LAS VEGAS, Nev.: In just his fourth race with Richard Petty Motorsports, Erik Jones earned his first top-10 with a 10th place showing in Sunday afternoon’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
While the performance wasn’t a victory – it certainly should feel like one for one of the independent teams in the NASCAR Cup Series and give them some much welcome confidence heading to Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway next weekend.
Jones started deep in the field with his No. 43 Medallion Bank Chevrolet, the Bryon, Mich. native was able to climb from 29th to 17th by the end of Stage 1 showcasing the speed in his race car.
Early in Stage 2, Jones’ day nearly ended on the wrecker as his car broke loose in traffic causing a stack up mid-pack, fortunately, Jones was able to recover despite dealing with an ill-handing race car to maneuver 18th at the end of Stage 3.
During Stage 3, a mix of strategy and better-balanced Chevrolet Camaro allowed Jones to keep his car near the front arriving in the top-10 with about 80 laps to go.
Working his way to a race-high ninth, Jones made his final pit stop at Lap 221 and utilized the final 46 laps of the race to climb from 13th with 30 laps to go to re-enter the top-10 over the final 22 miles of the race.
The finish was Bryon’s 63rd career NASCAR Cup Series top-10 and first since finishing third on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL last October.
“It was a really good day for us in the Richard Petty Motorsports, Medallion Bank Chevy,” said Jones after the race. “A good day to build way better than last week.
“Really heading in the right direction. We tried a lot of different things this week and made a lot of different changes, it’s just nice to see ‘em pay off and get a top-10 out of it.”
With an average finish of 26th in the first three races, Jones said it was their goal to finish inside the top-10 with the changes and the intent to get better as the season marches on.
“That was definitely our goal for today, I felt like,” added Jones. “Hopefully, we can keep building on that and continue to get better and better each week.”
Jones, 25, moved from 28th to 23rd in the championship standings heading to Phoenix where he has a track-best finish of fourth in nine previous starts.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
