Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
Despite jumping the initial start, Erik Jones would finish best of the XFINITY regulars in the Heads Up Georgia 250, finishing third behind Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson.
Jones qualified for the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the second spot, starting on the front row alongside his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Busch. On the initial start, though, Jones would reach the line before Busch, bringing forth a pass-thru penalty. Jones stated afterwards on his radio that he tried to not jump it, but was forced to via being pushed by Larson. Busch defended his teammate on his radio, stating that he had spun his tires to cause Jones to jump.
The rookie would catch an early break with a caution coming out on lap eight to allow him to catch up to the field after serving his penalty without going down a lap. Jones restarted at the tail end of the field, and combining a quick No. 20 Hisense USA Toyota Camry with pit road strategy, he made his way back to the front to challenge for the front spots in the late going.
“It just made the day a lot longer,” he said. “I knew we had the car to do it, but it was just a matter of not burning the tires off while we were doing it and trying to get back up there. Just made it a long day for the Hisence Camry, but overall a good day, a nice rebound from Daytona and a good way to get the season on track and get headed in the right direction.”
On a day where tire management was key, Jones said the key for him was that the team gave him a car that was good on the long runs.
“I burnt the tires off it coming back through the pack after the penalty, but after that never really had any issues with tire fall off and thought we were really one of the best cars on the long runs,” he said. “So that was nice to see and an uplifting feeling, but just needed to be a little bit better.”
