Erik Jones’ season has been a healthy mix of champagne and, well, just pain. Interspersed with a series-leading two wins are four finishes outside the top 25 and three outside the top 30.
And that explains how he somehow isn’t dominating the points standings, despite the nine top-five finishes that rank first among series regulars.
Still, after a fourth-place finish last week at Kentucky, he climbed to fourth in the standings, which matches his high-water mark of the past nine races.
Jones gets the chance to continue the climb in Saturday’s AutoLotto 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN) where he will make his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start. In two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at “The Magic Mile,” Jones finished seventh twice.
The Michigan native has been one of the fastest drivers in the XFINITY Series all season. He leads full-time competitors with two victories, nine top 10s, 207 laps led and a 107.5 driver rating.
“I’m excited to get to New Hampshire this weekend and make my first XFINITY series start there,” Jones said. “I’ve run the track a couple of times in the Truck series and both times we had a really good Tundra. Short tracks are where I learned to race and have the most comfort. Between that and the experience from the Truck Series, if we can line everything up and have things fall our way, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be around at the end with a shot at the win.”
Source: NASCAR Wire Service
