Erik Jones was leading during Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, and on afternoon when several big names found trouble it appeared the second-year driver would capitalize to win his first career Cup Series race.
Erik Jones poised for Cup Series break through at Bristol
Twenty-one-year-old Erik Jones heads into Bristol coming off his best finish of the season and a career-first Cup Series win is a distinct possibility on Sunday.
Then, after a stretch where he led 58-consecutive laps, Kyle Busch sped by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate to quickly dispel the notion that this would be the day Jones broke through. Busch would fend off Kevin Harvick to win his first race of the year, while Jones finished a season-best fourth.
“It was frustrating,” Jones said. “I was sitting in second place watching (Busch) drive away about a half-a-car-length a lap, kind of shaking my head. It seems like every time I get to lead some laps, he comes up and spoils it.”
If there was a positive to take away, it is that Jones got to observe what differentiates Busch, a former Cup Series champion whose 44 career wins ranks second among active competitors, from most other drivers. It was using the moment as something to learn from that Jones preferred to focus on afterward instead of lamenting a first-ever victory slip away.
“Hopefully one day we can get up there and challenge him for one of these wins,” Jones said. “Along the way you always learn something. The way (Busch) was driving the track was a little bit different than myself. Felt like I learned something for when I come back.”
Jones’ next crack to apply what he learned at Texas comes Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, site of the Food City 500 (2 p.m. ET, FS1). And the high-banked, half-mile Tennessee oval offers him a prime opportunity to get his first win in what will be his 47th start in NASCAR’s premier division.
Bristol is where the 21-year-old, as a rookie then driving for Furniture Row Racing, nearly won last August. He led a 260 of a possible 500 laps and was out front when Busch passed him with 56 laps remaining. Jones would finish second, but the result gives credence that he should be among the favorites to win on Sunday.
“That’s my outlook and my hope and goal,” Jones said. “… Definitely, expectations are to run really well and lead some laps, contend.”
In a season dominated by veterans, a Jones win at Bristol would make him the first driver under-25 to score a checkered flag in 2018. Through seven races, the average age of winners is 37, with 27-year-old Austin Dillon’s triumph in the Daytona 500 marking the only occurrence where a driver under age 32 has reached victory lane. The ages of the other winners this season: Harvick, 42; Clint Bowyer, 38; Martin Truex Jr., 37; and Busch, 32.
That veterans are ruling on the track comes following an off-season where much attention was spent spotlighting NASCAR’s emerging crop of young stars, many of whom displaced popular veterans in landing their current rides -- including Jones, who moved over to JGR this season to replace 45-year-old Matt Kenseth.
NASCAR is counting on the likes of Jones, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, and Darrell Wallace Jr. among others to become the next faces of the sport. And the sanctioning body has focused a significant portion of its marketing efforts on showcasing these young drivers, even though several veterans publicly objected to pushing drivers who were still largely unproven at the top level.
”When you look at the dynamic between Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, that’s the dynamic that we have the potential to have right now with the group of young racers that have come in,” Harvick said. “But somebody has to step up and be that winner. Who’s the young winner? Who’s going to be the guy that’s going to go against Truex and challenge him for the championship that he’s defending and win races?
Regardless of the consternation it may have stirred, such a transition from one generation to the next is especially important considering the recent retirements of superstars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart. Yet as Harvick and several others noted, ultimately a young driver must have success on the track if they are to follow in the footsteps of those they are supplanting.
Thus far, even though they are winless, Blaney (age 24), Larson (25), and Jones have held their own this season as they reside third, 10th, and 11th, respectively, in the series points standings.
”I don’t really look at age,” Blaney said. “They’re just competitors to me. I don’t really understand the hate that everyone gets for the younger [vs.] veterans. It’s not a rivalry. I don’t care if you’re 18 years old or 50 years old, we’re just competitors.”
Still, that those with experience have racked up the wins hasn’t gone unnoticed. And as Jones found out firsthand at Texas, there is a reason why veterans are more than holding their own.
“You always learn something racing with Kyle or Harvick or any of those guys of that caliber,” Jones said. “They’re very fast — Kyle especially is very fast.”
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