Jade Buford

Jade Buford (born February 15, 1988) is an American professional racing driver with experience in open-wheel, sports car, and stock car racing. He competes in the International Motor Sports Association's Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving the No. 40 Ford Mustang for PF Racing, and full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing Team.

Jade Buford
Born (1988-02-15) February 15, 1988
Brentwood, Tennessee
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
4 races run over 1 year
Car no., teamNo. 48 (Big Machine Racing Team)
2020 position39th
Best finish39th (2020)
First race2020 Pennzoil 150 (Indianapolis)
Last race2020 Drive for the Cure 250 (Charlotte Roval)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
Michelin Pilot Challenge career
Debut season2009
Current teamPF Racing
Car number40
EngineFord 5.2
Co-driverJames Pesek, Shane Lewis
Former teamsMultimatic Motorsports
Best finish4th in 2013, 2014
Finished last season11th (2019)
Previous series
2019
2019
2016–2018		British GT Championship
GT4 America Series
Pirelli World Challenge
Statistics current as of November 9, 2020.

Buford has also raced in the Pirelli World Challenge, British GT Championship, and GT4 America Series.

Racing career

Buford began his racing career when he was 18 years old, competing in Porsches;[1] he was also an intern at the Porsche Driving School at Barber Motorsports Park.[2] He debuted in Grand-Am's KONI Sports Car Challenge in 2009.[1] He raced for RSR Motorsports in the ST class and shared the No. 196 Mini Cooper S with Owen Trinkler.[3] In 2010, he joined Racers Edge Motorsports in the GS class of the renamed Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.[4]

He moved to Multimatic Motorsports in 2012, where he shared the No. 71 Aston Martin Vantage with Tonis Kasemets en route to an 11th-place GS finish. The following year, he partnered with Scott Maxwell in Multimatic's No. 55, during which Buford recorded a series-record seven pole positions. The two remained together for 2014.[2] Buford's co-driver in 2015 was 16-year-old Austin Cindric, who described Buford as "someone to lean on" during the early stages of his racing career.[5] The duo recorded a victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.[6]

Buford began competing in the Pirelli World Challenge's GTS class in 2016 with Racers Edge. He swept the Barber Motorsports Park weekend from the pole,[7][8] followed by a third win at Lime Rock Park after wrecks took out the leaders and a cleanup truck interfered with another.[9]

He ran two Sports Car Challenge races in 2017 with Multimatic. Buford also returned to the Pirelli World Challenge, running in the GTS Pro class with Racers Edge, and won both races at Mosport.[10]

Buford joined PF Racing for the 2018 PWC season. In the GTS SprintX race at Circuit of the Americas, he scored the Mustang GT4's maiden victory when he and Maxwell passed pole sitter Harry Gottsacker during pit stops; Buford explained "some of the cars have outright pace on us, but we just executed the perfect race."[11] Buford recorded a second win that year at Watkins Glen International after beating Ian James to the finish by .208 seconds.[12]

In 2019, Buford ran the full Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule with PF Racing, finishing 11th in the standings.[13] He also began racing in the British GT Championship's Silver Cup for Multimatic alongside fellow American Chad McCumbee.[14]

For the 2020 MPC season, Buford shared PF's No. 40 with James Pesek and Shane Lewis.[15] In June, he dabbled in stock car racing when he joined SS-Green Light Racing to drive their No. 07 NASCAR Xfinity Series car in the Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.[13] After starting 17th, Buford finished 14th in the event.[16] Buford would make his second NASCAR start at Road America in the No. 6 for JD Motorsports,[17] replacing the car's usual driver, B. J. McLeod.

In 2021, Buford joined the newly-formed Big Machine Racing Team for the full Xfinity season.[18] His first race with the team came in the second round on the Daytona road course as he was not approved for the season opener on the oval.[19]

Personal life

Buford is a graduate of Auburn University.[10] An avid rock climber,[20] he participated in the show American Ninja Warrior in 2017 (Daytona Beach) and 2018 (Philadelphia), but was eliminated on the third obstacle in both attempts.[21]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2020 SS-Green Light Racing 07 Chevy DAY LVS CAL PHO DAR CLT BRI ATL HOM HOM TAL POC IND
14		 KEN KEN TEX KAN DAY
16		 DOV DOV DAY DAR RCH RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT
8		 KAN TEX MAR PHO 39th 105 [22]
JD Motorsports 6 Chevy ROA
19
2021 Big Machine Racing Team 48 Chevy DAY DAY HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COA CLT MOH TEX NSH POC ROA ATL NHA GLN IND MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT TEX KAN MAR PHO

* Season still in progress

References
  1. "Big Machine Vodka and Hand Sanitizer to sponsor Jade Buford's NASCAR Xfinity Series debut". SS-Green Light Racing (Press release). Catchfence. June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  2. "Jade Buford". Multimatic Motorsports. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  3. "SCC: Utah: Owen Trinkler preview". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 1, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  4. "Racers Edge Motorsports Tests Three". AutoMobilSport.com. September 12, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  5. "Cindric Enjoying Full Season in Multimatic Ford Mustang". International Motor Sports Association. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  6. "Austin Cindric, son of Team Penske president, sets CTSC mark". Sports Illustrated. July 11, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  7. "PWC: Buford takes GTS Round 5 win at Barber". Racer. April 22, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  8. "PMG Drivers Finish 2nd & 6th at PWC @ Barber Motorsports Park". Pirelli World Challenge. Performance Motorsports Group. April 23, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  9. Bradley, Charles (May 28, 2016). "Buford inherits win in crazy GTS race at Lime Rock". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  10. "Jade Buford completes GTS weekend sweep with Pirelli World Challenge win". Autoweek. May 21, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  11. Allaway, Phil (March 25, 2018). "Jade Buford, Scott Maxwell Claim Maiden PWC Win for Mustang GT4". Frontstretch. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  12. Dagys, John (September 1, 2018). "Buford Wins; Sofronas Wraps Up Overall GTS Championship". Sportscar365. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  13. Nguyen, Justin (June 30, 2020). "Sports car racer Jade Buford to make NASCAR debut at Indy road course". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  14. "Multimatic confirms Buford and McCumbee for second Mustang". British GT Championship. April 15, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  15. "PF Racing kicks off the 2020 season with an 11th place at Daytona". International Motor Sports Association. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  16. Cain, Holly (July 4, 2020). "Chase Briscoe Earns Hard-Fought NASCAR Xfinity Win at Indianapolis". Autoweek. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  17. "Jade Buford driving for JD Motorsports at Road America". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 3, 2020.
  18. Utter, Jim (January 19, 2021). "New Xfinity team to debut at Daytona with driver Jade Buford". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  19. Rutherford, Kevin (February 1, 2021). "Danny Bohn Making Xfinity Debut at Daytona". Frontstretch. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  20. "Jade Buford Sets the Pace in Both GTS Practice Rounds Friday at CTMP in No. 55 PF Racing Ford Mustang GT4". Motor Racing Press. May 18, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  21. "Jade Buford". Ninja Guide. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  22. "Jade Buford – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
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