DARLINGTON, S.C.: Feeling confident going into the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Erik Jones, the two-time winner of the Cook Out Southern 500, understands that it has been an uphill battle throughout this season.
From changing manufacturers to healing from an early-season injury, the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver tries to look at the positives and work through the challenges.
“Obviously, it’s been a tough year for me with the injury, and not that it put me way behind, but missing a couple of races isn’t great for the team; it isn’t great for me. Getting comfortable again and changing everything in the car isn’t easy,” Jones said Saturday at Darlington Raceway.
With that said the Toyota driver looks forward to what the future holds. “I guess my opinion on it all is that I just re-signed, and I wouldn’t have re-signed if I think we’re going to go continue to perform the way we are.”
With track activity on tap for the Cook Out Southern 500, Jones understands that things will change between practice, qualifying, and even into Sunday evening’s race.
“I think this is one where you target maybe a little bit different feel in practice than what you’re probably looking for in the race,” added Jones.
“It’s going to be pretty hot the middle of the day. “Knowing that the track is going to change considerably.
“We don’t start the race until 6:30 at night. It’s already going to be sun going down, cooling down and then obviously by the end of stage one, you’re going to be completely covered in dark.”
Not only is confidence a factor in Jones’ ability to win and get into the Playoffs but past performance shows that he is very good at Darlington Raceway.
With seven starts in the Cook Out Southern 500, Jones has won twice and only finished outside of the top-10 just once.
“Definitely some confidence in that,” Jones rejoiced. “I think any time you come to a place where you’ve had success a couple of times with different groups, you have the notes to dive into and just that confidence of feeling like you know how to get around the place and knowing what you need to do. “
Jones added, “I’m excited about that. It’s not going to be easy by any stretch. This is a tough race in a lot of ways, but I think we have a good plan of knowing what we need out of our race car, knowing how we need to manage the race, and knowing what we need to do to be in position.”
The Cook Out Southern 500 will be live on the USA Network at 6 pm ET on September 1, 2024.
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