With only six laps left to end the Pacific Office Automation 147 Xfinity Series race at Portland, JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones crashed out for the third time this season. The 27-year-old Georgia native qualified below all his teammates at P20, with #1 driver Sam Mayer picking up the pole position. However, JRM’s other driver, Justin Allgaier, a backup driver for Kyle Larson in Charlotte, started his race at P5, and the final driver from Dale Jr’s quartet, Sammy Smith, rolled off the grid at P9.

Jones started from the rear, citing repairs to the #9 Chevy. Eventually, he would gain track position within the top-20s, finishing P19 & P20 respectively, in stages 1 and 2. However, in the final stage, the woes unfolded devastatingly for Brandon Jones after fluid leakage from Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Chandler Smith’s #81 Supra from an unrelated incident sent him packing early, exiting the track.

Brandon Jones crashes out yet again at Xfinity Portland

In the video, as Sammy Smith could be seen entering pit lane, a barrage of cars started spinning out and about the confines of PIR’s final Turn 12. First, Ryan Ellis and his Alpha Prime teammate Brennan Poole spun, resulting in Poole’s #44 Camaro hooking RSS Racing’s Blaine Perkins’ #29 Ford Mustang.

The #29, facing pressure on the inside from Riley Herbst’s #98, moved with uncontrollable momentum toward the outside wall, consequently catching the incoming #9 of Brandon Jones and deflecting it into the tire barriers. This brought out the fourth unscheduled caution of the race, with at least 7 cars involved.

The broadcasts on FS1 painted a sorry image of the front of Jones’ car, damaged beyond immediate repair and lodged halfway through the barrier. He ended his day at a disappointing P35, behind a certain Chandler Smith, who finished 9 laps down from the leader similar to Jones. Additionally, Brandon Jones performed a double-header this week with the Xfinity race in Portland and the ARCA West Series race on Friday, where he won the pole but finished runners-up behind eventual winner, 17-year-old William Sawalich of JGR.

Although it was another unfortunate outing for one of four Xfinity Series hopefuls under Dale Jr’s umbrella, Allgaier, and Sammy Smith rounded off the podium behind debut Xfinity Series race-winner Shane van Gisbergen. Pole-winner for JRM, Sam Mayer dropped twenty-seven spots from his starting position to finish P28 at Portland.

This has led to a lot of disregard in recent times toward Brandon Jones’ & his below-average performances this season, especially considering a 77-race winless streak in Xfinity peering through his windows. However, based on his most recent displays, the fans were barely sympathetic to Jones and his persistent problems in the Pacific Northwest.

Memes & mockery follow Dale Jr’s #9 after the Portland run

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Looking at the image of the #9 Chevy stuck in the tire barriers will make even the toughest NASCAR fan cringe in dismay. Thankfully, Jones was safe. His window net came down instantly, and the official Xfinity Series social media handles informed fans that both “Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith have been evaluated and released from the infield care center.”

But this only fueled the criticisms further on social media, or so it seemed, as one fan aimed to rally other naysayers in a collective statement writing, “We need to talk about Brandon Jones.” 

And thus came the attacks. “Brandon Jones is so far up the tire barrier he knows what it had for lunch,” deduced one fan, while another wrote, “Brandon Jones couldn’t get out of the car if he wanted to.” A harrowing perspective emerged from this particularly distasteful comment: “Brandon Jones tried to get to the grandstands, but there was a tire barrier in the way.”

Regardless, others noted “Karma Brandon Jones,” owing to his often reckless driving, and penchant to be in the middle of the big one right when it seems improbable to put all blame on the #9. Just last month, Brandon Jones registered his 2024 season-best finish at Charlotte in P2. Before that, he was involved in contact-related cautions, most notably at Talladega, Martinsville, and Richmond this year.

With the narrative slowly shifting towards a more negative limelight, Dale Jr’s rising star must make due amends for his faltering reputation. But on the other hand, will it affect the race team he currently claims?