News:
Erik Jones Finishes Third in Season Finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Box Score Info:

Date: November 17, 2019

Event: Ford Ecoboost 400 (Race 36 of 36)

Series:  Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile Oval)

Format: 267 Laps (Stages: 80 laps / 160 laps / 267 laps)

Start/Finish: 16th/3rd (Completed 267 of 267)

Point Standings: 16th

 

Race Winner: Kyle Busch

Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex, Jr.

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80)

  • Erik Jones and the No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry team started the final race of the season from the 16th position and ended stage one in 10th place.

  • With rain washing out practice on Friday, NASCAR opted to cancel Saturday’s qualifying session for practice, placing the No. 20 team with the 16th starting position.

  • Struggling with tight conditions early in the stage, Jones slipped as low as 20th before starting to make his way back to the top 15.

  • Crew chief Chris Gayle called Jones to pit road on lap 35 for a green-flag stop for four tires, fuel and a round of adjustments to help with the handling. Once the field cycled through stops, Jones was scored in 16th.

  • The caution waved on lap 80 to end stage one with Jones in the 13th position as the last car on the lead lap. Gayle called Jones to pit road for four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments to improve the handling of the DEWALT Camry.


 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160)

  • Jones started stage two from the 10th position and ended the stage in eighth.

  • The race restarted on lap 86 with Jones in the 10th position and as the race continued under a long green-flag run, Jones was called to pit road on lap 117 for a routine stop.

  • Continuing to run in the top 10, Jones was scored ninth when the caution waved on lap 136. Relaying to the team that he was still too tight early in the run, Gayle called Jones to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and another set of adjustments. The race restarted on lap 142 with Jones in ninth place.

  • Dropping a few spots to 12th following the restart, Jones made his way back to eighth before the caution waved on lap 160 to end stage two. Jones pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments during the stage break.


 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 161-267)

  • Jones started the final stage from the eighth position and finished the race with a third-place finish.

  • The race restarted on lap 166 with Jones and the DEWALT team scored in the eighth position. Jones immediately began running some of the fastest laps of the race and started to pick off one competitor at a time to move in to the top five on lap 202.

  • Remaining green for the remainder of the race, Jones was able to finish the season with a strong third-place finish.


 

ERIK JONES, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How was your race tonight?

“It was up and down for us. It really started pretty far off and just got our car really good by the end. I was feeling pretty confident the last stage. We were able to pick up a lot of ground and had the fastest car for a little bit, but got in the wall one too many times and didn’t have a shot at the end. It was a good day. Those guys are the best – the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.), so to run with them was a good feeling. The DEWALT Camry was good at the end. It was nice to finish off the year strong because the last two here haven’t been very good to us, so it was good.”

 

Additional Notes

  • Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won the race and the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Teammate Martin Truex, Jr. finished second and Denny Hamlin finished 10th.

  • Jones finished the season with one win, 10 top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes.

  • Jones finished the season 16th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings.