NCWTS: ERIK JONES Ready to Shake Off Recent Run of Bad Luck

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2015) – Erik Jones and the No. 4 Special Olympics World Games Tundra team will be looking to end a recent string of bad luck as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill., for Saturday’s Drivin’ For Linemen 200.

Jones has had a fast Tundra all season long, especially over the last four races. Combined between races at Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, the talented teenager has combined to lead 53% (357/673) of the total laps and has been the fastest truck on the track for 45% (245/545) of the green-flag laps.

Despite showing plenty of speed, a variety of misfortunes have kept the No. 4 team from victory lane thus far in 2015. The Kansas race was decided by fuel mileage and despite leading 151 of 167 laps, Jones finished 11^th. At Charlotte, the caution came out just before Jones took the white flag while leading, and he ended up finishing second to Kasey Kahne by 0.005 seconds in a green-white-checkered finish. The team used a two-tire stop late in the Dover event to successfully improve track position, but the handling went away in the closing laps and he fell from first to third over the final seven laps. Last week at Texas, Jones had to come to the attention of his pit crew while leading the race to change the battery and after two subsequent trips to insert fresh batteries again, ended the race two laps down in the 15^th position.

Now, the Michigan native heads to Gateway looking to redeem a win that was taken away from him in last year’s race at the Illinois track. Jones restarted second with just eight laps remaining and after battling side-by-side with Darrell Wallace Jr., for an entire lap, cleared his teammate and had his Toyota out front as the field went through Turns 1 and 2. Jones bobbled slightly coming out of Turn 2 and German Quiorga made hard contact with the left side of his truck and remained in the gas as the ToyotaCare Tundra was sent crashing hard into the inside retaining wall down the backstretch. The accident left the talented youngster with a disappointing 23rd-place finish

When it comes to getting rid of the bad luck that has plagued him in recent weeks, Jones is taking the advice of his favorite female vocalist, Taylor Swift, and is ready to Shake it Off at Gateway on Saturday.

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

After being so close to a win last year at Gateway, is this a race you had circled on your calendar this year?

“Honestly, every track on the schedule this year I’ve been looking forward to. Gateway is one that I’ve had circled though. We had a really fast Tundra there last year and since then we’ve improved on a lot of the things that made us so fast for that race. This whole team is really excited to get to Gateway — we all know how fast we’ve been this year and we are ready to crank out a win and get a little redemption from last year.”

How does Gateway compare to the other flat tracks that you’ve raced at in the Truck Series?

“It reminds me a little bit of Phoenix in both sets of turns. It’s a place I took a liking to after making my first laps there last year. It was a pretty fun race last year until the ending. It’s going to be tough to pass this year, so hopefully we can qualify well and put ourselves in a good position to try and win.”

Gateway is unique in shape and that makes each set of turns different. Which set of turns are the toughest to maneuver through?

“It seems like last year Turns 3 and 4 were always good for us, so we worked on getting better in Turns 1 and 2. Pretty much everything we did to help 1 and 2 never hurt 3 and 4. We will focus mainly on 1 and 2 again this year — things are a little bit tighter on that end and it’s more of a finesse corner compared to 3 and 4, where you can get through that end no matter what your truck’s doing. You have to be able to get under somebody off the exit of 2 to be able to pass them down in 3 and 4, so we will work pretty hard on getting our Tundra to turn the center better in 1 and 2 in order to get our truck the best we can to maneuver and pass.”

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

KBM-24: The No. 4 Special Olympics World Games Racing team will unload chassis KBM-24 for Saturday’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill. This will be the second start for the chassis this season, Jones started fourth and finished third with it at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March. The Michigan native dominated last November’s race at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway with the Tundra, capturing the pole and leading 114 of the 126 laps of the event which was shortened due to electrical issues at the track.

KBM-24 Performance Profile:

Notes of Interest:

Erik Jones @ Gateway:

• Was leading last year’s Drivin’ for Linemen 200 with six laps remaining, but after getting spun by the second-place competitor was relegated to a 23^rd-place finish 

Erik Jones 2015:

• After seven NCWTS races ranks third in the driver point standings, 32 points behind points leader Matt Crafton, and leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings with 107 points
• Has posted two poles, 396 laps led, four top-five and five top-10 finishes across seven 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 (124.6), Laps Led (396), Miles Led (568.532), Fastest Laps Run (294), Average Running Place (3.818), Average Starting Position (2.7), Average Mid-Race Position (2.3), Green Flag Speed (2.286 Average Rank), Laps in the Top 15 (1142), Fastest Early in Run (3.000 Average Rank), Fastest Late in a Run (2.429 Average Rank), Fastest on Restarts (4.286 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 seven starts this season and currently rank fourth in the 2015 NCWTS Owner’s Championship point standings, 32 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 20 poles across 222 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 @ Gateway Motorsports Park

• KBM drivers have collected one win, 85 laps led, one top-five and one top-10 finish resulting in an average finish of 11.0 across three starts at Gateway
• Darrell Wallace Jr., qualified second and led a race-high 85 laps en route to victory in last year’s 160-lap event at the Illinois 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 has not called the shots for a Truck Series race at Gateway, but registered an average finish of 16.0 across two NASCAR XFINITY Series starts with Michael Annett at the Illinois track in 2010.

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

-KBM-