NCWTS: ERIK JONES Looking to Put the Icing on the Cake

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 26, 2015) – Already having scored a record-breaking five NASCAR National Series victories in advance of his 19^th birthday, Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway will present Erik Jones with his final chance to tally another win before the 19^thcandle is added to his cake on Saturday. Padding his record-breaking win total will be a tall task for the talented youngster, as Friday’s 200-lap race will be his first start in any series at the treacherous Monster Mile, but he’s proven time and time again to be a quick learner. The savvy 18-year-old has recorded three of his five wins in his inaugural visit to a venue and will be carrying the momentum of two strong Truck Series runs into this weekend’s event.

While Jones may be a rookie at the Monster Mile, he’s racing for a Kyle Busch Motorsports team that has been dominant at Dover since debuting in the Truck Series in 2010. Team-owner Kyle Busch has collected three victories at the concrete oval (2011, 2013-2014) and was on the cusp of victory in 2010, leading 172 of the first 197 laps, before experiencing a fuel pump issue with two laps remaining. Jones’ current crew chief, Ryan “Rudy” Fugle was on top of the box for Busch’s victory in 2013 and was the race engineer for last year’s win. KBM’s 630 laps led at the one-mile venue across the five races they’ve competed in are the most they’ve led at any track on the circuit.

Jones may rank second in the Truck Series championship standings after five races this season, but statistics show that he has been the most impressive driver in the series. Despite not tallying a victory in NASCAR’s third division this season, the 18-year-old leads the series in almost every statistical category, including Driver Rating (125.8), Laps Led (278), Miles Led (284.53), Average Running Place (2.816), Average Starting Position (3.2), Average Mid-Race Position (2.6), Green Flag Speed (2.000 Average Rank), Fastest Laps Run (212), Laps in the Top 15 (792), Fastest Early in Run (2.400 Average Rank), Fastest Late in a Run (1.600 Average Rank), Fastest on Restarts (3.800 Average Rank) and Fastest Speed in Traffic (4.800 Average Rank).

The racing prodigy also leads the Truck Series in heartbreaking defeats, as he is 0.183 seconds and a half-gallon of gas away from having three wins this season. In the season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway he made a late charge to the finish, but crossed the stripe 0.173 seconds behind race winner Tyler Reddick. At Kansas Speedway he led 151 of the first 161 laps, but the race was decided by fuel mileage and he surrendered the lead with six laps to go when he ran out of fuel and coasted down pit road. Equally as heartbreaking, Jones was leading at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway when a caution came out as he approached the white flag off Turn 4 and set up a green-white-checkered finish. The resilient youngster battled side-by-side with Kasey Kahne for two laps, but crossed the stripe 0.005 seconds behind the Sprint Cup Series driver in what turned out to be the second-closest finish in Truck Series history.

Collecting a “Miles the Monster trophy” at the end of Friday’s Truck Series race at Dover would be a great way to break a string of heartbreaking defeats for Jones and would make for a nice early birthday present. Another trip to victory lane would also be icing on the cake to the record-breaking number of National Series wins that the talented youngster has collected before his 19^th birthday.

Erik Jones, driver of the No. 4 NCWTS Special Olympics World Games Tundra:

How are you able to adapt to new tracks so quickly?

“I think it’s a combination of a couple of things. The first thing is that when I was coming up through the Late Model ranks I never really raced at just one track, so getting used to different places is sort of an old habit. The other thing is that we have such strong Tundras at KBM, so that makes it a lot easier on me. We unload every weekend fairly close to where we need to be, which allows me to just adapt to the track and not have to worry about trying to get the speed out of my truck.”

Of the new tracks you’ve raced at in the Truck Series this year, will Dover present the toughest challenge to adapt to?

“I would say so — you go to the mile-and-half tracks and they are different and they are unique, but at the end of the day we are running close to wide open at all of them. There will be an adjustment period for sure this weekend, but running both the truck and the XFINITY car will hopefully help speed up that process. Dover is going to be different — it’s going to be the first technical place that we are going to that I’ve never raced at before. KBM has a really good package at Dover — they won there last year with Kyle (Busch) and that gives me a lot of confidence going intoFriday’s race.”

Rudy Fugle, crew of the No. 4 NCWTS Special Olympics Word Games Tundra:

Of the tracks Erik has tackled for the first time this year, do you feel that Dover will present him the toughest challenge?

“Yes and no. It will be different from the mile-and-a-half tracks he’s raced at for the first time this year, but it’s similar style to a few tracks he’s got experience at — he’s been to places like Winchester (Ind.) and Salem (Ind.) and he’s raced Bristol in the XFINITY Series twice. I think after a couple of laps to get a feel for Dover he’ll be right up to speed.”

Erik Jones’ No. 4 Special Olympics World Games Tundra:

KBM-028: The No. 4 Special Olympics World Games Racing team will unload a brand new chassis, KBM-028, forFriday’s Lucas Oil 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.  Although the new Tundra hasn’t seen race action yet, the team used the chassis during a Goodyear Tire test at Iowa Speedway in Newton earlier this month.

Notes of Interest:

Erik Jones @ Dover:

• Jones’ start in Friday’s NCWTS Lucas Oil 200 will be his first in any series at the Monster Mile
• The Michigan native will be pulling double duty this weekend, as he will also be running the No. 54 Monster Energy Camry in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race 

Erik Jones 2015:

• After five NCWTS races ranks second in the driver point standings, 16 points behind points leader Matt Crafton, and leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 82 points
• Has posted one pole, three top-five and four top-10 finishes across five NCWTS starts, including runner-up finishes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
• Leads the NCWTS in several statistical categories, including Driver Rating (125.8), Laps Led (278), Miles Led (416.53), Average Running Place (2.816), Average Starting Position (3.2), Average Mid-Race Position (2.6), Green Flag Speed (2.000 Average Rank), Fastest Laps Run (212), Laps in the Top 15 (792), Fastest Early in Run (2.400 Average Rank), Fastest Late in a Run (1.600 Average Rank), Fastest on Restarts (3.800 Average Rank) and Fastest Speed in Traffic (4.800 Average Rank)
• Was running inside the top 10 in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway earlier this month before being relegated to a 40^th-place finish after an accident on lap 197
• Collected his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) win at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on April 10 and overall in 11 starts has accumulated three poles, six top-five and six top-10 finishes this season 

Erik Jones NCWTS Career Stats:

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 has collected three top-five and four top-10 finishes across five starts this season and currently rank second in the 2015 NCWTS Owner’s Championship point standings, 16 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 19 poles across 216 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 @ Dover International Speedway

• KBM drivers have collected three wins, two poles, 630 laps led, three top-five and five top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.6 across nine starts at the Monster Mile
• Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected all three of his team’s wins at the 1-mile track, including victories the last two seasons
• In last year’s event at the Delaware track, Busch started on the pole and registered a perfect driver rating (150.0) after leading 150 of the 200 laps
• KBM drivers have led more laps at Dover (630) than at any other track

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 one win (Kyle Busch, 2013), 50 laps led, one top-five and one top-10 finish resulting in an average finish of 13.0 across two starts at Dover.

Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:

-KBM-