Garcia To Make Final Playoff Push at Richmond
One More Push … Jake Garcia is making one final push to qualify for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs this weekend at Richmond Raceway. The driver of the No. 35 Quanta Services Chevrolet Silverado RST needs to earn his first NCTS victory to punch his ticket into the seven-race championship battle. Garcia has been one of the outstanding rookie wheelmen this season and is coming off an impressive front row qualifying effort at Pocono Raceway last weekend. Garcia and the Quanta Services squad look to deliver a season-best performance on Saturday to advance to the NCTS title fight.
At Home at Short Tracks … If a “walk-off” win of sorts is needed for Garcia at any track, a short track like Richmond Raceway would be near the top of his list. The Commonwealth’s capital is just the second venue on the 2023 calendar where Garcia has prior NCTS experience. He finished 20th in his Richmond debut in 2022 and the three-quarter mile abrasive surface is reminiscent of numerous short tracks from his tenure in super late model competition. As a former Southern Super Series champion, Garcia has the short track DNA to perform well at Richmond in a freshly redesigned white Quanta Services paint scheme.
Season to Date … Through his first 14 races, Garcia remained in the mathematical playoff conversation due to his six top-10 finishes and consistency throughout the season. Now entering his 15th start, Garcia has totaled one top five and six top-10 finishes with an average finish of 15.3, and remains second in the Rookie of the Year standings. The Georgia driver laid down a breath-taking, career-best second place qualifying lap at Pocono Raceway last weekend before running inside the top-10 for most of the afternoon.
Chassis Selection … Crew chief Mark Hillman and the Quanta Services team have built chassis No. 320 for the regular season finale. Garcia most recently raced this Chevrolet Silverado RST to a 10th-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway in June.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1’s coverage from Richmond begins with NASCAR Raceday on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET, followed by the green flag at 7:30 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 second start at Richmond:
“It’s definitely nice to come back to another track where I have some experience. Richmond is a low grip short track, hard on tires. It’s similar to a lot of places I was used to in super late model racing. It reminds me a little bit of Pensacola with the surface, similar banking, and how you have to manage tires. Our goal was to put our Quanta Services Chevrolet in the playoffs, and that’s still our goal. It’d be great to do that, but we just need to focus on executing the best we can, get our Silverado RST driving well and see how the night shakes out. Everybody at MHR has worked really hard to give us fast trucks all season, so hopefully we can show that on Saturday night.”
