Garcia’s Stout Pocono Debut Ends Early

Venue: Pocono Raceway

FINISH: 35th

Start: 2nd

Laps Led: 0

NCTS Point Standings Position: 15th

Jake Garcia laid down a career-best qualifying effort at Pocono Raceway which led to a stout showing on Saturday afternoon that ended 15 laps from the finish. The driver of the No. 35 Adaptive One Chevrolet Silverado RST was involved in a multi-truck incident on lap 46 and was relegated to a 35th-place result. Garcia still sits 15th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings after 15 races. 

Garcia stopped the clock at 53.47 seconds on his time trial run that landed him a front row starting position for the first time in his young career. The 18-year-old rookie was looking for his first-career victory to place him in the playoffs, and he stayed in contention for the entirety of Stage 1. Garcia ran inside the top five for most of the first 15-lap segment and collected five points in sixth position on lap 15.

Crew chief Mark Hillman kept Garcia on track during the first stage caution and preserved track position in order to compete for a win late in the event. Garcia restarted sixth on lap 21 and made his only scheduled pit stop under the green flag on lap 27, just before the end of Stage 2. While the majority of the field stayed on track, Garcia pitted for four tires, stayed on the lead lap and was scored 32nd at the end of Stage 2 on lap 30.

As the field pitted under yellow, Garcia regained his track position by staying out and restarted ninth on lap 36. As he continued to battle for a top-10 position, Garcia was hit by the No. 2 truck on entry to Turn 1 and made severe contact with the outside wall. The accident dealt him a 35th-place result, putting a premature end to his promising Pocono debut.

Jake Garcia Quote:

“Not much I could do there. We just got hit going into Turn 1 and got wrecked, unfortunately. I don’t know what else to do in that situation. I’ve tried to be good on equipment this year and felt like I’ve done a pretty good job of that. Ran every lap but one going into this race. Just unfortunate to get taken out that way. Didn’t feel like I did anything wrong at all. I’m really proud of my Adaptive One Caliper team. They brought a fast Chevy Silverado today.”