Darlington NXS Race Report
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Race 9 of 33: Steakhouse Elite 200
Location: Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval)
Format: 147 laps / 200.1 miles
Buford’s Finish: 34th
Jade Buford and the No. 48 Big Machine Racing team honored legendary racer Dan Gurney with a special All American Racers, Inc. paint scheme for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway. The team headed into NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend looking to continue their positive momentum, however a mechanical issue in the left front of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro relegated the team to a 34th-place finish in Buford’s first start at the historic track.
The Nashville, Tenn. native rolled off the grid from the 18th position in his No. 48 Big Machine Dan Gurney throwback and faded towards the back of a field in an effort to get a good feel for the track once the race was underway. Towards the end of the first stage, the 33-year-old driver felt like he had a left front tire going down, so he headed to pit road under the green flag. The team made a quick stop for tires and sent Buford back out on track. After falling two laps down during the stop, Buford was able to get the free pass and get a lap back after the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end Stage One on lap 45.
Under the stage-ending caution, Buford reported that even though there ended up not being a tire down, he still felt like something was wrong with the left front. The team brought him back to pit road and after looking under the hood, realized there was an issue with the upper control arm. Throughout the next two stages the team worked hard on repairs during pit stops and got the No. 48 back to decent speed, but they were unable to get the laps back that they lost in the process. Buford ultimately took the checkered flag in the 34th position at one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit.
Jade Buford, driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Dan Gurney Throwback:
“Today was a bummer for the whole team. Everybody at Big Machine Racing did everything they could do to have a good day. Unfortunately, things are still going to go wrong sometimes. Days like this are going to happen. At least at the end we were able to get it pretty close and I was able to run some decent laps and learn a little bit more about the track. When we come back and everything is right, we should have pretty good pace here.”
Next Up:
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Dover International Speedway on Saturday, May 15. Tune in at 1:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. CT on FS1.