Garcia Set for Season Debut at Vegas on 18th Birthday
The Birthday Boy … Every teenager looks forward to their 18th birthday, but Jake Garcia has been anticipating his more than most. The Monroe, Ga. driver finally turns 18 on Friday, March 3rd, which allows him to compete at a track larger than 1.25 miles in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series (NCTS). The driver of the No. 35 Quanta Services Chevrolet Silverado RST is on deck to make his sixth NCTS start after making five appearances in 2022. Garcia will contest the remaining 22 NCTS events, beginning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), and was granted a waiver to pursue a playoff berth in his rookie season.
Short Tracker … Even before turning 18, Garcia has carved out an impressive short track resume. He has a pair of track championships at Five Flags Speedway in Pro Late Model and Super Late Model competition. In 2021, Garcia became the youngest driver to capture the Southern Super Series championship at age 16. The Georgian has consistently excelled in super late model competition, including a runner-up finish in his first Snowball Derby start in 2019, and a seventh-place result in the crown jewel last December. Garcia’s 2023 season got off to a strong start with a third-place finish during SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park in January against the heaviest hitters that super late model racing has to offer.
Career Stats Book … Friday night’s heavyweight bout on Las Vegas Boulevard for the tailgaters marks Garcia’s first ever start on a 1.5-mile speedway. His first five NCTS starts in 2022 with MHR came at World Wide Technology Raceway, Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP), Richmond Raceway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway. LVMS marks the beginning of Garcia’s rookie campaign as he looks to build on the No. 35 team’s 10th-place finish with Chase Elliott in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Crew Chief / Chassis Selection … Garcia will pilot chassis No. 309 in his first start of 2023. Crew chief Mark Hillman and the No. 35 team prepared this Chevrolet Silverado RST for its first appearance since Colby Howard raced it inside the top-10 at IRP last July for most of the race until being involved in a late-race incident.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has live coverage during all of the NCTS on-track action at LVMS on Friday, beginning with practice and qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET. NASCAR Raceday kicks off prerace coverage at 8:00 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 9:00 p.m. ET. 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 making his first start at a 1.5-mile track:
“I’m super excited to finally race at an intermediate track this week in Las Vegas. It’ll make for a pretty cool 18th birthday, that’s for sure. I know my team has put a lot of work into our Quanta Services Chevrolet for this week and hopefully we can have a strong night to set the tone for our year. There’s definitely a lot for me to learn at the big tracks with aero and dealing with dirty air, so we’ll try to manage it the best we can and start building a notebook together.”