Erik Jones Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. –Martin Truex Jr. overcame late adversity and continued to assert his mastery over the first round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Rallying from a spin off the bumper of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Ford, and passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the lead with 25 laps left, Truex led an 1-2-3 finish for JGR in Saturday night’s Federated Auto parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. In fact, the Gibbs cars were 1-2-3-4 at the finish, but a disqualification dueRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor From the bright lights of Las Vegas to Saturday night short track racing under the lights in Richmond. Race No. 2 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here as the championship contenders get set to take on the 62nd annual Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway Often described as the perfectly designed racetrack by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-sideRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs get underway each year, the intensity among the drivers chasing after the championship always gets cranked up and Sunday’s kickoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was no exception. By the end of the night, frustration ran rampant through the garage area for the Playoff drivers who didn’t have things go their way in the South Point 400. Chief among them was regular season champion Kyle Busch, who got into the wall early in the race andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor 26 races down. 10 to go. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend to kick off the 2019 edition of the Playoffs. 16 drivers enter this final stretch of the season, but only one will emerge as champion. Every race from here on out is crucial on the path toward the title, even Sunday’s South Point 400. A misstep here could put the championship contenders in an early hole or if they find success, propel them on aRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Over the years, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the site of several hard crashes and in Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at The Brickyard, Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones became the latest to feel the wrath of the demanding 2.5-mile layout. As Stage 1 was coming to a close, drivers throughout the field were jockeying for position when Jones attempted to pass Keselowski into Turn 2, but the two drivers didn’t have enough margin between them, causing Jones to drift up the track into KeselowskiRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Erik Jones has called the No. 20 team at Joe Gibbs Racing home for the past two seasons and heading into the 2020 season, he will continue to occupy that seat as the team announced a contract extension for the 23-year old on Friday. “I’m so happy to finally have my plans for 2020 confirmed and to talk about it,” Jones said in a team release. “I’m excited to be staying with Joe Gibbs Racing and the 20 team and to continue the success thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes down to this. One final race to set the field for the Playoffs. By the end of Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at The Brickyard, the 16 drivers competing for the championship will be locked in and ready to battle it out over the final 10 weeks of the season. First joining the circuit in 1994, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has provided some classic moments and some that the powers that be would rather forget. The track’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – As the clock ticked toward 2 a.m. on Monday, in a race delayed by  rain for nearly four hours, Erik Jones claimed the most important victory of his career in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. With his contract status at Joe Gibbs Racing a source of speculation throughout much of the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Jones made an emphatic statement, holding off teammate Kyle Busch and charging Kyle Larson after taking the lead from Larson onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a weekend off to recharge the batteries before making the final 12 race push to finish off the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Darlington Raceway has been a staple of the Cup Series since opening in 1950 for its annual Labor Day weekend event with the Southern 500 being held on that date until a controversial decision was made to moveRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson played a late game of King of the Mountain in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Bristol Motor Speedway. After 38 drivers made qualifying runs, it was Hamlin who was left at the top of the peak. Larson was the 34th driver to take to the track, and his impressive lap at 129.004 mph (14.874 seconds) put him on the provisional pole for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (7:30 p.m. ETRead More