CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Erik Jones’ father was by his side throughout his formative years on and off the race track.
Dave Jones was more than a mentor to his son. He was the young driver’s hero.
At 19, the Byron, Michigan native was fresh from winning the 2015 Camping World Truck Series championship — and just months into his second NASCAR Xfinity Series season when he received life-altering news. The elder Jones was diagnosed with cancer at 53.
His father’s death three months later fueled Jones’ philanthropic journey.
“Losing my dad in 2016 is probably what spearheaded a lot of it,” Jones said. “Initially it was just kind of finding different organizations and groups that I supported and appreciated in the cancer world.
“As we got longer into the Cup world, I came to the point where I wanted to have my own foundation and established that.”
Jones was in his third season in the NASCAR Cup Series when he founded the Erik Jones Foundation (EJF) in 2019. On Thursday night, the 28-year-old racer who currently drives for Legacy Motor Club, was named the 2024 Comcast Community Champion of the Year.
“The three pillars for me were really easy to come about,” Jones said. “Cancer and early detection was obviously one right off the bat. But reading and children’s literacy was always something I wanted to share and wasn’t sure how. Then the animal welfare part as well.”
Knowing that awareness is the key to melanoma prevention Jones has supported the Sun Bus at Phoenix Raceway to provide complimentary skin cancer information and screening the last two years. EJF has also endowed the Melanoma Research Foundation.
In 2023, Jones also took over the Window of Hope initiative from Kurt Busch.
Every October drivers run pink window nets to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The campaign is close to Jones’ heart after his mother Carol successfully battled the disease twice. Window of Hope also raises money following the race when the nets are autographed and auctioned off. EJF has also donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Jones love of reading began at an early age and continues to this day. The driver understands that reading breeds knowledge.
“Reading was always the way I was able to learn,” Jones said. “Still today, if I want to figure something out or get better at something, I’m going to read about it. That’s the best way. I wanted to figure out how to connect reading and racing, and children.
“The literacy rate is extremely low in our country, and it was something I really didn’t know—probably a lot of people don’t. But to have an opportunity to help improve that, it gives kids a free head start. If a kid is literate and able to go into class and retain information, he’s got a leg up.”
Jones’ commitment to animal welfare stems from the correlation between humans and their pets. EJF supports animal rescue efforts and shelters as well as assisting working animals including service dogs and police K9 officers.
“It’s been really rewarding coming here tonight,” Jones said at the Comcast celebration. “It’s kind of the top of the mountain right now for the foundation. It’s been a fun journey and just really honored to have the award.”
Along with the Comcast Community Champion honor comes a $60,000 award for EJF. Jones is encouraged with what the gift will mean to sustaining the foundation.
“We’re a small group and we want to be around for a long time,” Jones said. “This is something I don’t want to end when I’m done racing, you know? It’s something I want to continue on past that and be able to support these causes and continue to fundraise. And that’s a huge, huge step in that direction.
“Beyond that, the second part is the grant making. We get a lot of grant requests a year. You’re only able to fundraise so much, and you’re only able to give so much back. This is going to make a huge difference in those grant requests and being able to give back, and supporting these causes we care about.
“We were on a call the other day, discussing grant making and where we were going to allocate funds this year. A monetary amount like this, it’s a big game-changer for us—by far our biggest single donation to the foundation. Excited to see what we’re going to do with it.”
Building EJF has been cathartic for Jones—particularly his cancer advocacy. As he prepares to welcome his own child into the world any day now, Jones hopes to blaze a bright trail for the next generation in the same fashion his father did for him.
“I lost my dad to something that was preventable and something that could have been caught earlier on,” Jones said. “Sharing that experience and helping others out in that situation has been really important.
“I know if my dad was here and seeing this moment, it’s something he would be really proud of. I think he’d be prouder of this than any racing moment along the way. We were able to accomplish a lot on that side of things together, but this would have been something so, so special for him.
“And it’s special for me too, but, it would have been just a whole other journey and a whole other world to figure out and go into that we didn’t know anything about. I didn’t know anything about the foundation world when we started this. I just wanted to give back, so kind of in a few years to go from that to here has been a been a fun journey—one that he’d be proud of.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
