Jake Garcia bounced back quickly after a difficult start to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season by winning the pole at EchoPark Speedway in Georgia.
One week earlier, Garcia was involved in a Lap 36 crash at Daytona International Speedway that damaged his No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford and ended his chances for a strong finish in the Fresh From Florida 250. The incident also involved Tony Stewart.
Returning to the track for the Fr8 208 at his home venue, Jake Garcia delivered a fast qualifying lap to secure the top starting position. The run placed him on the front row alongside teammate Ben Rhodes and gave ThorSport Racing an early boost heading into race weekend.
Jake Garcia Responds With Atlanta Pole Run
One week later, Garcia returned to EchoPark Speedway, formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway, looking for a stronger result. He showed speed immediately in qualifying for the Fr8 208.
Jake Garcia posted a lap of 172.980 mph to win the pole and led a ThorSport Racing front-row sweep, with teammate Ben Rhodes qualifying second. The pole came at Garcia’s home track in Georgia and marked a strong response after the Daytona setback.
Speaking to FOX Sports after qualifying, Garcia highlighted the importance of track position at Atlanta.
“Yeah, it’s huge to start out front here at Atlanta. I think it’s hard to pass, and if you can control a lane, you can put yourself in a good position to get stage points. It’s really special to start on the pole here. It’s a home track for me, and I’m excited to lead the field to green in front of the Georgia crowd.”
Jake Garcia also pointed to the team’s progress in qualifying compared to last season.
“I’m not sure. We’ll see when we get to the race. But it’s definitely a good effort. We were good at qualifying last year, and we worked on some things and got better, I feel like. Hopefully, we can pick up a little bit this year and get a few more poles.”
The qualifying result placed Garcia at the front of the field for the second race weekend of the season and gave ThorSport Racing early momentum.
Lap 36 Crash Ends Tony Stewart’s Return
During the Daytona opener, Garcia ran in traffic as the field exited Turn 4 on Lap 36 when his truck suddenly got loose in the draft. He tried to correct the slide, but the No. 98 moved up the track and made contact with Tony Stewart’s No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram.
The contact forced Stewart into the outside wall, causing heavy damage. Stewart’s truck showed steering and suspension problems after the hit. NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy allowed repair attempts, but the team could not return the truck to race condition.
After the race, Jake Garcia said the truck had shown no warning signs before it stepped out in the draft.
“Yeah, I just got loose. That’s part of superspeedway racing, I guess. I got really free, and I hadn’t been loose at any point before that. I’d run in the middle a couple of times and didn’t have any indication it was coming.”
“It really sucks. I hate it for my guys. I want to apologize to everyone on the 25 and to Tony. Stuff like that happens in superspeedway races. We get put in some bad spots, and I just couldn’t hang on to it there.”
Garcia later reiterated his apology to Stewart following the incident. The crash became one of the defining moments of the night and showed how quickly handling can change in superspeedway pack racing.
Jake Garcia Takes Pole at EchoPark Speedway Following Daytona 500 Wreck