MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 5, 2015) – While the spotlight will shine extra bright on Erik Jones this weekend because he will be making his first official NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start Saturday, the talented youngster continues to remain focused on the primary goal he set at the beginning of the 2015 season; winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver’s championship. After a hiatus of over a month, Jones resumes his pursuit of the coveted championship when he returns to the No. 4 Toyota Tundra for Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.
During his month-long sabbatical from Truck Series action, the teenager was able to showcase his abilities in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and continued to prove that he is a rising star in the sport. At Texas Motor Speedway, Jones started the day off by collecting his second of what would be three consecutive series pole awards and ended the day with his first trip to the winner’s circle. After rolling off from the top spot, he led a race-high 79 laps and outmuscled Sprint Cup Series stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr., on a late-race restart to earn the monumental win. The XFINITY Series victory, combined with his four career Truck Series victories allowed him to break Chase Elliott’s record for most NASCAR National Series wins before the age of 19 – a record which Jones still has five-scheduled races to add to his total before he turns 19 on May 30.
What did Jones do for an encore the following week? How about starting the afternoon on his couch in Cornelius, N.C., and ending the night in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. After Denny Hamlin experienced a neck strain early in the race at the high-banked track, Jones was summoned to the airport during a lengthy rain delay. He hopped on a plane in North Carolina, landed at the closest airport to Bristol, helicoptered from there to the track and arrived just in time to climb into a Cup car for the first time when the red flag was lifted. Despite being thrown into the fire, he slowly but surely got a feel for things and began posting impressive lap times. When it was all said and done, the teenager ended the day admirably in the 26th position.
Meanwhile with three of 23 races completed on the Truck Series schedule, the NASCAR Next Alum sits third in the championship standings and has a sizeable lead in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year rankings. While he has yet to reach victory lane in his No. 4 Tundra this season, the racing prodigy leads the series in several statistical categories, including Driver Rating (118.1), Average Running Place (3.489), Average Start (4.3), Green Flag Speed (2.667 Average Rank), Percent of Quality Passes (96.7), Laps in the Top 15 (488), Fastest Early in Run (3.333 Average Rank) and Fastest on Restarts (4.667 Average Rank).
As Jones gets “back to his day job,” a win in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 would be an extra special one for some of his biggest supporters. Toyota’s logo has adorned the hood of his Tundra for the majority of his Truck Series races the last three seasons, so getting the manufacturer to victory lane in the race with their name on it would be a nice “thank you” gesture. Additionally, Jones’ mother, Carol, was the one who pushed his father, Dave, to let Erik fulfill his affinity for racing at the age of seven with the purchase of his first quarter-midget car. There’s no doubt that mom would happily accept a trophy in place of flowers this weekend as a Mother’s Day present.
Erik Jones, driver of the No. 4 NCWTS Toyota Tundra:
With all that you have going on racing in the XFINITY Series and making your Sprint Cup Series debut this weekend, is it hard to stay focused on your goal of winning a Truck Series championship?
“With the long breaks early on in the Truck Series schedule sometimes it’s hard to remember we are running for a championship, but every time I slide through the window of my Tundra that goal easily comes back into mind. I feel like I am able to swap mentalities between all the different vehicles that I have been racing fairly easy and the extra seat time in the other series is going to be beneficial in helping achieve the goal that everyone on this No. 4 team set at the beginning of the season, which is bringing home KBM’s first-ever driver’s championship.”
When you were seven-years-old, your mother convinced your father to buy you your first race car. How cool would it be win a NASCAR race on Mother’s Day weekend with her at the track?
“It would be very cool. Anytime you can win with your parents at the track it’s a special moment. I know my mom would really love to see us get a win for her on Mother’s Day weekend.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 4 NCWTS Toyota Tundra:
With Toyota and its Tundra brand sponsoring Friday night’s race, does it provide an extra incentive for your team to win?
“Our goal every week is to go out and be the fastest in practice, sit on the pole, lead the most laps and win the race. That goal remains the same no matter who the sponsor of the race is or what track we racing at. With that said, Toyota is a huge contributor to the success of our organization, so if we are able to get them to victory lane with our No. 4 Tundra — which carries a big Toyota logo on the hood — in the Toyota Tundra 250, the celebration would definitely be sweeter. Last year with Kyle behind the wheel, we won the pole, led the most laps and won the race, so we’ll have a good baseline setup for Erik and I’m confident that we can go out and do it again. Erik’s never raced at Kansas before, but he’s proven to be a quick learner and after a few laps in practice to get a feel for the place, he should be right up to speed. We’ve knocked on the door to victory in each of the first three races this year, now it’s time to go out and bring home our first win of the season.”
Erik Jones’ No. 4 Toyota Tundra:
KBM-23: The No. 4 Toyota Racing team will unload chassis KBM-23 for Friday’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The chassis is the same Tundra that Erik Jones led 39 laps and finished seventh with in the first mile-and-a-half race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., in February. The Toyota made its debut in last year’s series finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, earning a fourth-place finish with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel.
Date |
Site |
Driver |
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Laps Led |
Status |
2/28/15 |
Atlanta |
Jones |
2 |
7 |
130/130 |
39 |
Running |
11/14/2014 |
Homestead-Miami |
Busch |
5 |
4 |
134/134 |
6 |
Running |
Notes of Interest:
Erik Jones @ Kansas:
- Jones’ start in Friday night’s NCWTS Toyota Tundra 250 will be his first in any series at the 1.5-mile oval
- The 18-year-old driver will be pulling double duty this weekend as he attempts to make his first official NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start filling in for KBM driver-owner Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M’s Red Nose Day Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing
Erik Jones 2015:
- After three NCWTS races ranks third in the driver point standings, six points behind points leader Matt Crafton, and leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 54 points
- Has posted two top-five and three top-10 finishes across three NCWTS starts, including a runner-up finish in the season-opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
- Leads the NCWTS in several statistical categories, including Driver Rating (118.1), Average Running Place (3.489), Average Start (4.3), Average Mid Race (3.3), Green Flag Speed (2.667 Average Rank), Percent of Quality Passes (96.7), Laps in the Top 15 (488), Fastest Early in Run (3.333 Average Rank) and Fastest on Restarts (4.667 Average Rank)
- Collected his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) win at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on April 10 and overall in nine starts has accumulated three poles, five top-five and five top-10 finishes this season
Erik Jones NCWTS Career Stats:
Year |
Races |
Win |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Pole |
Laps |
Led |
Earnings |
AvSt |
AvFn |
RAF |
Miles |
LLF |
2013 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1017 |
84 |
$91,860 |
13.2 |
6.0 |
5 |
847.0 |
5 |
2014 |
12 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
2 |
1789 |
300 |
$240,336 |
6.1 |
9.2 |
11 |
2030.0 |
9 |
2015 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
488 |
39 |
$100,657 |
4.3 |
4.0 |
3 |
585.9 |
3 |
Totals |
20 |
4 |
9 |
16 |
2 |
3294 |
423 |
$432,853 |
7.6 |
7.6 |
19 |
3462.9 |
17
|
Erik Jones 2014:
- Collected three wins (Iowa Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway), two poles, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 12 NCWTS starts
- Despite competing in just 12 of the 22 NCWTS events, ranked third among all drivers in laps led (300)
- Recorded top-10 finishes in all three of his NASCAR XFINITY Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing
Erik Jones 2013
- His victory in the November event at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway at the time made him the youngest winner in the history of the NCWTS at 17 years, five months and nine days old
- Became the first 16-year-old to compete in a NCWTS race since KBM owner Kyle Busch in October of 2001, went on to finish ninth in his debut at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and recorded top-10 finishes in all five of his series starts
- Collected first ARCA Racing Series victory at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and registered two top-five and three top-10 finishes across four starts
- Became just the third driver in the 46-year-history of the prestigious Snowball Derby Super Late Model race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., to register back-to-back victories after outdueling KBM owner Kyle Busch for the win in 2012
Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 4 Tundra:
- The No. 4 team currently ranks third in the 2015 NCWTS Owner’s Championship point standings, six points behind the series-leading No. 88 team
KBM NCWTS Program
- Has collected three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships, 39 Truck Series victories and 18 poles across 210 starts since originating in 2010
- 39 career Truck Series victories as an organization ranks third all-time behind Roush (50) and Kevin Harvick Inc. (43)
- 14 victories as an organization during the 2014 season broke the Truck Series record of 12 set by Ultra Motorsports in 2001
- Six different drivers have won a race for KBM, led by owner-driver Kyle Busch with 26. Darrell Wallace Jr. collected five victories, Erik Jones has posted four wins, Denny Hamlin produced two victories and Kasey Kahne and Brian Scott both collected one triumph
- Has collected victories at 17 of the 21 tracks on the 2015 schedule, excluding Atlanta Motor Speedway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Michigan International Speedway and Pocono Raceway
KBM NCWTS @ Kansas Speedway
- KBM drivers have collected one win, one pole, 149 laps led, three top-five and five top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.3 across nine starts at Kansas
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch collected the team’s first win at the 1.5-mile track in last year’s event; Busch recorded a perfect Driver Rating (150.0) after capturing the pole and leading 104 of 167 laps
- A KBM Tundra has led at least one lap in four of the five races that the team has entered since its inception in 2010 and all three drivers entered in the 2013 (Ky. Busch, Joey Coulter and Darrell Wallace Jr.) event led double-digit laps
The Fugle File:
Ryan “Rudy” Fugle will call the shots for Erik Jones’ Truck Series championship campaign in 2015. The New York native led KBM’s No. 51 Tundra team to a series-leading six wins, including Jones’ first-career victory at Phoenix International Raceway, and an Owner’s Championship as crew chief in 2013. He also contributed to an additional 11 wins in his role as race engineer for the organization during the 2012 and 2014 seasons. Before coming to KBM, Fugle held crew chief positions in both the Truck Series and XFINITY Series with Germain Racing.
Fugle’s Truck Series drivers have compiled an average starting position of 12.0 and an average finish of 23.0 across two starts at Kansas. Michael Annett led five laps en route to a 16th-place with Fugle atop the pit box for the NASCAR XFINITY race in 2010.
Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:
Date |
Site |
Driver |
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Laps Led |
Status |
Driver Pts./Pos. |
Money Won |
2/20 |
Daytona |
Jones |
7 |
2 |
100/100 |
0 |
running |
42/2nd |
$58,057 |
2/28 |
Atlanta |
Jones |
2 |
7 |
130/130 |
39 |
running |
80/3rd |
$17,112 |
3/28 |
Martinsville |
Jones |
4 |
3 |
258/258 |
2 |
running |
122/3rd |
$25,488 |
-KBM-