Jones Wins Texas NASCAR XFINITY Race
FORT WORTH, Texas – A year ago, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage presented Erik Jones with a high school diploma in a mock graduation ceremony on the pre-race stage prior to his start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
On Friday evening, Gossage was presenting to the 18-year-old Jones again, but this time it was a cowboy hat and the winner’s trophy in Victory Lane.
Jones (No. 20 GameStop/Mortal Kombat X Toyota), subbing for the injured Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing, outdueled NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to capture his first career XFINITY Series victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The victory comes in just his ninth career XFINITY Series start en route to becoming just the third series driver in Texas Motor Speedway history to win from the pole. The previous wire-to-wire winners were Kyle Busch (2009) and Carl Edwards (’11) in this event as well.
Jones, at 18 years and 10 months, also became the second-youngest XFINITY Series winner in Texas Motor Speedway history. He only trails last year’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 winner Chase Elliott, who was 18 years and four months when he won here last April.
“It’s something else. To be able to go out and get a win like that in the XFINITY Series is surreal,” Jones said. “I never go to the track and think we can’t win but this early on is a little bit of a surprise, especially with the Cup guys running this weekend. It was a battle; it wasn’t easy by
any means. I love it. It was one of the most fun times I ever had in a car by far.”
Despite starting on the pole, Jones did not display the most dominant car in the field during the early going. Keselowski (No. 22 Discount Tire Ford) had qualified second, but he, along with two other cars, had to drop to the rear of the 40-car field for unapproved adjustments to their cars during the pre-race impound period. He took the green flag for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 starting 38th, but he quickly exhibited his muscle and moved into the lead of Lap 48 of 200. He would lead 56 of the first 120 laps, but Jones and Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Goody’s Chevrolet) remained within close striking distance.
The showdown between the trio came following the sixth and final caution period as Jones owned the lead out of the pits and was followed by Keselowski, Regan Smith (No. 7 Taxslayer.com Chevrolet) and Earnhardt, Jr., respectively. With 26 to go on the restart, Jones fought off strong passing attempts by Keselowski and kept a hard-charging Earnhardt Jr. at bay before opening up a 1.1-second lead with 20 laps remaining. Jones, who led six times for a race-high 79 laps, went on to a 1.624-second margin of victory over Keselowski. Earnhardt Jr. finished third, Smith fourth and Austin Dillon (No. 33 Ruud Chevrolet) fifth.
