Anderson began racing in karts as an eight-year-old.[3] He raced in Legends and Late model cars as his career developed.[3] Anderson made one start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013 along with two starts in the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series and various Late Model races.[2] He made an April 2014 start in the K&N Pro Series East at Richmond with the intention of running the full season, but his car owner began writing bad checks and the team was forced to close down. Anderson then sold one of his own personally-owned Super Late Models to pay off the debt of his former car owner and keep his name clear of any debts.[3]
Anderson made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the second-to-last race of the 2014 season at Phoenix in the No. 50 truck for MAKE Motorsports. The following week, he competed for Mike Harmon Racing in their No. 74 truck in the final race of 2014 season at Homestead-Miami. In 2015, Anderson returned to MHR, using his savings account to buy a truck to drive and qualify for the Daytona race, but failed to qualify. It would be his rookie season in the Truck Series. Anderson would continue driving for Harmon throughout the entire 2015 season, running nearly the full season and finishing nineteenth in final driver points with a best finish of thirteenth at Michigan.[2] Also during 2015, Anderson made his Xfinity Series debut for Harmon in the Bristol night race.[4]
In 2016, Anderson joined Bolen Motorsports for the full Truck schedule, driving the No. 66 Silverado with sponsorship from Columbia, SC – Famously Hot.[5] After securing the last qualifying spot to race at Daytona in February, the team went on to log eight top-twenty finishes throughout the season. Anderson's truck garnered national attention in September as it was funded thanks in part to a "Fueled by Fans" campaign with over 120 fans sponsoring the truck to pay for a new motor for the team.[6] Anderson would go on to finish in the top-twenty in the championship standings by only a mere point in the series for a second straight year. He also ran five Xfinity races in 2016, four for Obaika Racing and one for Precision Performance Motorsports.[7]
Anderson started off 2017 by failing to qualify at Daytona with Mike Harmon Racing. After his No. 12 truck (which borrowed owner points from Rick Ware Racing) crashed at Atlanta, Anderson was left with no truck to drive for the season and made a website – SponsorJordan.com – for the fans to fund him a truck.[8] While raising funds, Anderson started and parkedRSS Racing's second car.[9] Due to the large time gaps between races, Anderson was back two races later at Kansas Speedway.[10] He also ran one race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for B. J. McLeod Motorsports, at Dover International Speedway.[10] Starting at Kansas, Anderson teamed up with TJL Motorsports to use TJL's owner points while bringing his own equipment to the track.[11] He missed two races due to TJL having other drivers signed to drive, but otherwise ran the rest of the season and would go on to finish in the top 20 in the CWTS driver points for a third straight season.[12] Besides his spring SponsorJordan.com initiative, Anderson received additional help throughout the season from former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace after Gateway[13] and ran another fan-funded campaign to close out the season.[14]
2018–2020: Truck Series owner-driver
Anderson in his Jordan Anderson Racing No. 3 truck at Daytona in 2018, the team's first raceAnderson (No. 3) crashing out in the 2019 Truck Series season-opener at Daytona
On January 31, 2018, Anderson announced he would be forming his own team, Jordan Anderson Racing, and would run full-time in the Truck Series in 2018 using the No. 3.[15] which he chose in connection with Junior Johnson.[16] JAR acquired trucks from Niece Motorsports, who switched from Toyota to Chevrolet before 2018[17] and Brad Keselowski Racing, who ceased operations at the end of 2017. As for the first half of the 2018 season, Anderson has an average finish of 19.7 and was two top-twenty finishes away from tying his record of eight top-twenty finishes from the 2016 season.[18] In early July at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during Roval testing it was announced that Ryan Newman would race for the team at Eldora.
Anderson's photo finish with Grant Enfinger in the 2020 Truck Series season-opener at Daytona. His black and orange No. 3 truck is up against Enfinger's No. 98 truck and the wall.
For the 2019 season, Anderson competed a full schedule in the Truck Series in his No. 3 JAR truck with the exception of Eldora, where Carson Hocevar drove the No. 3.[19] JAR signed Wally Rogers as crew chief midway through the 2019 season.[20]
In the 2020 season opener at Daytona, Anderson nearly won his first Truck race when he escaped numerous wrecks. On the final lap, he passed leader Grant Enfinger as they exited turn four, but Enfinger hindered his momentum by hitting his door, enabling Enfinger to win as Anderson finished a career-best second.[21]
2021–present
Anderson (left) talking to Erik Jones alongside his No. 31 car, which Jones would drive at Watkins Glen
Anderson moved his team to a full-time Xfinity schedule ahead of the 2021 season, though he continued racing in the Truck Series on a part-time basis.[22] In the Daytona Truck race, Anderson once again finished second when he was beat to the finish by Ben Rhodes, also a ThorSport Racing driver like Enfinger.[23] He did not make the field for the following day's Xfinity opener when rain canceled qualifying.[24] As a result, he would also fail to qualify for the next nine races as qualifying would not resume (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) until the inaugural Pit Boss 250 at the Circuit of the Americas on May 22. On May 4, he switched to Truck Series points in order to compete in the week's Truck race at Darlington, which was a Triple Truck Challenge race that only allowed the series' points-eligible drivers to compete in it. He would finish 10th.[25] Although Anderson initially planned to run the full 2021 Xfinity Series season as a driver, he would scale back to a part-time schedule to make room for more experienced drivers (including Cup Series Chevy drivers Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon) in the No. 31 car in order to get it higher in the owner points in time for the next races without qualifying so that the team would not be excluded from the field as they were at the beginning of the season.
In 2022, JAR signed former Richard Childress Racing Xfinity Series driver Myatt Snider to drive their No. 31 car full-time. Anderson would continue competing part-time in the Truck Series in his No. 3 truck and would attempt to qualify for one Xfinity Series race in a new second car for his team, the No. 32, at Michigan but he failed to qualify. In the Talladega Truck Series playoff race on October 1, 2022, Anderson survived a fiery crash, sustaining second degree burns on his body.[26]
At Talladega on April 22, 2023, just over 6 months after Anderson suffered the fiery crash, Jeb Burton scored the first win for Anderson's team in all of NASCAR in the Xfinity Series race.[27] Anderson's only start of 2023 as a driver would be in the summer Daytona race in his No. 27 car, with Jeb Burton moving to a third JAR car, the No. 22, for this race. Anderson's father-in-law, NASCAR on Fox commentator Larry McReynolds, would come out of retirement to crew chief him in the No. 27 car in this race.
Anderson in his No. 32 car in the season-opener at Daytona in 2024
In 2024, Anderson would run both Daytona and Talladega races as well as the race at Atlanta in February in his No. 32 car.
In 2025, Anderson would drive his No. 32 car in the Xfinity Series season-opener at Daytona again. He would also return to the Truck Series for the first time since his team last fielded an entry in the series in 2022 when he drove the Young's Motorsports No. 20 truck in the race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Personal life
Anderson graduated from Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, with a degree in business and marketing, and is said to be one of the hardest-working drivers in the sport, with his hands-on, grassroots approach to his career and sponsorship.[3]
In January 2021, Anderson became engaged to Kendall McReynolds, the daughter of former crew chief and NASCAR on Fox analyst Larry McReynolds.[28] The couple was married in April 2022.
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.)
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