MARTINSVILLE, Va.: Entering Martinsville Speedway, Erik Jones and short tracks have been enduring a love-hate relationship.
After a disappointing 23rd place finish last weekend at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Jones looked ahead to the historic Virginia track as an opportunity to dial back into a solid NASCAR Cup Series season with Petty GMS Motorsports.
Finishing eighth last fall certainly gave the Bryon, Mich. native confidence, but with the Nex Gen car debuting at the 0.526-mile short track, most teams including Petty GMS knew that the 400 laps on Saturday night were bound to be a vigorous learning experience.
“You are constantly learning,” offered Jones before competing in his 191st Cup Series event. “Every time you hit the race track, you are going through figuring out what this car likes from a driver standpoint – of what you can do as a driver to make it better, what you need to ask for to make it better.”
A so-so qualifying effort put Jones 24th in the 36-car grid for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400.
With the eighth race of the season delayed nearly an hour by rain, once the race took the green flag, Jones struggled with the handling of his No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
While having a good drive, Jones wasn’t able to rotate his race car as he hoped. A series of adjustments at the first stop helped the handling condition slightly with Jones rebounding from a stage low 29th to finish 26th.
Restarting Stage 2 in 26th, Jones immediately hunted the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin for the possession of the free pass position. By Lap 100, Jones moved around Hamlin and by Lap 150 had muscled into 24th where he stayed through the end of Stage 2.
A caution at Lap 313 in Stage 3 benefited the team after a hard night of racing with little passing with the free pass allowing Jones to cycle back to the lead lap.
With 40 laps to go Jones, had methodically worked his way through the field and up to 12th passing Tyler Reddick for a position.
With a late-race caution on Lap 395 and so few cars on the lead lap, Jones and crew chief Dave Elenz took a gamble to pit for tires and fuel with Jones restarting 13th for the first attempt at NASCAR overtime.
The two-lap shootout didn’t provide the drama that many expected keeping Jones at pace and taking the checkered flag in 13th, collecting his fourth top-15 finish of the 2022 Cup season.
“The FOCUSfactor team fought hard for every position tonight,” explained Jones after the race. “Our Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 fired off tight from the beginning and as the run built, the car would have so much drive off but no turn. During the second stage, the car was loose in and plowing tight up off.
“With the race being mostly caution-free, there weren’t a ton of opportunities to make adjustments or gain track position, but Dave (Elenz, crew chief) kept working on it every chance he had. He made a great strategy call during the green flag pit cycle that kept us out longer than others which really paid off.
“When the yellow came, we were able to return to the lead lap and move forward from there. I’m happy to be leaving Martinsville with a 13th-place finish.”
Exiting Martinsville, Jones secures 17th in the Cup Series championship standings, 107 points behind leader Chase Elliott.
Jones heads to the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Dirt next weekend eyeing his third career Cup Series victory in the second annual Cup event at the famed half-mile oval. Last year, Jones finished ninth, earning one of his six top-10 finishes during the 2021 season.
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter @grace3140.
Martinsville is a tough one. Finished P13. This @GetFocusFactor team fought hard for every position, but we just couldn't get the balance right. We'll take notes for the Fall. pic.twitter.com/FFBztAX8tI
— Erik Jones (@Erik_Jones) April 10, 2022
