperclip track was laced with conflict. On the final lap of the Martinsville race that immediately preceded the Championship 4 race, Jones led with teammate Ty Gibbs in second. Although the latter already owned a Final Four berth, he bumped Jones into the wall and knocked him out of contention. After that controversial finish, two years have passed – Jones raced for Dale Jr. and failed to find success. Now, time may have healed his wounds as he is looking forward to a JGR comeback and admits his strong admiration of the team.

Brandon Jones admitted to using a fresh slate for his renewed relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing. "I just wanted that really good...I still had all my stuff sitting in that storage cabin...bold and running there and it all worked out...It was good, small little things to change over there so I was here to last...But all that stuff is pretty big." He even confessed his admiration for his team. "To your point, you're pretty right – the crew chief, the team around that crew chief – all those guys were really good together...I'm looking forward to working with them and getting to know them."

Jones is harboring an open mind in his reassociation with Joe Gibbs' fold, despite the 2022 ending. He is eager to explore new racing avenues with the team, including Rockingham Speedway.