American racing driver
NASCAR driver
Jade Marcus Buford
(born February 15, 1988) is an American professional racing driver with experience in
open-wheel
,
sports car
, and
stock car racing
. He competes part-time in the
NASCAR Xfinity Series
driving No. 74
Mike Harmon Racing
.
Buford has also raced in the
Pirelli World Challenge
,
British GT Championship
,
GT4 America Series
,
ARCA Menards Series
, and the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
.
Racing career
[
edit
]
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
in the No. 48
Chevrolet
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]
He went on to finish 23rd in the final points standings after recording sixteen top-twenty finishes with a best result of ninth at
Michigan International Speedway
. It was also during this year that Buford made select starts in the
ARCA Menards Series
and
ARCA Menards Series East
for
Fast Track Racing
, making his East series debut at
Dover International Speedway
, where he finished in ninth, and his main series debut at
Pocono Raceway
where he finished in eighth place.
Although he was slated to run another full-season with BMR in 2022,
[20]
Buford only ran the first eight races of the year, where he only finished in the top-twenty once, an eighth place finish at the
Circuit of the Americas
, before being replaced by
Kaz Grala
for the follwoing two events at
Talladega Superspeedway
and
Dover International Speedway
.
[21]
He wouldn't make another start for the team that year until
Portland International Raceway
, where he finished in fourteenth. Buford also made his
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
debut at
Sonoma Raceway
, driving the No. 33
Toyota
for
Reaume Brothers Racing
, where he finished in 33rd due to transmission issues.
[22]
In 2023, it was announced that Buford would run a second car for
Big Machine Racing
at
Daytona International Speedway
, the No. 5
Chevrolet
.
[23]
After qualifying for the race in twelfth, he went on to finish in 25th place. It was later announced that Buford would run the No. 5 at
Talladega Superspeedway
, where he qualified in fifth but finished in 36th after being involved in a multi-car crash early in the race.
[24]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Buford is a graduate of
Auburn University
.
[10]
An avid
rock climber
,
[25]
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.
[26]
Motorsports career results
[
edit
]
NASCAR
[
edit
]
(
key
) (
Bold
? Pole position awarded by qualifying time.
Italics
? Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * ? Most laps led.
)
Xfinity Series
[
edit
]
Camping World Truck Series
[
edit
]
*
Season still in progress
ARCA Menards Series
[
edit
]
(
key
) (
Bold
? Pole position awarded by qualifying time.
Italics
? Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * ? Most laps led.
)
ARCA Menards Series East
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"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
.
- ^
a
b
"Jade Buford"
.
Multimatic Motorsports
. Archived from
the original
on July 1, 2020
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"SCC: Utah: Owen Trinkler preview"
.
Motorsport.com
.
Motorsport Network
. October 1, 2009
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Racers Edge Motorsports Tests Three"
.
AutoMobilSport.com
. September 12, 2009
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Cindric Enjoying Full Season in Multimatic Ford Mustang"
.
International Motor Sports Association
. Archived from
the original
on May 10, 2015
. Retrieved
September 29,
2015
.
- ^
"Austin Cindric, son of Team Penske president, sets CTSC mark"
.
Sports Illustrated
. July 11, 2015
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"PWC: Buford takes GTS Round 5 win at Barber"
.
Racer
. April 22, 2016
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"PMG Drivers Finish 2nd & 6th at PWC @ Barber Motorsports Park"
.
Pirelli World Challenge
. Performance Motorsports Group. April 23, 2016. Archived from
the original
on July 2, 2020
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
Bradley, Charles (May 28, 2016).
"Buford inherits win in crazy GTS race at Lime Rock"
.
Motorsport.com
.
Motorsport Network
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Jade Buford completes GTS weekend sweep with Pirelli World Challenge win"
.
Autoweek
. May 21, 2017
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
Allaway, Phil (March 25, 2018).
"Jade Buford, Scott Maxwell Claim Maiden PWC Win for Mustang GT4"
. Frontstretch
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
Dagys, John (September 1, 2018).
"Buford Wins; Sofronas Wraps Up Overall GTS Championship"
. Sportscar365
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
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
.
- ^
"Multimatic confirms Buford and McCumbee for second Mustang"
.
British GT Championship
. April 15, 2019
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"PF Racing kicks off the 2020 season with an 11th place at Daytona"
.
International Motor Sports Association
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
Cain, Holly (July 4, 2020).
"Chase Briscoe Earns Hard-Fought NASCAR Xfinity Win at Indianapolis"
.
Autoweek
. Retrieved
July 4,
2020
.
- ^
"Jade Buford driving for JD Motorsports at Road America"
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 3, 2020.
- ^
Utter, Jim (January 19, 2021).
"New Xfinity team to debut at Daytona with driver Jade Buford"
.
Motorsport.com
.
Motorsport Network
. Retrieved
January 21,
2021
.
- ^
Rutherford, Kevin (February 1, 2021).
"Danny Bohn Making Xfinity Debut at Daytona"
. Frontstretch
. Retrieved
February 2,
2021
.
- ^
"Music executive Scott Borchetta's lifelong passion for racing fuels desire to start new team"
.
NASCAR
. October 7, 2021
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Kaz Grala Replacing Jade Buford for 2 Races at Big Machine"
.
Frontstretch
. April 12, 2022
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Brad Perez Returns, Jade Buford Debuts with Reaume Brothers Racing at Sonoma Raceway"
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
. NASCAR Digital Media
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Jade Buford running second car for Big Machine Racing at Daytona"
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
. NASCAR Digital Media
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Jade Buford returning to Big Machine Racing at Talladega"
.
Jayski's Silly Season Site
. NASCAR Digital Media
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"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
.
- ^
"Jade Buford"
.
Ninja Guide
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
November 9,
2020
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
December 26,
2021
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
February 26,
2022
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
February 23,
2023
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
May 24,
2024
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
March 19,
2024
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2021 ARCA Menards Series Results"
.
Racing-Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
July 21,
2021
.
- ^
"Jade Buford ? 2021 ARCA Menards Series East Results"
.
Racing Reference
. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC
. Retrieved
May 14,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Personnel
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NASCAR Xfinity Series
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Former drivers
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Former personnel
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Partnerships and affiliations
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Formerly known as Richardson-Netzloff-Harmon Racing, Elite 2 Racing and CHK Racing
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Personnel
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NASCAR Xfinity Series
| Drivers
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Crew chiefs
|
- (07)
Paul Clapprood
- (14)
Jason Miller / Rusty Ebersole
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Former personnel
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- Gene Christensen
- Jeff Lefcourt
- Ken Smith
- Steve Urvan
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Former drivers
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Partnerships and affiliations
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Personnel
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Xfinity Series
| Drivers
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Crew chiefs
|
- (4)
Kase Kallenbach / Alex Bird / Kevin Cram
- (6)
Dylan Roberts / Kase Kallenbach / Mike Hatch
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Former drivers
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Partnerships and affiliations
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