Erik Jones is one of NASCAR’s most touted prospects, to the extent that Joe Gibbs is laying out a plan to have the 19-year-old compete in the Sprint Cup Series beginning next season.
Joe Gibbs reveals future plans for teenage star Erik Jones
Jones will run full-time in the Xfinity Series and make select Sprint Cup starts in 2016.
Gibbs, who fields Cup teams for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin, said Jones will run full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2016, in addition to making select Cup starts.
Jones is currently in his first full season in the Camping World Truck Series where he owns one win, seven top-five finishes in 12 races and sits third in points. Additionally, the teenager has a pair of victories and eight top-five finishes in 17 Xfinity starts this season.
“We look at Erik as a big part of our future,” Gibbs said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “We’ve got a plan laid out. The plan next year would be a full XFINITY season and try to run for a championship there and also, in all likelihood, have him in some Cup races. That would be the goal for next year.”
The three-time Super Bowl winning head coach wouldn’t reveal what the plan for Jones is beyond next season. But Gibbs doesn’t have the option of adding a fifth full-time team, as JGR is already at NASCAR’s four-car limit. (Teams can run a fifth car for a rookie driver in up to seven races.)
“We’ve got a plan laid out in the future, something we don’t want to talk about now,” Gibbs said. “There is no question, Erik is headed for Cup and we’ve got a path charted that we think is the best to get him ready and to fulfill his goal of being in a Cup car as quick as we can get him there.”
See More:
