Garcia Brings Short Track Prowess to “Thunder Valley”
Short Track Ace … Jake Garcia will feel right at home in his second start on the half mile high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The driver of the No. 35 Quanta Services Chevrolet Silverado RST has a resume steeped in short track accomplishments and looks to add to his impressive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) rookie campaign in “Thunder Valley”. The former Southern Super Series champion has banked two super late model victories in 2023 and recently scored his career-best NCTS result with a fourth-place finish at Richmond Raceway.
He’ll Have Seconds … Garcia has continued his consistent performances in his return visits to tracks on the NCTS schedule. He scored an 11th-place finish in his second start at Kansas Speedway last Friday night and is primed for more of the same at the “Last Great Colosseum”. The Georgia teenager made his BMS debut last season during a partial schedule and has finished 13th or better in all four events at tracks where he has previous experience this season. His has an average finish of 9.5 in those four races, an included his season-best result at Richmond. Earlier this year, Garcia delivered an impressive sixth-place finish in his first start on BMS’ dirt surface and has three finishes of 13th or better in the four pavement short track races in 2023.
Season to Date … With only four events remaining on the NCTS schedule, Garcia is gaining ground in the drivers’ point standings. He enters BMS 14th in the standings despite running 18 of the 19 events and is just 20 markers out of 11th. He has collected two top-five and eight top-10 finishes this season with an average finish of 14.0.
Tune In … FOX Sports 2 begins Thursday’s coverage from “Thunder Valley” at 4:00 p.m. ET with practice and qualifying. NASCAR Raceday will air on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 9:00 p.m. ET, also on FS1. Stay connected with the No. 35 Quanta Services team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Jake Garcia Quote:
On his second start on Bristol’s concrete:
“I love short track racing, so it’s always exciting when these races come up on the schedule. Bristol is such a different short track than most and everything happens so quickly. You really need to stay on your toes and be able to find a rhythm quickly once the green flag drops. Our Quanta Services Chevrolet has been really fast the last few weeks, but we need to execute through the whole race on Thursday. 200 laps goes by really fast at Bristol, but we’re looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we can be up front at the end of the night.”