News: Jones Rebounds from Mid-Race Penalty to Finish Third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Box Score Info:
Date: July 21, 2019
Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Race 20 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile)
Format: 301 Laps (Stages: 75 laps / 150 laps / 301 laps)
Start/Finish: 4th/3rd (Completed 301 of 301 laps)
Point Standings: 14th (516 points, 267 points out of 1st)
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch
Stage 2 Winner: Aric Almirola
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75)
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150)
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 151-301)
Additional Notes
ERIK JONES, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Are you amazed that after everything that happened during the race you finished in third?
“It was a good day. We got good stage points in the first stage and finished well at the end. The STANLEY Camry was good. All day I felt like we were close, we just needed to get up front and never quite did it. Never quite got the lead, but we were there. Again, up in the top five, you can’t complain and especially with the points we gained today. It’s good. We can definitely get more aggressive with that gap. We’re getting close there to having almost a race on them. If we can have a couple more good weeks, we’ll be there. Pocono is a good one. We’ll keep doing it, but today was definitely a testament to our speed and this team. We keep fighting through it. We never gave up. We did what we needed to do and fixed the damage when we needed to and got a good finish out of it.”
Next Race: Teams now return to Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 28, 2019 for the Gander RV 400. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SIRIUS XM Channel 90.
Date: July 21, 2019
Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Race 20 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile)
Format: 301 Laps (Stages: 75 laps / 150 laps / 301 laps)
Start/Finish: 4th/3rd (Completed 301 of 301 laps)
Point Standings: 14th (516 points, 267 points out of 1st)
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch
Stage 2 Winner: Aric Almirola
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75)
- Erik Jones and the No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry team started the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway from the fourth position and finished stage one second.
- With the green flag waving on Sunday afternoon to start the 301-lap race, Jones quickly moved from fourth to third before slipping back to fourth with a loose-handling condition.
- The first caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 45. Jones pitted from fourth for right-side tires, fuel and a set of adjustments. With teams opting for varying strategies, the STANLEY team restarted the race in the lead on lap 50.
- Moving to second following the restart, Jones was able to maintain the position until the stage ended on lap 75. Crew chief Chris Gayle called Jones to pit road for four tires, fuel and another set of adjustments.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150)
- Jones started stage two from fifth and ended the stage in 20th.
- With the race returning to green-flag conditions on lap 82, Jones was scored sixth when the caution flag waved on lap 110. Still looking for more grip, Gayle called Jones to pit road for right-side tires and fuel. Unfortunately, while exiting the pits, Jones and the No. 88 car made contact causing damage to the No. 20 Camry. Concerned about the damage, Gayle called Jones to pit road two more times during the caution to make repairs and change left-side tires. The race restarted on lap 115 with Jones deep in the field.
- Practicing patience, Jones was able to move up to 20th before the caution was displayed on lap 137. Making a routine stop, Jones was nabbed for speeding on pit road and had to restart at the rear of the field when the race returned to green-flag conditions on lap 147.
- Focused on staying out of trouble during the three-lap shoot out to end the stage, Jones was scored 20th on lap 150 when stage two concluded. The team opted to stay out under the caution.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 151-301)
- Jones started the final stage from 11th and finished the race in third.
- The final stage of the race started on lap 157 and Jones was able to quickly move into the top 10 by lap 160 and moved in to the top five on lap 187.
- Happy with the handling of the STANLEY Camry and running lap times comparable to the leaders, Jones was running fifth when the caution came out on lap 214. The team called Jones to pit road for a routine stop and after gaining one position on pit road, restarted the race from fourth on lap 218.
- Quickly moving in to second on the restart, the race was slowed immediately after the green-flag waved for a multi-car incident. The team opted to stay out under the caution and Jones restarted the race from second on lap 224.
- Closing in on the end of the race, Jones slipped to fifth before the final caution of the race on lap 264. Jones made a last minute decision to stay out under the caution and restarted the race from second on lap 272.
- Keeping his eyes on the leaders, Jones crossed the finish line in the third position.
Additional Notes
- The finish marked the fifth third-place finish for Jones this season.
- Jones led two times for four laps.
- Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin finished second, Martin Truex, Jr. finished sixth and Kyle Busch scored a ninth-place finish.
ERIK JONES, No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Are you amazed that after everything that happened during the race you finished in third?
“It was a good day. We got good stage points in the first stage and finished well at the end. The STANLEY Camry was good. All day I felt like we were close, we just needed to get up front and never quite did it. Never quite got the lead, but we were there. Again, up in the top five, you can’t complain and especially with the points we gained today. It’s good. We can definitely get more aggressive with that gap. We’re getting close there to having almost a race on them. If we can have a couple more good weeks, we’ll be there. Pocono is a good one. We’ll keep doing it, but today was definitely a testament to our speed and this team. We keep fighting through it. We never gave up. We did what we needed to do and fixed the damage when we needed to and got a good finish out of it.”
Next Race: Teams now return to Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 28, 2019 for the Gander RV 400. The race is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SIRIUS XM Channel 90.
