Homestead-Miami Speedway Qualifying Replaced with Practice; Field Set by Rule Book

Homestead-Miami Speedway and the surrounding south Florida areas saw rain showers most of the day on Friday, what was scheduled to be practice day for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) field. As the season-finale race is important to naming a MENCS Champion for the 2019 season, NASCAR made a decision that would alter the Saturday on-track schedule. Instead of an afternoon qualifying session, Erik Jones and the No. 20 DeWalt team, along with the full field, would take to the track for a one-hour practice session in preparation for Sunday’s main event. NASCAR therefore set the field based on the rule book and points, setting Jones in row eight, starting 16th as per his position in the final Playoff Standings. The Championship determining main event will roll off at 3:00pm ET and will be broadcast on NBC. The MENCS garage will then take a hiatus and return for the 2020 race season once again, at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona, Florida on Sunday, February 9th for the qualifying of the Daytona 500 “Great American Race.”

Phoenix II Qualifying Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) took to ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona for the second time this season. This weekend’s event begins what is sure to be an exciting two-race finish to crown the 2019 season champion. While Erik Jones and the No. 20 team are no longer Playoff contenders, they have been running strong and look to secure a solid finish on Sunday. Two practice sessions on Friday allowed time for crew chief Chris Gayle to work with Jones and team to adjust the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota. While they posted speeds in the top-15 they are hopeful for a better race result. On Saturday the team took to the 1.5-mile track for one two-lap qualifying session, posting a 9th quick lap time at 138.862 mph, for a row-five race start. When asked afterwards if the aero package this weekend suits his driving style, Jones remarked, “As a driver you kind of take every race car to its capability. I don’t know that this package suits or doesn’t suit my driving style, it’s just something different from the old package.” On Sunday the MENCS race field will take the green flag at 2:30pm ET, broadcast on NBC.

Martinsville Qualifying Report

With four NASCAR race events left in 2019, the Monster Energy Cup Series field took to the paperclip that is “Martinsville Speedway” in Virginia. Two practice sessions were conducted on Saturday and Erik Jones in the No. 20 Craftsman Toyota paced the field 11th quick and then improved to 8th fastest before the team’s qualifying run. Later that day they would partake in single-car qualifying runs to earn an 8th-place, row-four qualifying spot at just under 95.000 mph. Sunday’s main race event will begin Sunday at 3:00pm ET and will be broadcast on NBCSN. While not a Playoff contender in the final stages of the season, Jones and his No. 20 team continue to work towards their second 2019 victory, in an effort to end the year strong.

Kansas II Qualifying Report

Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team remain determined to race strong through the end of the 2019 schedule. They approached Kansas Speedway with good intentions to be competitive with the Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry.  Following Friday practice, Jones qualified the Reser’s Camry Saturday afternoon in the 20th starting position.

When asked about his qualifying lap, Jones commented “It was alright.  It was kind of where we expected.  Not a whole lot you can do here, but I feel like the Reser’s Camry is pretty good in race trim.  We focused a lot on that yesterday.  I feel like we have it pretty good, pretty close, pretty good in traffic.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event will wave the green flag on Sunday, October 20th and will be broadcast on the NBC channel at 2:00pm ET.

Dover II Qualifying Report

Although eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs in last week’s Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL event, Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team remain determined to race strong through the end of the 2019 schedule. They approached Dover (Del.) International Speedway and the one-mile “Monster Mile” with good intentions to be competitive with the DeWalt Camry. Friday practice and then Saturday qualifying sessions showcased the speed Jones feels will put them in a good position for the Sunday main event. Jones and team qualified in the eighth position, a row-four start on Sunday afternoon.

When asked about his Dover qualifying attempt and his team’s goals for the rest of the year, the Michigan native described, “The qualifying run was okay. Kind of where I expected going out late. It’s getting hotter now. We didn’t have a great car yesterday, so just kind of working through and trying to get a good starting spot and plan to ‘out race’ people. That has been our strength – just out racing people and making good adjustments. I don’t think anyone is going to beat the 11 (Denny Hamlin) going out so early in the qualifying session. The track was definitely the coolest then. As for the rest of the season we plan to just try to win a couple. We’ve shown that we can win races and I think we can do it pretty consistently, we just have to have some things go our way and execute on our end as well. Just go in and do what we can to try to win. Dover has been an okay place for us in the past. We ran okay here in the spring. That’s the goal. We are going to try to get the DeWalt Camry some more wins.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event will show the green flag on Sunday, October 6th, and will be broadcast on the NBC channel at 2:30 p.m. ET.