Mid-Ohio NXS Race Report
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Race 13 of 33: B&L Transport 170
Location: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course)
Format: 75 laps / 169.35 miles
Buford’s Finish: 13th
Jade Buford earned Big Machine Racing its best finish of the season thus far, driving the No. 48 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Camaro to a 13th-place finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The result was the team’s second top-15 effort of 2021.
Buford went into the weekend with confidence, already having plenty of experience on the Ohio road course. The 33-year-old driver started the 75-lap race from the 19th position and battled inside the top-20 for much of the opening stage. Running top-12 lap times, Buford drove up into the 11th position before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end Stage One on lap 25.
Following his visit to pit road during the stage break, Buford lined up inside the top 20 for the start of the second stage on lap 30. He was running in 17th when an on-track incident on lap 41 brought out the caution. Opting to stay out on the track, Buford restarted in 14th and worked his way up to seventh in the closing laps of Stage Two. It looked as though he would get some highly coveted stage points, however, Buford was turned by the No. 68 car on the stage’s final lap, and he crossed the start/finish line in the 13th position.
During the second stage, Buford had mentioned some potential brake issues, so under the caution the team opted to bleed the front brakes during their pit stop. The Big Machine Racing driver restarted at the tail end of the field after the lengthy stop and he wasted little time advancing his position once the green flag dropped. Buford continued to battle through brake problems in the final stage, driving up into 13th position before taking the checkered flag.
The result was Buford’s best finish of the season and his second top 15 on the year. He remains 22nd in the Xfinity Series point standings.
Jade Buford, driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Chevrolet:
“Today was definitely a roller coaster of a race for our Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers team. After everything we had to battle through today, I’m proud that we were still able to come home with a 13th-place finish. Even with the brake issues, but we were still in the hunt for a top 10 there. We’ll keep digging. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at Texas next week.”
Next Up:
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Alsco Uniforms 250 on Saturday, June 12. Tune in to FOX Sports 1 at 4 p.m. ET.