What’s Happening?

NASCAR Xfinity Series silly season is in full swing after Connor Zililsch’s signing with JR Motorsports for 2025. With the rumor mill spinning at full speed at JRM, many fans and rumor pages believe that series veteran Brandon Jones could head back to Joe Gibbs Racing. While there is no credible word, this connection deserves a deep dive.

• Brandon Jones is a 27-year-old veteran of the Xfinity Series. He has raced for teams like RCR, JGR, and JR Motorsports. A five-time race winner, Jones has secured his spot as a veteran in the Series through his persistence. Jones’s career has benefitted from the support of Menards, which brings much-needed funding that only a few drivers have.
• JR Motorsports currently fields four full-time entries, including Jones and fellow veteran Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Sammy Smith. Reliable sources have suggested that the only drivers locked into a seat at JR Motorsports are Zillisch, Smith, and Allgaier, leaving the door open for questions about Mayer and Jones.

Why Jones at Gibbs make sense

Brandon Jones and Joe Gibbs Racing have a long history in the Xfinity Series.

Jones joined JGR in 2018 after what was and still is his worst full-time season in the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing. However, Jones soon began a five-year streak of finishing in the top ten in points with JGR.

This streak included a 2020 campaign in which Jones won three races, ten top-fives, and 19 top-tens, finishing sixth in points. Jones followed this up with seventh and eighth-place finishes in 2021 and 2022.

Jones’s spot at JGR could be open, with Chandler Smith looking like the hottest developmental prospect in NASCAR and rumors that Sheldon Creed could be on the move yet again.

Smith and Creed are JGR’s only full-time drivers in the Xfinity Series, but a driver with Jones’s sponsorship may push him into a potential opening.

What makes it less likely?

Jones is currently in his second-worst season as a full-time Xfinity Series driver, with an 18.9 average finish leaving him 14th in the points, the same finishing spot he had last season.

While these past two seasons have shown a fall in performance, it could be an issue of the driver rather than the team. The move to JR Motorsports, Chevrolet’s premiere Xfinity Series team, is more of a lateral move than a step up or down.

For JGR, better, less sponsored options, such as young William Sawalich, could be available. The nine-time ARCA winner has shown promise in a handful of Truck Series starts this season.

What about Corey Heim, the 21-year-old Truck Series standout for Tricon Garage? Heim has five wins in the Truck Series this season while making part-time quality runs in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing.

Crucially, those spreading these rumors forget how JGR and Jones parted ways at the end of the 2022 season. With two races left in the season, Jones and teammate Ty Gibbs were racing for the win at Martinsville. But unlike Gibbs, the win would lock Jones into the final spot in the Championship Four.

In what looked like a lock for Jones, with one lap to go, Gibbs punted Jones in turns one and two, sending Jones into the safer barrier. Gibbs won the race and, the following week, the Xfinity Series Championship, while Jones finished 23rd, leaving Martinsville 7th in points.

After the race, Jones would have harsh words for Gibbs, remarking, “Me and Ty have always been kind of friends, but lost all respect today.”

This relationship could factor into the decision, as this was a significant story in late 2022.

While there is no word of what Jones 2025 may look like, there are several spots some have yet to consider. For a driver with a loyal sponsor, Jones, performing or not, would be a hot commodity if on the free agent market.

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