Notebook: Byron's Erik Jones gunning for spot in the Chase
Brooklyn, Mich. — Erik Jones was right where he wanted to be during the final laps of the Pure Michigan 400 Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway.
Jones, a 21-year-old rookie from Byron, Michigan, was running second, starting the final restart with two laps remaining alongside his Furniture Row teammate, NASCAR Cup series points leader Martin Truex.
But, instead of taking the lead, Kyle Larson — who was behind Truex on the outside for the restart — split the Furniture Row teammates and went on to lead his lone laps to win at MIS for the third straight time, completing the clean sweep this season.
Jones had to settle for third and still needs a win in the next three races to earn one of the 16 spots for the playoffs, for the right to battle for the NASCAR Cup series championship during the final 10 races.
Jones currently sits 16th in points, but three drivers below him in the standings have wins. Drivers with at least one win automatically earn a spot into the playoffs.
“I just couldn’t get going,” Jones said of the final restart. “I was spinning my tires. The 20 (Matt Kenseth) got to the bottom of me and the 42 (Larson) was to the right of me. I saw them both getting runs and kind of had to pick one or the other and picked wrong, and the 42 went up the middle and was able to go by both of us. It just didn’t work out.”
Truex, his teammate, said there wasn't a push to try to get Jones the victory.
"We don't have team orders," Truex said. "Nobody lets each other win. He's going to win some races. His turn will come."
It was Jones’ second podium finish, matching his third-place finish in the spring race at Pocono. He will be taking over the No. 20 seat of Kenseth with Joe Gibbs Racing next year.
“You know, I think the biggest thing going through this year I’ve been learning and trying to improve on is just the preparation for each weekend,” said Jones, who drives the No. 77 Toyota. “I think the trucks and the Xfinity Series you didn’t have to prepare at all, at least I didn’t and it kind of worked out most of the time. And, then you get to the Cup series and you do that and it’s like, well you kind of feel a little bit out to lunch when you show up and you’re off the pace and things aren’t working out.
“So, I’ve really tried harder I would say after the first quarter of the year to really focus in and try to prepare better, look at the data, use the tools that are available to me and try to improve. I think just going through the year and coming back to these tracks for a second time is a big help for us as well. I know better throughout the day what I’m looking for in a race car and what I want is a feel in the race car through practice. So performance wise I think we’ve had good days and we’ve had bad days, but overall I think we’ve done a pretty good job.”
Eddie Wood enjoying season
Eddie Wood has enjoyed watching the development of driver Ryan Blaney and looking forward to having the famed Wood Brothers team compete in the NASCAR Cup series playoffs for the first time since the Chase was put into place in 2004.
Wood, is co-owner of the Wood Brothers and Blaney, 23, won Wood Brothers its 99th NASCAR Cup series win in the spring race at Pocono, the team’s first victory since Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 win in 2011. It was also Blaney’s first career win, putting him in the playoffs for the right to battle for the series championship.
Yes, 99 wins for the Woods Brothers, but no Woods Brothers driver has ever won a Cup series championship and Blaney could be a contender for the title this fall in the No. 21 Ford.
“We’ve had a really good year, won the race at Pocono earlier in the season and had a lot of races where we’ve been really fast, but for one reason or the other we didn’t get to the end of them,” said Eddie, who is the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood and the nephew of Hall of Famer Leonard Wood, who is still co-owner of the team. “Yes, most weeks with the combination we have right now with Blaney and all the support we have at Ford Motor Company has worked really well.
“A lot of things have come together to help us come back full time and Team Penske, having an alliance with them, I can’t thank them enough because that’s where our speed is coming from.
“We’ve never been in the playoffs so they’re working on things now like every week that we race, that’s in the back of your mind of let’s go in this direction or let’s don’t and everybody’s doing the same thing that’s already in it. But, it’s something that we’ve never experienced so it’s exciting.”
In fact, Team Penske recently announced Blaney will be joining Rochester Hills native Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano next year to form a three-car team. Paul Menard, now driving the No. 27 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, will move on to take over for Blaney in the No. 21.
But, Wood is thrilled to have Blaney around for the rest of the season. Blaney showed he would be a factor early on, finishing runner-up in the Daytona 500. He has also run up front consistently, but not getting the finish he would like, running third in the June race at MIS with 15 laps remaining before settling for 25th.
Blaney was the topic of being one of the drivers to beat this weekend, topping the charts in practice, then in the first two rounds of qualifying before starting 12th.
Blaney was battling Kevin Harvick for fifth two-thirds through the race before suffering tire damage which sent him to pit road. He finished 15th.
Wood said a lot of older Wood Brothers fans have called, texted or emailed him of their excitement with Blaney.
“He’s got a really huge fan base and we’ve got a pretty nice size fan base ourselves of the older generation and it’s like brought everybody together because the young kids who like Blaney, but it all blends together,” Wood said. “We hear from people that we haven’t heard from in years and it really makes you feel good. I got a text from a guy a few minutes ago who is like 84. There was also a gentleman from our hometown that we got passes for Pocono (spring race) and he came up there and had on a David Pearson red and white hat from the 70s and Blaney tried to get it from him and he couldn’t.”
Wood said Blaney has a lot of old-school qualities about him, knowing the history of the sport which, of course, includes when David Pearson competed for the Wood Brothers, winning 43 times and Cale Yarborough 13 “He’s one of those who is just special, just a natural,” Wood said of Blaney. “Really, last year was a kind of a learning year for him and now he’s up to speed every week. He’s a little old-school, likes the same things that you and I like. He’s got a good relationship with other drivers and fans of all ages. He has an appreciation for history.”
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Junior by the numbers
How Dale Earnhardt Jr. fared in his career in Cup races at MIS
■ Races: 36
■ Wins: 2
■ Top-five finishes: 8
■ Top-10 finishes: 15
■ Poles: 2
■ Average start: 14.9
■ Average finish: 15.6