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Jake Garcia earns first career pole at Rockingham, full Truck Series qualifying results

JHby:Jonathan Howard•04/18/25•

Jondean25

Jake Garcia NASCAR
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Jake Garcia took his No. 13 Ford F-150 and put it to good use. The ThorSport Racing driver earned his first career pole. In NASCAR’s return to Rockingham Speedway, it will be Garcia up front taking the green flag this evening.

NASCAR Truck Series racing at Rockingham, what a time to get your first career pole. Jake Garcia feels like he is about to break through any moment. His first season with ThorSport could have been better, and in 2025, he has already improved immensely.

Garcia is still just 20 years old. This is his third full-time season in the Truck Series. Can he turn this first career pole into a first career win?

NASCAR racing returns to The Rock this evening at 5:00 PM EST on FS1. A classic track and a really fun development series. There will be a lot to watch tonight. These drivers and teams don’t know what this newly repaved track is going to do tonight. A bit of mystery will only add to the drama and excitement tonight.

Here are the full qualifying results. Chandler Smith starts on the front row with Jake Garcia. Ben Rhodes, Connor Mosack, Layne Riggs, Bayley Currey, Kaden Honeycutt, Giovanni Ruggiero, Ty Majeski, and Tanner Gray are the top-10.

This race is exciting because of the unknowns. You’re putting a lot of young drivers on a track that they have only seen on YouTube in classic race videos. We saw a couple of drivers have issues getting on the apron in Turn 3. This will be a very fast track tonight.

Jake Garcia had an average speed of 153.469 on his qualifying lap for a 22.050-second lap. Back when the Truck Series raced at The Rock in 2013, the pole time came from Jeb Burton at 24.505 seconds. Only two drivers ran laps slower than 24 seconds this afternoon.

Jake Garcia leading talented field in NASCAR return to Rockingham

For a young driver like Jake Garcia, this is a big deal. His first career pole award, and he does it in NASCAR’s return to this great racetrack. He was able to outpace his ThorSport teammates in Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski, Matt Crafton, and Luke Fenhaus.

Chandler Smith is coming off the big win at Bristol. He starts today on the front row. There is no doubt he will be a contender this evening. Front Row Motorsports put this team together at the last minute and it has turned into exactly what you would expect from Smith – a winning team.

I’d look for some of the veterans like Crafton to move up during the race. Perhaps they will have a little muscle memory from over a decade ago. Overall, I think this is more or less a brand-new facility for the entire field.

So, Jake Garcia on the pole, a lot of fun racing ahead this evening. After all, it’s NASCAR at Rockingham in the year 2025!