NCWTS: Erik Jones – TMS Graduate a Quick Study in Intermediate-Level Courses

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 2, 2015) – Last year knowing that Erik Jones was going to miss his high school graduation to race in the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in Fort Worth, track president Eddie Gossage and his staff held a pre-race graduation ceremony on the frontstretch stage and presented the Michigan native with his high school diploma. Having just turned 18, last year’s event in the Lone Star State also marked the racing prodigy’s first NASCAR start on a track larger than one mile in length.

While most high school graduates have the summer to prepare for their first taste of college, Jones walked the stage at TMS and 20 minutes later received his first lesson in Mile-and-a-Half Racing 101. He ran inside the top five for most of the 167-lap event as he went to school learning the aero dependency of the NASCAR Camping World Series trucks. When the bell rang and class was dismissed, the combination of a loose-handling Tundra and the race being decided by fuel strategy left the freshman with a disappointing 11^th-place finish.

Sharing the No. 51 ToyotaCare Tundra with team owner Kyle Busch last season, Jones had to wait until late September at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway to tackle his next intermediate-level course. Having been humbled by his first race at a 1.5-mile venue, the young driver leaned on Busch and his open notebook in an effort to gain more knowledge on the methodology of racing on larger tracks and was able to enter his second test more prepared. Once again he ran inside the top five for most of the event and with 25 laps settled into the second position behind KBM teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. With 13 laps remaining, the talented teenager took over the top spot and by the time he crossed the finish line had separated himself by 1.329 seconds over Wallace Jr.

Jones statistics on the 1.5-mile tracks in the Truck Series this season are very impressive. Combined between the three mile-and-a-half races in 2015 (Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway) he has led 63.3% (276/436) of the laps and been the fastest truck on the track for 50.9% (187/367) of the green-flag laps. His mile-and-a-half mojo has also carried over to NASCAR’s second division, where he picked up his first career XFINITY Series victory in April after outdueling NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stalwarts Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Brad Keselowski in the closing laps at Texas.

Statistics prove that the Texas Motor Speedway graduate has been a quick study in intermediate-level courses. Now Jones returns to Texas hoping to finish Friday night’s event at the head of the class and continue in his quest to be the valedictorian for the Truck Series commencement in November.

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

How much has your confidence level risen on the intermediate tracks since your first start here at Texas a year ago?

“We’ve been to a lot of places since then and actually have some mile-and-a-half wins now. It’s pretty wild a year ago, I came into this race not really knowing what to expect and now a year later I’m coming back with a ton of confidence. We’ve been in contention to win at all of the mile-and-a-half races this year and we’ve had really fast Tundras. I’m definitely excited about getting back to Texas after winning the XFINIY Series race there earlier this year — that definitely helps my confidence. Our No. 4 carries the “Built in Texas” logo on the bed top and it would be really cool to get a win this weekend for all the employees at the Toyota plant down the road in San Antonio who build the production model Tundras.”

Will you have a big smile on your face when you arrive at Texas Motor Speedway this week?

“After struggling a little bit last year in my first visit to Texas for the Truck Series race I thought I’d never want to see the place again, honestly. A year later, looking back on the learning experience from my first mile-and-a-half race, the high school graduation and now picking up my first XFINITY Series win there, it’s a place that is pretty special to me. I’ll definitely have a big smile on my face when we get to the track on Thursday.”

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

KBM-021: The No. 4 Special Olympics World Games team will unload chassis KBM-021 for Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.  The last time the Toyota saw the track, Jones led 88 laps and finished second at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. The Tundra has won seven times in 10 career starts, including Jones’ first career mile-and-a-half victory at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway last September and Kyle Busch’s win at Texas last October.

KBM-021 Performance Profile:

Notes of Interest:

Erik Jones @ Texas:

• Making his first career NASCAR national series start on a mile-and-a-half track, qualified fifth and finished 11^th in last year’s NCWTS WinStar World Casino 400 (6/6/14)
• In April, captured the pole and led 79 laps en route to his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory (4/10/15) 

Erik Jones 2015:

• After six NCWTS races ranks third in the driver point standings, 14 points behind points leader Matt Crafton, and leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 101 points
• Has posted one pole, 328 laps led, four top-five and five top-10 finishes across six NCWTS starts, including runner-up finishes at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May
• Leads the NCWTS in several statistical categories, including Driver Rating (125.6), Laps Led (328), Miles Led (466.53), Fastest Laps Run (239), Average Running Place (3.190), Average Starting Position (3.2), Average Mid-Race Position (2.6), Green Flag Speed (2.167 Average Rank), Laps in the Top 15 (992), Fastest Early in Run (2.833 Average Rank), Fastest Late in a Run (2.500 Average Rank), Fastest on Restarts (4.000 Average Rank) and Fastest Speed in Traffic (4.500 Average Rank)
• Was running inside the top 10 in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway in May before being relegated to a 40^th-place finish after an accident on lap 197
• Overall in 12 NASCAR XFINITY Series starts has accumulated one win, three poles, six top-five and seven top-10 finishes 

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 four top-five and five top-10 finishes across six starts this season and currently rank third in the 2015 NCWTS Owner’s Championship point standings, 14 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 219 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 @ Texas Motor Speedway

• KBM drivers have collected two wins, 213 laps led, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.0 across 17 starts in the Lone Star State
• Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected both of his team’s wins at the 1.5-mile track, including a victory in the series’ most recent visit last November

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 top-10 result and an average finish of 21.3 across three starts at Texas.

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

-KBM-