Darlington II NXS Race Report
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021
Race 24 of 33: Sport Clips VFW 200
Track: Darlington Raceway
Buford’s Finish: 21st
Big Machine Racing’s Jade Buford was the highest finishing rookie in Saturday’s challenging NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway. Buford and the No. 48 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers team narrowly missed out on getting their 14th top-20 finish of the season, placing 21st on the day.
The 33-year-old driver rolled off the grid from the 20th position in his second ever start at the track. After an eventful opening few laps, Buford settled in and started to get into a rhythm. He was running in the 28th position when the first caution of the race came out on lap 12. Under the yellow flag, Buford relayed to crew chief Patrick Donahue that his No. 48 Camaro was way too tight during the first run, so Donahue made the call for Buford to come to pit road for adjustments.
With limited teams opting to pit, Buford restarted towards the back of the field and was in 33rd position when the competition caution flag waved. Buford reported that the previous adjustments made were in the positive direction, but he needed more. The team took the opportunity to pit for four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments. Sending him back out to restart deep in the field, Buford battled his way up to 26th before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end the first stage.
During the stage-ending caution, Buford relayed that the Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Camaro lost some stability during the run and was still tight through the center of the turns. The team continued to work on fine-tuning the No. 48 during their stop for four tires and fuel. Buford lined up 20th for the start of the second stage and continued to battle up inside the top 25 throughout the stage, running a better pace as he settled into the track. When the caution for the end of the stage came out on lap 90, the Big Machine Racing driver was scored in the 24th position.
A fast pit stop by the No. 48 team during the stage-break gave Buford a 19th-place starting position for the final stage. Not long into the run he reported that his Camaro was tighter than the previous stage. Fighting through the tough-handling condition, Buford held his own and was running in the 20th position when a caution flag came out on lap 109 for an incident on the track. After the restart, Buford continued to charge forward, improving his position to 18th. He began to lose some ground as the run went on and when the yellow flag waved with nine laps to go, the team made the call to bring him in for a set of scuffed tires.
Buford gave it everything he had in the final laps of the race, surviving another late caution that sent the race into overtime. He ultimately took the checkered flag in the 21st position.
Jade Buford, driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Chevrolet:
“It was a challenging day for our Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers team, but we never quit fighting. To be the top finishing rookie at a track this tough is a testament to this team and how hard they work. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish at Richmond next week. It should be a good track for us.”
Next Up:
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Richmond Raceway for the Go Bowling 250 on Saturday, Sept. 11. Tune in to NBCSN at 2:30 p.m. ET.