Jones happy to be home in Michigan
Erik Jones hasn’t spent too much time enjoying Michigan International Speedway. That’s because the Byron, Mich., native has been too busy driving.
Jones graduated from Swartz Creek High School in 2014, but he missed the ceremony to race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The track had a special diploma presentation for Jones before the start of the race, where the 18-year-old finished 11th.
Jones hopes to make up for his lost time at MIS and put together one last playoff push in the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday.
“It’s funny, I didn’t go to MIS a ton when I was a kid,” Jones said in a conference call this week. “I actually only went a few times because we were racing.
“It was always just my dad and I, so that’s always a fun memory for me to think about. Obviously, my dad was a race fan, and sharing that time with him down there was pretty fun.”
Jones’ dad, Dave, died June 7, 2016. Jones said his favorite MIS moment with his father was when he made his debut there in the truck race in 2015. He placed third behind Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney en route to winning the truck series championship that year.
“My first truck race there was a cool day as well,” Jones said. “That was my first race ever at MIS, so I always kind of remember that day and hold it a little special. The first race at the home track is always kind of cool. I felt like I had to wait forever to get to run there with the age restrictions in NASCAR, but it was really cool to make my first run there.”
Jones finished 13th two months ago in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan. The Cup rookie hopes he can build off that success this weekend, especially after a pair of setbacks.
A flat tire in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway forced him to finish 39th, all but knocking him out of playoff contention.
Two weeks ago, Jones’ Furniture Row Racing crew chief Chris Gayle was suspended for a rules violation involving the rear sus- pension of Jones’ Toyota at Pocono Raceway. Gayle was forced to sit out last weekend’s race at Watkins Glen International and will sit out Sunday’s run at MIS, too, while Jones was docked 25 driver points.
It’ll take quite the effort for Jones to make another playoff push.
Ranked 18th in the standings, Jones will most likely need a win in one of the four remaining regular-season races or have at least some of the winless drivers ranked ahead of him — Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez — falter badly. Sixteen drivers will qualify for the postseason, and 13 have earned playoff-clinching wins.
Now 21, Jones said there isn’t much pressure on his shoulders knowing the hill he has to climb to make the postseason.
“I feel there was more pressure when we were in the scenario to point our way in because we really had to be on our game every week and keep those points,” said Jones, who was the 2016 Xfinity Series rookie of the year. “After New Hampshire, when we had that flat tire and it ended our day, the pressure is kind of off. The only shot we have is to win a race, so, obviously, it’s a huge goal to make the playoffs.
“I know we are capable of it. We just got to go out and make it happen. It goes back to execution. We’ve had fast race cars in a multiple number of races. We just haven’t put the whole day together, whether it be we didn’t qualify well or had a bad stop late, or whatever else. It’s just going to take putting an entire weekend together. It’s starts on Friday and
again on Sunday.”
Jones has had seven top-10 finishes, including a 10th-place effort last Sunday at Watkins Glen International, so it’s not impossible for him to make it happen. And if it doesn’t, he’s just excited to spend a week in his home state among family and friends.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “I actually came home to Michigan after Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen. I’ve spent the week up here, so it’s just cool to be racing at home.
“I stay at the house I grew up in when I come to race here, so it’s just neat to be here — a lot of friends, family come down to support me in that race. It’s really, for some, the only one they can make it to and drive here, so I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully I have a good run for them.”