Anderson Savors Second Place Result After Photo Finish at Daytona

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After coming within inches of scoring his first career win in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Series, one would expect Jordan Anderson to be disappointed to have come so close only to have to settle for a runner-up finish instead.

But it was exactly the opposite for the Forest Acres, South Carolina native after he climbed from his No. 3 Chevrolet following a photo finish Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.

“You don’t get the opportunity to go for the win too many times at Daytona,” Anderson said with a mile-wide smile on his face. “I came here as a kid and dreamed of being able to race here one day. You guys have followed the journey and the struggles and the highs and lows.

“Man, this is big. We took a shot and invested in a speedway truck over the winter and it really pushed it tight for us just to be able to survive. We’re trying all we can. I love this sport. I love NASCAR. Just to be able to be here is so amazing. God, it was so close, man! We were right there!

“This is such a big deal. I mean, my crew chief Wally Rogers and our entire team worked so hard this winter, long days and late nights. A lot of sacrifices and a lot of people behind us. John Bommarito is the biggest, Bommarito Automotive Group, he’s been a believer in us from day one when we started this team. New sponsor, K-Seal, tonight…hopefully they’ll do more races now.”

Friday night’s finish marks Anderson’s best career finish in the Truck Series, topping a previous best finish of third, which came at Talladega in October of 2018.

The struggles of Anderson’s small team have been well-documented as he has tried to build Jordan Anderson Racing from something into a team that can show up at the race track and compete week in and week out. Starting out, Anderson transported his trucks to the track with a pickup truck and a gooseneck trailer – standing out amongst the massive haulers that nearly every other team in the garage area has at their disposal.

“For our team, this tonight is be enough to where the progression that we’ve had and how hard everybody has worked to try to build our team. I mean, literally two years ago, we were here with a dually, a gooseneck, and one truck. Our stuff has gotten so much better. I feel like if we can keep doing what we’re doing and just keep building, we’re going to hopefully be up there and compete for more of these.

“I hope that’s not the last time you see me going for the win. I’m so excited. I’m speechless…hopefully more to come.”

While Anderson noted that he is extremely excited in how well he was able to run on Friday night, the disappointment of coming so close to that elusive first win will probably come calling sooner or later.

“I think I’m going to be disappointed when I’m laying in my bed at 2:00 am tonight watching a replay on Twitter and be like “Oh, that was so close!” But I can’t really be too disappointed. It’s Daytona. Second-place. I mean, every kid dreams of coming here and competing at this level.

“The Truck Series has kind of been home for me the last couple of years. To get this finish is a huge blessing. The doors that God has opened for me to be here and the people that he’s put in my path, this team isn’t anything that I’ve done, it’s all people that have believed in us and giving me a shot to be here. This is really special, not just for me, but for everybody that’s helped me along the way.”