KANSAS CITY – Make no mistake about it, Erik Jones in a substitution role for the injured Kyle Busch made it abundantly clear that he’s ready for Sprint Cup Series competition.
And while a Lap 196 accident in Turn 4 diminished any chance of Jones excelling in his official Cup debut for Joe Gibbs Racing, everyone knew that the Byron, Michigan native was there.
“I learned a lot about racing up front and racing with these guys. It’s definitely nice to be as fast as we were and we had a great M&M’s Camry, but I just got loose off (turn) four and lost it,” explained Jones. “All my fault, guess I have to go back and figure it out.
“You know, we had a good night before that. Something to take from it. I’m ready to do another one — I hope I get another shot.”
That shot may not be too far off the horizon.
The second-youngest winner in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history had a strong weekend at Kansas Speedway in both divisions he entered. Jones was the fastest truck in town in Friday’s Toyota Tundra 250, but ran out of fuel late and a subsequent speeding quickly erased the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver from the winning headlines.
With defeat in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday, Jones climbed aboard the No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Toyota Camry with extreme confidence knowing he had a good car beneath him.
Already – it seemed the eye of the world was watching Jones after posting quick laps in practice and a strong qualifying run.
It took some time for Jones to get up to speed on Saturday night at Kansas. Quickly, the NASCAR Next alumnus faded through the field, but with crew chief Adam Stevens coming to the rookie’s rescue with chassis changes, the young protégé quickly rebounded.
It was shortly after the two hour, 16 minute and 38-second rain delay though that Jones proved his worth.
Looking like the phenom was shot out of a cannon, Jones methodically and brilliantly made his climb to the front, passing cars two and sometimes even making daring three wide maneuvers.
The hype and excitement of watching Jones succeed in a substitution role for Kyle Busch who take a blow when Jones lost control shortly after a restart when his No. 18 broke loose and Jones overcorrected before making contact with the outside wall.
Jones drove away from the scene, but went straight to the garage for repairs. The teenager later returned to race and finished 40th.
“I learned a lot about racing in traffic and racing with these guys and how the air works,” said Jones. “Unfortunately, I wish I could have finished it out, but I felt like we definitely had a top-10 car. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t get the result. Not a bad night overall, I learned a lot and we’ll get a little better and try again.”
The SpongeBob SquarePants 400 wasn’t supposed to be an audition for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride for Jones on Saturday night.
However, given the worthy performance of this quiet, yet likable and approach future star of NASCAR, it will be interesting to see what talks are had about progressing his career farther a little sooner than maybe any of us expected.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
