USA TODAY International Edition
Jones’ drive matches talent
19- year- old expects to contend in every race
HUNTERSVILLE, N. C. Despite the pats on the back, proud words from his father and congratulatory text messages on his phone, Erik Jones was bummed.
As the substitute driver for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car while Matt Kenseth serves a two- race suspension, Jones, 19, finished 12th Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in his second Sprint Cup start. And completing that 500- mile race, the longest of his life, capped a triple- duty weekend that also saw him extend his Camping World Truck Series points lead with a win.
Normally, a 12th- place finish under those circumstances and in spite of a flat tire late in the race would be reason for a young driver to celebrate. Not for Jones. “We should have finished seventh or eighth, so I was bummed,” he said. “It’s hard for me to take, that if things would have been right, this is what should have happened. That’s how I’ve always been.”
No one, it seems, has more expectations for Jones than Jones himself. Not JGR, which plans to promote him to a full- time Xfinity Series schedule in 2016. Not Toyota, which is counting him among the drivers who will become the manufacturer’s future. Not Kyle Busch, who discovered Jones after losing to him in the Snowball Derby Late Model race.
Just below the surface of a smiling teenager is a perfectionist racer who might get carried away with competitiveness at times but makes no apologies for it.
“At the end of a day, I can’t think of a single person in the world that wants to finish second at something,” he said.
Jones certainly doesn’t, and he made that clear to USA TODAY Sports this week in the midst of the busiest stretch of racing he’s ever had. He ran three races at Texas and has three more on the schedule this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway — all while trying to wrap up the truck series title in his first full season ( he has a 17- point lead on defending champion Matt Crafton).
The Michigan native knows he can’t win every race but sees no reason he shouldn’t contend in every race — even with a relative lack of experience.
“Why can’t we?” he said. “That’s the way I look at it: Why not me?”
TURNING HEADS
That approach is how Jones, driving for his family’s Late Model team, got noticed by the NASCAR world in 2012. Jones caught Busch’s eye when the youngster blew by during a race at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Georgia — “I was like, holy ( crap)!” Busch said. His Snowball Derby victory later that year was all the JGR driver needed to see.
Busch called Toyota executive Ed Laukes and left an enthusiastic voicemail emphasizing the need to get Jones on the manufacturer’s roster.
“It was about three minutes of F- bombs from him, going, ‘ I can’t believe this kid! We’d better figure out a home for him immediately!’ ” Laukes said. “He was going crazy. I called him back and said, ‘ I never heard you so excited about a young driver.’ He said, ‘ The kid is great. He’s going to be a champion.’ ”
Busch grinned at Laukes’ version of the story and said it was only a slight exaggeration. Though he races against young drivers in Late Model races all over the country, Busch was particularly impressed by Jones because of his success in a family- owned car that didn’t have the resources of top teams.
“It’s always really hard to see kids succeed in those situations,” Busch said. “That to me was really cool to see the family operation was doing really well.”
Jones was winning in spite of his equipment, not because of it. His parents had no experience in racing other than watching it on TV. Though a sign hangs in his father’s barn that says “Dave Jones, Racing Champion,” that’s only because it was given to him as a gift when he was young.
But it wasn’t Dave who first got his son into a car. Erik only started racing after his mother, Carol, read an article about Quarter Midget racing ( where many kids get their start) during a plane flight. They put Erik in a Quarter Midget at 6, and he immediately took a liking to it.
He tried other sports, but racing was the one that stuck. As Jones came through the ranks, he studied how to improve by watching racing videos on YouTube.
But his success in Late Models guaranteed nothing, even after winning the Snowball Derby. At 16, Jones was starting to think about college — where would he go? what would he major in? — when the phone rang. And so it came to be that just 20 days after the win, Erik and Dave were in North Carolina to meet with Kyle Busch Motorsports about a partial truck series schedule.
“It was like, ‘ Hey, you’ve got a shot to be a race car driver,’ ” Jones said. “Like, for real.” WALKING LINE When Erik and Dave watched races together at home in tiny Byron, Mich. ( population: 600), Dave always wanted his son to stay tuned to the postrace show.
“He’d say, ‘ Wait, you’ve got to watch the interviews. That’s the best part!’ ” Erik said.
Through those years of TV viewing, Jones made up his mind: When he made it as a driver, he wanted to be known as a nice guy instead of a villain. But he also didn’t want to be vanilla.
“I never wanted to come across as the guy who just rattles off a bunch of sponsors,” Jones said. “I could never stand that when I was younger and watching races on TV. I don’t want to be that guy; I want people to hear what I really thought.
“But at the same time, I know there’s a balance. I don’t think I’ve found the balance yet.”
The balance is particularly tough for Jones, who — like his mentor, Busch — can take a loss pretty hard. As a longtime Jeff Gordon fan, Jones admired how the four- time champion was able to show his emotion while still conducting himself with class — something Jones would like to emulate, he said.
It can be a challenge. After losing a truck series race to Kasey Kahne in a heartbreaking photo finish in May, Jones briefly walked off before composing himself and doing a TV interview.
“I was upset,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is really knowing how hard those ( crew) guys work. To feel like I gave it away at the end of the race, that’s what makes me the most upset.”
Busch can relate. He’s been criticized at times for storming off without comment.
“It’s frustrating when you’re the best guy all day and all the sudden at the end of the race you get beat. That hurts,” Busch said. “So I sympathize with that. A lot of people don’t like that, but they’re not under the scrutiny and pressure that we are, either.”
That passion wasn’t a major surprise to team owner Joe Gibbs, who had been tipped off by a friend of Jones that his pleasant nature could quickly turn stormy.
“He comes across as real even in all kinds of social situations, but he’s got a fire about him,” Gibbs told USA TODAY Sports. “You can see it when things don’t go well at the end of those races. He’s super competitive.”
Jones said he was working to get better at handling setbacks. He knows fans are paying close attention to his actions and is conscious of how he appears. Being competitive and well- liked at the same time is tricky, but Jones is eager to try.
“Most fans never get to know you away from those quick onscreen moments or the brief time it takes to sign an autograph,” he said. “They’re trying to make a connection with you. That’s the only way a lot of times.”