Erik
Jones has learned to deal with disappointment this season. In each of the last
three weeks, Jones has lost races in the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck
Series when fuel mileage issues and faulty pit strategy spoiled dominating
afternoons. He was not to be denied last weekend, however, sweeping an
XFINITY/Truck Series twinbill at Iowa and Chicagoland Speedways.
He once again dominated Friday
night’s American Ethanol 200 at the
Iowa, starting on the pole and leading a race-high 112 laps en route to his
first win of the season. His Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota outran Brandon Jones,
Tyler Reddick, defending series champion Matt Crafton and impressive newcomer Christopher
Bell to the checkered flag. Timothy Peters, Spencer Gallagher, Daniel Hemric, Cole
Custer and John Wes Townley completed the Top-10 in a race that featured six
caution flags for 36 laps and six lead changes among five drivers.
On
Sunday, Jones’ #54 Monster Energy Toyota fought past Ryan Blaney on a late-race restart, then
pulled away to a 1.9-second decision in the Owens
Corning AttiCat 300 at Chicagoland. With the win – his second XFINITY win
of the season – Jones became the youngest driver to win two NASCAR races in the
same weekend.
“I
got inside of him and just barreled into three as hard as I could,” said Jones,
who led 94 of the race’s 200 laps. “Fortunately, it worked and he didn’t try to
cross us over.”
Jones
was understandably relieved to break into Victory Lane at last, capping a week
that also included a major Super Late Model victory at Michigan’s Berlin
Raceway on Wednesday night.
“I
was really excited about this week,” said Jones in Chicagoland’s Victory Lane. “I
thought we had a shot to win. We won at Iowa, got the win at Berlin and then to
win here kind of topped off an awesome week. I’m very proud of everybody
involved, to keep pushing on from some of the races we’ve had in the last month
or so.
“It was kind of a rough go,” admitted Jones of his early
season frustration. “It’s the first lesson I’ve had in the highs and lows of
racing. Most of my career, I’ve been fortunate to have success. Honestly, I
never had to deal with adversity, or being out of the game for too long. But
over the last month and a half, I’ve had to grow a lot as a person. (I’ve) had
to grow up and figure out how to deal with adversity. It wasn’t easy, and there
were a lot of things I wish I could have done differently along the way, but it
was a learning experience.
“I just kept pushing along, knowing we had fast cars and
knowing that it would eventually turn around.”
Jones
also said the experience gained in recent weeks has made him better in the late
stages of races.
“It seemed like last year I’d get into these situations and be
so nervous,” he said. “This time, it’s like, ‘I’ve got this.’ That’s definitely
a product of seat time and being in the car every week. It has been a huge,
huge help.”
This kids the real deal. We haven't seen a talent like this since Kyle came along. I don't think logono was this talented. Larson is close.
ReplyDeleteLarson would be if he was fortunate enough to get simliar equipment that Eric gets from KBM and JGR!
ReplyDelete