Brandon Jones delivered one of the biggest victories of his season Saturday night, making a decisive move on an overtime restart before holding off Chase Elliott during the final lap to win the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
The dramatic finish capped off a race filled with strategy, side-by-side racing, and multiple lead changes. Elliott appeared to have the race under control despite Brandon Jones getting a run on him, Elliott was able to block the moves of Jones. The last restart put the two drivers on the front row, making it harder for Chase to stop any move that Brandon Jones was going to throw his way.
Despite relentless pressure from Elliott over the final lap and a half, Jones consistently hit his marks around the 1.5-mile oval, refusing to leave an opening. Elliott closed to within a few car lengths entering Turns 3 and 4 on the final stretch, but Jones maintained his momentum and crossed the finish line first to claim an emotional 4th of July victory.
Brandon Jones started the race in 29th before making his way all the way to the front. Jones had yet to capture a win this season until tonight. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs racing finally captured his first victory of the season after 4 top-five finishes and 1 pole position.
Jones willy carry in a lot of momentum for next weekends race at EchoPark Speedway in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
