(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series is poised to be a year of change. Not only are new cars and potential schedule changes on the horizon, but there are a host of drivers positioned to change rides at NASCAR’s top level.
Erik Jones could fall into that group by year’s end, but he has no intention of leaving Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).
“For me, I think number one I’ve had a great relationship with JGR for now the last three years, four if you want to count my year at Furniture Row (Racing),” Jones said of JGR. “I’ve had a great time and (sic) relationship with them. We’ve been able to win the last couple of seasons.
“I have no intention of leaving my role there. I’d love to continue that. But it is definitely a crazy year. There’s a lot of things happening.”
Jones has been one of NASCAR’s top rising stars over the past seven years, moving through the ladder system with Kyle Busch Motorsports and JGR after beating and impressing Kyle Busch in a run at Snowball Derby – Super Late Model racing’s crown jewel event.
The Michigander won a race in his initial five-race Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series stint in 2013, claimed the series championship in 2015 and won four Xfinity Series races in 2016. Jones then made the leap up to Cup with the now-defunct Furniture Row Racing in 2017 before replacing Matt Kenseth at JGR in 2018.
Early on Jones experienced the usual struggles of NASCAR Cup Series newcomers, but in 2019 he broke through with a win in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He followed it up with a second triumph in the Southern 500 in 2019 and kicked off 2020 with a victory in the season-opening Busch Clash.
Those stats stand level with most competitors from Jones’ generation, but he’s graded on a more difficult scale.
The 23-year-old’s three teammates include two champions in Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., and a two-time Daytona 500 winner in Denny Hamlin. They’re a tremendous resource for Jones to lean on as he tries to learn and grow, but they’ve also set a challenging standard for him to uphold.
“With those guys, they’re some of the best in the sport,” Jones said. “You see where you stack up against those guys. I learn from them each and every week, what they do, how they continue to have prolonged success, right? You want to have success through the entire year, at every different kind of track.
“That’s not always an easy thing to do, but they’ve proven that you can each and every year. For me, I look at them and learn from them each time, ask a lot of questions, try to get better.”
The trio of Busch, Hamlin and Truex have all won multiple races and competed in the Championship 4 during Jones’ time in Cup. He hasn’t been able to match that, which leaves him vulnerable as fellow prospect and potential generational talent Christopher Bell rises to Cup this year with Leavine Family Racing, a JGR affiliate.
That means Jones may be in for a nervous spring and summer as he waits to learn of his contract status.
Despite his young age, it’s a feeling Jones knows all too well. He just went through a similar wait last year.
The young star hopes to lock up his next contract early and avoid the stress of waiting. But regardless of his official status, Jones anticipates that he’ll know as the year goes on whether he’s meant for a JGR return in 2021.
“I think you always kind of know in the back of your mind what’s really going to happen, whether you say it or not, right?,” Jones said. “At this point in the year, you don’t know, it’s too early.
“Last year, I would say by May, June, I felt pretty confident in coming back, what we had going on. You just can’t really get it out there yet.”
