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This season has been a roller coaster for JR Motorsports. From wrecking each other multiple times early in the season to now having two victories and three of their four cars in the Playoffs, they’re beginning to turn things around. What has happened during JRM’s up-and-down season?
In four of the first nine races of the season, at least once was there an incident between two JRM drivers. Chase DeMarco Racing put together a compilation of every JRM incident in the early part of the season.
At Daytona, JRM had all four drivers lined up bumper to bumper near the front of the field. Only one of those drivers finished the race in the top-10. Brandon Jones was spun out by Berry, and Sam Mayer flipped after contact with Justin Allgaier.
It was a disastrous way to end the opening race of the season. At Atlanta, it was Allgaier who was spun out by Berry in the closing laps of stage two.
At Phoenix, Mayer and Berry were involved in one incident with Jones and Allgaier involved in another. At Talladega, it was Mayer and Jones in one incident with Allgaier and Berry in another.
Following Talladega, JRM’s spots in the points standings were as follows: Josh Berry (5th), Justin Allgaier (6th), Sam Mayer (12th), and Brandon Jones (14th). JRM was also without a win, which is not normal for one of the best Xfinity Series teams in the garage.
From there, the tides began to turn for JR Motorsports. Beginning on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, they began to find their footing.
The Alsco Uniforms 300 was one of the most bizarre Xfinity Series races in recent memory. The race was hampered by a bunch of rain delays, and it was eventually paused partway through and scheduled for Monday night following the Coca-Cola 600.
Justin Allgaier started from the pole. He led the first 21 laps, but he started dominating later in the race. He took the lead with 66 laps to go, and he would lead for 62 of those final 66 laps. JRM was finally back in victory lane.
Sam Mayer has struggled some early in the season, and he found himself outside of the Playoffs by one spot following Talladega in May. Since then, Mayer has eight top-10 finishes in 11 races including four top-5s.
Road America was an incredible day for JRM cars as Justin Allgaier led a race-high 42 laps. It was not to be his big day, however, as Mayer was ready to battle for the lead on a restart. After Allgaier spun out, Mayer had to battle with Sage Karam to the finish.
It would be Mayer who took home the win. He ended up tearing his race car up on the cool-down lap, but he still got his first career win.
Now, JRM sits with two cars in the Playoffs on wins, and Josh Berry in on points by 107. Jones still sits on the outside looking in with a 61 point deficit, but it’s not out of the question that he could point his way back in. JRM is now winning races, so, we can wonder, how much better can it get?
