Garcia is Running Down a Dream Heading to Kansas
Running Down a Dream … As the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) season hits the halfway point of the regular season on Saturday night, Jake Garcia is running down the dream of earning a playoff spot in his rookie campaign. The driver of the No. 35 Adaptive One Chevrolet Silverado RST is just 33 markers out of the final playoff spot, despite having competed in only six of the first seven races. Garcia looks to continue his impressive runs on 1.5-mile tracks at Kansas, as his first start of the year resulted in a 10th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Track Debuts? No Problem! … One of Garcia’s most impressive traits as an 18-year-old rookie has been his ability to adapt quickly to new racetracks. All six of his starts this year have been at venues he had never previously raced. Kansas Speedway marks his seventh track debut of the 2023 season in as many starts and looks to continue closing the gap on the playoff bubble, despite a lack of experience. In two of his first three starts on 1.5-mile tracks this season, Garcia has posted top-10 finishes, including a career high fifth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
Season to Date … After six races, Garcia is second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings and 12th in the NCTS driver championship standings, 33 points behind the playoff bubble. Despite missing the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Garcia has accumulated more points than 10 other full-time drivers. His average finish of 11.8 is sixth-best among all full-time competitors has he’s totaled one top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Crew Chief / Chassis Selection … Crew chief Mark Hillman and the Adaptive One team have built a brand new Chevrolet Silverado RST. Garcia will make his first laps behind the wheel of chassis No. 350 when the track opens for practice on Saturday morning.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has all the action from Kansas covered on Saturday. FS1 comes on the air at Noon ET with practice and qualifying followed by NASCAR Raceday at 7:00 p.m. ET, and the green flag at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 35 Adaptive One team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Jake Garcia Quote:
On making his first start at Kansas Speedway:
“I’m kind of getting used to going to tracks for the first time, since we’ve been doing it so often this year. All the guys at MHR have been doing a great job and we’ve had a lot of positive moments this year. I feel like our team keeps improving week after week and all our guys put a lot of effort in on our Adaptive One Chevrolet for Kansas. It’s a new truck, so that’s exciting, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it drives and what kind of speed we had. Hopefully we can race in the top five again and start putting ourselves in position to win some races before too long.”