Jones navigates Cup rookie season without father
When Erik Jones climbs into his NASCAR Cup Series car today, an important watch will be stowed away in his nearby motorhome.
Jones reached the pinnacle of stock-car racing this year amid a void. His father Dave, the watch’s owner, died of cancer last year. Since then Jones hasn’t gone anywhere without the silver Shinola.
“It’s kind of the one thing that I have that connects me back to him,” he said.
The 20-year-old Cup rookie spoke about his father’s passing for the first time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ahead of today’s Kobalt 400. Jones is one of NASCAR’s hottest young drivers, going from Truck Series champion in 2015 to the Xfinity Series rookie of the year in 2016 to a job with Furniture Row Racing when it added a second Cup car this season.
“There were definitely times over the last few weeks I would have loved to call him and just talk to him about racing and general life,” Jones said about his dad.
Dave Jones was as proud of his Michigan roots as his son. The Shinola watch was made in Detroit. The elder Jones also sold another Michigan-made product, a 1965 Corvette, to help fund his son’s racing career.
“I never had to worry about the money I was making or bills I was paying or anything else,” Jones said. “I would call my Dad and say, ‘Hey, man, I’ve got this problem or that problem and what do you think?’ And he would have an opinion or a solution. He always had the answer, I felt like. And all of a sudden you lose that so quickly.”
Jones was at his North Carolina home last March when his mother called. His father had lost feeling in his arm and went to the Joey Logano celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Boyd Gaming 300, a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
doctor thinking he had a pinched nerve. The diagnosis was devastating: lung cancer that had spread to his brain.
“It was just tough to see someone kind of
fade away over a few months,” Jones said.
As his father got weaker, a surprise guest showed up to his Michigan home: car owner Joe Gibbs. He wanted Dave Jones to know the news before he even informed his son. Gibbs had brokered a deal for Jones to race in NASCAR’s top series in 2017.
Logano pulls away, wins Vegas Xfinity race
Joey Logano pulled away from Kyle Larson on a restart with four laps left and held on to win the NASCAR Xfinity race Saturday.
Logano chose the outside lane on the last restart and moved in front of Larson out of the fourth turn at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his first Xfinity victory since October at Charlotte.
Daniel Suarez put Cup regulars in the top three spots. Justin Allgaier was fourth, followed by Austin Dillon and Darrell Wallace Jr.
NASCAR cup regulars Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski won the first two stages of the 200-lap race.
Elliott Sadler finished 10th and retained the points lead. Power wins pole again for IndyCar opener
Will Power won the pole for IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Florida, proving he still is the best driver at navigating the temporary street circuit.
It was a record seventh pole in eight years at St. Pete for Power, who also won the pole for this race last year. He’s a twotime winner at St. Pete and will try for win No. 3 in today’s opener.
Power ran the course Saturday in his Team Penske Chevrolet with a lap of 1 minute, 1.0640 seconds (106.118 mph).
“It takes obviously a very good team,” the Australian said. “Very happy to be on pole. Can’t believe it’s now seven times.”
Power did not race in last year’s opener. He became ill after his qualifying lap and IndyCar ultimately benched him for the race because of concussion-like symptoms.