Joe Graf Jr. Darlington Raceway Mahindra ROXOR 200 Race Preview

SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt | NASCAR Xfinity Series

Darlington (S.C.) Raceway | Mahindra ROXOR 200

Fast Facts

No. 07 SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt Team:

Driver: Joe Graf Jr. (@JoeGrafJr)

Primary Partner(s): Bucked Up Buck Shot Energy

Manufacturer: Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Joe Williams                        

Spotter: TJ Bell

2022 Driver Points Position: 22nd | 2022 Owner Points Position: 21st

Engine: Roush Yates Engines (RYE)

Notes of Interest:

Full of Energy: Bucked Up Energy Drink and its sister products will continue their role as the primary partner of Graf’s No. 07 Ford Mustang this weekend.

Darlington (S.C.) Raceway is the ninth race of 2022 but is the 40th race overall in a multi-year, multi-race deal with the former ARCA Menards Series winner.

For the first this year, the team will promote Bucked Up’s Buck Shot Energy

You don’t give up. Neither should your energy shot. Buck Shot is built from the ground up with one frame in mind. Building an energy shot that can hammer out as many hours of work as you already have to punch in. An energy shot that delivers quality, focused, clean energy. Dependable energy.

Buck Shot Energy. Because five is barely enough time to clip the red wire. You have too much to conquer to worry about zeroing out on energy—crashing. When your sights are set on energy, one good shot is all it takes. Buck Shot.

About Bucked Up Energy: Bucked Up started in 2013 when twin brothers Ryan and Jeff Gardner started marketing a product called Deer Antler Spray. After selling thousands of bottles to GNCs nationwide, the company morphed into what is now Bucked Up, a full-fledged vitamins and supplements manufacturer.

The company has gone from its humble beginnings to becoming the No. 1 best-selling pre-workout brand that’s available in over 10,000 stores worldwide.

Plenty Of Other Bucked Up Energy Drinks Options Available Too: Don’t forget that Bucked Up Energy now offers more than 10 quenching options, but two of their popular flavors, Pink Lemonade and Mango Tango now include low-stim options.

Low-stim has the same innovative ingredients that make their OG formula so powerful for focus, mood, motivation and energy. Bucked Up made just one small change and they have been surprised by the resulting epicness.

Boasting a modest of 100mg of caffeine, Bucked Up Low-Stim delivers the same energy, focus, mood, motivation – while reducing the common side effects that come from too-much caffeine, jitters, sleeplessness and anxiety.

Thanks For Your Support: With 30 percent of the 2022 Xfinity Series season complete, Joe Graf Jr. and SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt would like to thank their associate marketing partners AVOID, Bass Reaper Bait Company, CoverSeal, EAT SLEEP RACE Apparel, fgrACCEL, G-Coin, Gtechniq, HazHeart, Model Electronics and ShopRite for their continued support.  

Here’s To You Buckshot: Joe Graf Jr. and the SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt team will pay tribute to former NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner Buckshot Jones during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at the historic 1.366-mile race track.

Graf’s No. 07 Bucked Up Buck Shot Energy Ford Mustang will showcase a livery that Jones campaigned during the 2001 NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series season when he carried the Georgia Pacific colors.

Jones joined the Xfinity Series in 1995, won two races and captured the series’ most popular driver honor in 1998 driving for his family-owned Buckshot Racing team.

In all, Jones competed in 147 Xfinity Series races and earned three poles, two wins, 13 top-five and 33 top-10s and over 550 laps led.

Settling In: Darlington marks the 11th race that the SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt (SSGLRwJL) team embraces their manufacturer switch from Chevrolet to Ford while incorporating its technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing.

SHR will supply the organization with race cars while Roush Yates Engines will provide the legendary Ford horsepower. In addition to providing race cars to SSGLRwJL, SHR will also provide technical support for the entire 33-race season.

Additionally, Graf will have NASCAR Cup Series and Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe as teammates for select events throughout the 2022 season.

Don’t Forget The New Partner Too: SS GreenLight Racing has added Jeff Lefcourt as a new co-owner of the Mooresville, N.C.-based team, as well as director of business development for the organization.

Lefcourt, a native of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. joins SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt (SSGLRwJL) with a long history of racing endeavors including owning Bethel (N.Y.) Motor Speedway in upstate New York, a current-NASCAR sanctioned race track.

The noted philanthropist, entrepreneur and real estate developer has deep ties to grassroots racing and was instrumental in helping secure the Stewart-Haas Racing alliance with SSGLRwJL in 2022.

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Darlington Raceway Stats: Joe Graf Jr. will make his fifth career start at the track dubbed “Too Tough To Tame” in Saturday afternoon’s race.

In his previous four starts, Graf has delivered a track-best of 19th twice including his most recent trip to the Darlington, S.C. venue in September 2021.

While carrying an average finish of 24.5, he has also completed 577 of the 594 available laps available for a 97 percent lap completion.

Joe Graf Jr. Xfinity Series Career Intermediate Nuggets: At tracks 1.0-mile or greater in size, Graf has competed in 37 NASCAR Xfinity Series races. He holds an average starting position of 26.5 and an average result of 25.5.

Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway | A-Game 200 Race Recap: In the most recent NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, Graf and the SSGLRwJL team showcased the No. 07 Bucked Up Gym ‘N’ Juice Energy Drink Ford Mustang for the lone trip to the “Monster Mile” during the 2022 season.

After successfully qualifying for the race on their time trials speed, Graf stayed out of trouble throughout the 200-lap but fought an ill-handling race car that challenged his ability to climb through the field.

Despite the team’s best efforts to overcome a tight-handling No. 07 Bucked Up Gym ‘N’ Juice Energy Drink Ford Mustang, Graf did climb the running order to finish the race in 28th.

School In Session: While juggling a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule with SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt, college life has resumed for Joe Graf Jr.

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Graf Jr. has resorted to online classes at the University of New York, where he is pursuing a degree in business, media and sports management.

Sneaker Mania: Along with the adrenaline of the Motorsports competition, Joe Graf Jr. also has a vogue for hype sneakers. In his current collection, he owns and wears at least 90 limited edition sneakers – and his collection continues to grow every month.

The current estimated value of his collection tops $100,000.

From the Pit Box: Industry veteran Joe Williams is Joe Graf Jr.’s crew chief.

He will crew chief his 76th NASCAR Xfinity Series race as crew chief on Saturday afternoon and his fifth at the historic racing facility.   

In his previous 75 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has collected one win (Auto Club Speedway | February 2022), six top-five and 18 top-10 finishes.

Hello From The Other Side: Graf Jr. has a teammate at SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt. Veteran David Starr will drive the No. 08 TicketSmarter Ford Mustang on Saturday afternoon for his sixth start of the 2022 season.

Starr is set to make his 240th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and 10th at Darlington. His best Xfinity track finish occurred in the 2021 Steakhouse Elite 200, where he finished 17th after starting 17th for Hattori Racing Enterprises | Motorsports Business Management.  

Follow on Social Media: For more on Joe Graf Jr. visit JoeGrafRacing.com, like him on Facebook (Joe Graf Jr.), follow him on TikTok (@JoeGrafJr), Twitter (@JoeGrafJr) and Instagram (@joegrafjr).

For more on SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt, please like them on Facebook (SS GreenLight Racing) and follow them on Instagram (@ssgreenlightracing) and Twitter (@SSGLR0708).

Joe Graf Jr. Pre-Race Quotes:

On Darlington Raceway: “Darlington Raceway is one of my better tracks on the NASCAR Xfinity Series circuit. It definitely is one of the most challenging tracks, but I adapted to it quickly in my first race in 2020 without any practice and qualifying.

“We have always had speed at Darlington even if our finishes haven’t always shown it. We finished inside the top-20 last fall at Darlington, I’d be satisfied to leave the track with a top-15 finish or better and look ahead to Texas Motor Speedway in a few weeks.”

On Buckshot Jones Throwback Paint Scheme: “I am really proud of our Buckshot Jones paint scheme. The car looks great and it is sure to bring back memories to the race fans. I never had the privilege of meeting Buckshot Jones, but I have heard some great stories and I admired him because of that.

“Hopefully, he’s proud of the paint scheme and I think it’s insanely cool to have our partner Bucked Up launch their Bucked Up Buck Shot Energy in one of the most talked about Xfinity Series races of the 2022 season.”

On The 2022 Season: “After the great finish at Talladega, we were quickly brought back into a sense of reality with our tough finish at Dover. We have debriefed a lot since Dover about what went wrong and what we have to do to be better for the upcoming stretch of races.

“We are about 30 percent through the Xfinity Series schedule and we have plenty of work to do. This SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt team though is relentless and we will not give up. We’re going to Darlington focused and look forward to producing results in the upcoming weeks and months ahead.”

Race Information:

The Mahindra ROXOR 200 (147 laps | 200.1 miles) is the 11th of 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series races on the 2022 schedule. Practice begins on Friday, May 6 from 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Qualifying follows shortly after at 5:30 p.m. The 38-car field will take the green flag on Saturday afternoon, May 7 shortly after 1:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90. All times are local (ET).

About SS Green Light Racing with Jeff Lefcourt:

As one of the most tenured teams in all of NASCAR, SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt led by team owner and former driver Bobby Dotter and new partner Jeff Lefcourt has been a mainstay entry in the sport fielding entries in either the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or Xfinity Series competition since 2001.

SS GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt will continue with a two-car program in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2022.

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