Erik Jones Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Alex Bowman had a new nose for the finish line Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet—a sleeker version of the Camaro with a new front fascia—Bowman ran away with the final stage of the Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track in the Inland Empire. In picking up his second career victory and his first at Fontana, Bowman led five times for 110 of the 200 laps in the third NASCAR Cup event of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The annual NASCAR Goes West campaign enters its second week as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Southern California for Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two-mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. During its 20+ years on the circuit, the track has gone through ownership changes, as well as expanding to two race dates in 2004 and thenRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – What felt like the Royal Rumble, the 42nd Busch Clash will go down as the ultimate attrition fest as only six out of the 18 drivers survived the mayhem at Daytona International Speedway. It seemed fitting that the race winning car was a total wrecked machine as Erik Jones got the assist of a lifetime from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (who was a lap down) to win the crash fest that saw three overtimes, resulting the total laps goingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin couldn’t win the Busch Clash at Daytona for himself, but he made sure his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate did. For nearly the entire final lap in the third attempt at overtime, Hamlin pushed the mangled Toyota of Erik Jones all the way to finish line in a race that saw only six of 18 cars running at the finish. With the nose of his car caved in and held together with tape, Jones led only the final lap—theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 23 Years in Cup: Four Career Wins: Two Accomplishments: 2015 NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Champion Erik Jones punched his ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second straight year in 2019 by scoring the biggest win of his young career – the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington. Shortly thereafter, his plans for 2020 were securedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Just 10 days removed from championship-winning crew chief Cole Pearn exiting both Joe Gibbs Racing and NASCAR, the team announced Thursday that Australian James Small will be calling the shots for Martin Truex, Jr.’s No. 19 team. The 36-year-old has been Truex’s lead engineer the past two seasons at both JGR and the now-defunct Furniture Row Racing. Their collaboration proved to be a massive success this past season as Truex won seven races and finished runner-up in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Small said it’s anRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two promising talents will be given the shot of a lifetime by competing full-time in the 2020 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. KBM announced Thursday that Canadian driver Raphael Lessard will replace Todd Gilliland in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while ARCA Menards Series champion Christian Eckes will pilot the No. 18 Tundra as current driver Harrison Burton will move up to the Xfinity Series. Eckes has shown blistering speed in Trucks, scoring three top-10 finishes. However, Eckes has definitely shined duringRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Out, demon! Denny Hamlin’s exorcism is complete. At ISM Raceway, the site of one of his biggest disappointments, Hamlin barged back into the Championship 4 with a dominating victory in Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500. Hamlin joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch, Sunday’s runner-up, in the Nov. 17 race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The three JGR drivers will battle Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing for the trophy. After losing controlRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – In a Saturday qualifying session that provided validation that the cream rises to the top, Kyle Busch earned his first pole position of the season, as seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers claimed the top seven positions on the grid. Navigating one-mile ISM Raceway in a blistering 25.693 seconds 140.116 mph, Busch edged Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds for Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the race that willRead More