Erik Jones scores Xfinity win at Texas
credit: Lisa Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs |
Erik Jones knows his way around Texas Motor Speedway. Even though the track has changed significantly since NASCAR’s last visit, the 20-year-old Michigan native handily won the NASCAR Xfinity Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 Saturday afternoon at the track where he received his high school diploma in June 2014.
The victory is his first of the year in the Xfinity Series, his second career win at TMS. His racing resume also includes a win at the Great American Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series.
“It’s been a good track for me, and the first time I came here was my graduation and that wasn’t really a great day. I didn’t think this would be a track that I would enjoy, and then ever since then it’s just clicked,” Jones said.
“I always felt really comfortable on the old track, and really felt like I knew what I needed the car to do and was able to communicate that well and honestly, even with the new surface here, felt like I was able to get back what the car needed. Definitely more challenging on the new surface than the old surface, but a good day of learning and a good day from JGR of getting our cars a lot better.”
credit: Lisa Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs |
The repaved and reprofiled track at Texas Motor Speedway dominated the race, unforgiving of the young Xfinity drivers’ desire to run wide open, three-wide on the single-groove surface. The first two stages included four cautions, not counting the stage conclusions, most of which resulted from overdriving the track.
Jones lead three times for a race-high 117 laps, taking the Stage 1 win in addition to the checkered flag. The No. 20 GameStop/GAEMS Toyota took the lead during the last round of green-flag pit stops and finished 0.512 seconds in front of Ryan Blaney and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford. Only one other Toyota finished in the top 10, the No. 19 of Matt Tifft in ninth.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 41, piloted by Kevin Harvick, finished third with Austin Dillon putting his Ruud Chevrolet in fourth, and rookie Cole Custer rounding out the top five in the Haas Automation Ford.
Custer felt like he was finally starting to get comfortable in the car.
“We had an awesome Haas Automation Mustang," Custer said. "We just had to bide our time. We kept getting stuck on the outside on the restarts and had to wait and wait until we got track position on the bottom. We had a really strong run. I can’t thank everybody enough who made this happen. I feel like I am getting more and more comfortable as I get experience and used to racing everybody. We are making strides, both me and the team.”
Unofficial results:
Pos.
|
Car No.
|
Driver
|
Mfg.
|
1
|
20
|
Erik Jones
|
Toyota
|
2
|
22
|
Ryan Blaney
|
Ford
|
3
|
41
|
Kevin Harvick
|
Ford
|
4
|
2
|
Austin Dillon
|
Chevrolet
|
5
|
0
|
Cole Custer
|
Ford
|
6
|
6
|
Darrell Wallace, Jr.
|
Ford
|
7
|
9
|
William Byron
|
Chevrolet
|
8
|
3
|
Ty Dillon
|
Chevrolet
|
9
|
19
|
Matt Tifft
|
Toyota
|
10
|
1
|
Elliott Sadler
|
Chevrolet
|
11
|
16
|
Ryan Reed
|
Ford
|
12
|
18
|
Daniel Suarez
|
Toyota
|
13
|
7
|
Justin Allgaier
|
Chevrolet
|
14
|
23
|
Spencer Gallagher
|
Chevrolet
|
15
|
33
|
Brandon Jones
|
Chevrolet
|
16
|
11
|
Blake Koch
|
Chevrolet
|
17
|
28
|
Dakoda Armstrong
|
Toyota
|
18
|
39
|
Ryan Sieg
|
Chevrolet
|
19
|
62
|
Brendan Gaughan
|
Chevrolet
|
20
|
5
|
Michael Annett
|
Chevrolet
|
21
|
51
|
Jeremy Clements
|
Chevrolet
|
22
|
14
|
J.J. Yeley
|
Toyota
|
23
|
4
|
Ross Chastain
|
Chevrolet
|
24
|
99
|
David Starr
|
Chevrolet
|
25
|
7
|
Ray Black, Jr.
|
Chevrolet
|
26
|
52
|
Joey Gase
|
Chevrolet
|
27
|
78
|
B.J. McLeod
|
Chevrolet
|
28
|
90
|
Alex Labbe
|
Chevrolet
|
29
|
24
|
Jeb Burton
|
Toyota
|
30
|
0
|
Garrett Smithley
|
Chevrolet
|
31
|
40
|
Timmy Hill
|
Chevrolet
|
32
|
21
|
Daniel Hemric
|
Chevrolet
|
33
|
42
|
Tyler Reddick
|
Chevrolet
|
34
|
12
|
Joey Logano
|
Ford
|
35
|
1
|
Harrison Rhodes
|
Chevrolet
|
36
|
8
|
Jeff Green
|
Chevrolet
|
37
|
48
|
Brennan Poole
|
Chevrolet
|
38
|
98
|
Casey Mears
|
Ford
|
39
|
13
|
Carl Long
|
Toyota
|
40
|
93
|
Jordan Anderson
|
Chevrolet
|
Top 10 in Stage 1: # 20, 22, 12, 9, 16, 18, 6, 42, 2, 41
| |||
Top 10 in Stage 2: # 9, 1, 16, 7, 33, 20, 39, 11, 62, 6
|
Erik Jones scores Xfinity win at Texas
Reviewed by Janine Cloud
on
Sunday, April 09, 2017
Rating: