News: Erik Jones Finishes Fourth at Watkins Glen International
Box Score Info:
Date: August 4, 2019
Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Race 22 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Track: Watkins Glen International (2.45-mile Road Course)
Format: 90 Laps (Stages: 20 laps / 40 laps / 90 laps)
Start/Finish: 14th/4th (Completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standings: 13th (559 points, 265 points out of 1st)
Race Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-20)
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 21-40)
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 41-90)
Additional Notes
ERIK JONES, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What did today’s finish mean for you?
“It’s good to keep it all going. Watkins Glen is kind of the wild card in there. Being a road course and everything, we’ve been on some tracks that have been really good to us and Watkins Glen has been good to us, but you still never know what can happen on strategy. It worked out the best it really could. I made a mistake yesterday, we started too far back and just took us all day to get the DEWALT Camry up front. I felt like we had a fifth-place car all through practice and we were able to get a little better finish than that. It’s nice to keep that streak going and now going to two places – Michigan next week and then Bristol where I think we can win. We have some really good momentum behind us these months. You can’t keep running up in the top-five every week and not win a race. That’s what I keep telling myself and hopefully we can do it here soon.”
Do you feel like you can race for wins now without worrying about points?
“Real close. We’re right on the edge of that. We’re over a race up so we can definitely have a race where things don’t necessarily go our way, but we don’t want to get in a spot here with two races to go where we’re back in position where we have to really salvage points. We’ve done a great job this last month-and-a-half of carving our way back into it and really getting towards the top of the non-winners in the Playoff picture, which is a good feeling. Where we should be and where we belong – it’s nice to be up there. Points are off the mind a little bit more than they have been the last few weeks.”
Next Race: Teams now head to Jones’ home track, Michigan International Speedway, on Sunday, August 11, 2019 for the Consumers Energy 400. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SIRIUS XM Channel 90.
Date: August 4, 2019
Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Race 22 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Track: Watkins Glen International (2.45-mile Road Course)
Format: 90 Laps (Stages: 20 laps / 40 laps / 90 laps)
Start/Finish: 14th/4th (Completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standings: 13th (559 points, 265 points out of 1st)
Race Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-20)
- Erik Jones and the No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry team rolled off from the 14th position for The Go Bowling at The Glen and ended stage one in the eighth position.
- In front of a sold out crowd at the New York road course, Jones had a fast Camry from the start of the race and began to make his move to the front moving in to the top 10 before lap five.
- With the stage remaining green for the full 20 laps, Jones was able to advance to eighth when the green checkered flag waved on lap 20. With Jones reporting the DEWALT Camry was handling pretty good, the team called Jones to pit road for four tires and fuel during the stage break.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 21-40)
- Jones started stage two from 11th and ended the stage in eighth.
- As varying pit strategies came in to play, Jones restarted the race on lap 24 from the 11th position and returned to the top 10 on lap 25 before taking over eighth on lap 30.
- The caution waved on lap 32 for fluid on the track. The team opted to stay out under the caution and restarted the race from seventh on lap 36.
- Jones slipped one position before the caution waved on lap 38 for a single-car incident. The stage ended on lap 40 under caution. The team opted to stick with their plan and stayed out under the caution.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 41-90)
- Jones started the final stage from eighth and finished the race in fourth.
- The race restarted on lap 43 with Jones scored eighth before taking over seventh on lap 44.
- As the race continued and green-flag pit stops began, Jones reported the only area he needed a little help with was the carousel. Crew chief Chris Gayle called Jones to pit road from the fourth position on lap 59 for a scheduled green-flag stop. The team changed four tires and added fuel.
- The caution waved on lap 61, before the field finished cycling stops, with Jones in the eighth position. Jones stayed out under the caution and restarted the race from fifth on lap 65 after the last few cars made their scheduled stops.
- Remaining green for the remainder of the 90-lap event, Jones crossed the finish line in the fourth position.
Additional Notes
- The finish marked Jones fourth consecutive top-four finish and eighth top-five finish of the season.
- Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr finished second with Denny Hamlin third and Kyle Busch 11th.
ERIK JONES, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
What did today’s finish mean for you?
“It’s good to keep it all going. Watkins Glen is kind of the wild card in there. Being a road course and everything, we’ve been on some tracks that have been really good to us and Watkins Glen has been good to us, but you still never know what can happen on strategy. It worked out the best it really could. I made a mistake yesterday, we started too far back and just took us all day to get the DEWALT Camry up front. I felt like we had a fifth-place car all through practice and we were able to get a little better finish than that. It’s nice to keep that streak going and now going to two places – Michigan next week and then Bristol where I think we can win. We have some really good momentum behind us these months. You can’t keep running up in the top-five every week and not win a race. That’s what I keep telling myself and hopefully we can do it here soon.”
Do you feel like you can race for wins now without worrying about points?
“Real close. We’re right on the edge of that. We’re over a race up so we can definitely have a race where things don’t necessarily go our way, but we don’t want to get in a spot here with two races to go where we’re back in position where we have to really salvage points. We’ve done a great job this last month-and-a-half of carving our way back into it and really getting towards the top of the non-winners in the Playoff picture, which is a good feeling. Where we should be and where we belong – it’s nice to be up there. Points are off the mind a little bit more than they have been the last few weeks.”
Next Race: Teams now head to Jones’ home track, Michigan International Speedway, on Sunday, August 11, 2019 for the Consumers Energy 400. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SIRIUS XM Channel 90.
