FORT WORTH, Texas: The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ most recent Brandon Jones knows he’ll be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing next season to compete for an Xfinity Series championship, but the driver of the No. 19 Toyota Supra can’t help but think even further ahead as he has aspirations to be a NASCAR Cup Series competitor.
“Eventually, yeah. That is where I want to be,” Jones said Friday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.
“I mentioned earlier in the year, if I ever get to the point where we are racing Cup and we are doing it full-time, I want to be able to step into the year before and maybe run five races and see what it’s like. See how the competition is. I know it’s gotta be stiff. I know those guys really race hard.
“We have guys come down from the Cup level and race Xfinity and so you definitely get a taste for it there. It would be interesting. I don’t know how long a race would be on your body either. There is a lot of unknowns there for a driver, but ultimately, that’s where I want to be in Cup.”
Before Jones makes any headway towards a potential career of being a full-time Cup driver, the Atlanta, Ga. native says he is focused on winning more races and hopes the door will swing open after winning at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago.
“That’s big,” offered Jones on winning the Kansas Lottery 300. “I know when I was racing in the ARCA series even, the first win was tough to get and the next week we blew by everybody and it was a piece of cake. I think it’s a mindset thing.
“You have the mindset of you think you can do it, but every time you get in a car and you’re having tires go flat or you’re have people wreck you and stuff – it kind of gets to your head a little bit, so it’s always good to get back on track, winning races and doing really well. I think that’s really big for team morale and even myself.”
With his plans confirmed for next year, Jones is feeling relieved about his future and can focus on getting back to Victory Lane in the three remaining Xfinity Series races of the season.
“It’s a big weight off of our shoulders,” added Jones. “Any driver right now is fighting to get some stuff going, and that was really big for us to be able to come back for 2020.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
