DARLINGTON, S.C. – All year long, Erik Jones has been surrounded by questions of when he would join his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates as a 2019 winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Sunday night, Jones gave an emphatic answer to those queries and in the process, etched his name in history as a winner of one of stock-car racing’s crown jewel events.
Jones captured the 70th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, leading the final 41 laps after a late cycle of green-flag pit stops en route to his first victory at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval.
The Byron, Mich., native – piloting a throwback No. 20 Toyota Camry which hearkened back to his rookie year in an asphalt late model – fended off a series of advances from Kyle Busch in the closing laps, only securing the victory for good after Busch slapped the outside wall while giving chase with three to go.
From there, Jones raced away to the checkered flag, beating Kyle Larson to the stripe by 4.058 seconds.
The win made Jones the 11th different driver this season to top a Cup Series race. All four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have now visited victory lane at least once this year, combining for 13 victories.
Jones wasn’t worried about all of his teammates on Sunday night, however. He was just focused on one – Busch – and making sure he played perfect defense down the stretch to keep Busch behind him.
He did just that, but it left him exhausted after climbing from his car on the frontstretch.
“I’m wore out, both mentally and physically,” said Jones. “It’s more mentally than anything. Kyle was really running hard, and he’s one of the best guys out there. Our SportClips Camry was good, but man, I was pedaling as hard as I could. I’m just glad to hold him off and to finally get to Victory Lane, because I feel like it’s been coming for us for a long time.
“Man, it just feels really good to get the job done here.”
The race, which started four hours later than scheduled and actually ended in the early hours of Monday morning, was a topsy-turvy affair that didn’t actually see Jones rise into proper contention until the second half.
Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch split the stage victories, but it was a six-car accident in turn four with 93 laps left that changed the complexion of the race and catapulted Jones to the front of the field.
After Daniel Hemric blew a tire and spun in front of a pack of frontrunners in turns three and four, collecting top-five runners Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, Jones and the remainder of the lead-lap cars came down for their penultimate round of pit service, with Larson winning the race off pit road.
Jones joined him on the front row for the ensuing restart, and when the green flag waved with 86 to go, the hunt was on for the lead and the Southern 500 trophy.
Larson and Jones traded sliders in back to back corners on the first lap after the restart, but Jones powered underneath Larson again with 85 to go to take control of the top spot, trying to motor away.
Larson didn’t let Jones get very far, however, keeping him within arm’s reach all the way until Jones made his final stop from the race lead with 47 laps left. When the round of service concluded seven circuits later, Jones found himself back out front – but this time with Busch’s No. 18 hot on his heels.
For 40 grueling and intense laps, Busch tried to pressure Jones into making a mistake. But other than a brush with the outside wall with five to go, Jones never blinked, and Busch finally did on lap 365.
That sealed the deal for Jones, who charged away to a 1.6-second margin and gained more ground when Busch socked the SAFER Barrier hard coming off turn two on the second-to-last revolution.
“Several times in those last 80 laps, I really felt in control and thought to myself, ‘I don’t know why we can’t win this thing,’” Jones explained. “You have to believe, and I just kept my focus on the goal at hand. We’ve struggled to close the deal a few times this year and just missed out, but we did it tonight.”
Larson slipped past Busch in the closing moments to finish second, while Busch limped home in third and secured the regular-season championship with a 64-point margin over Joey Logano, who cut a tire on lap 172 and finished one lap down in 14th.
The Ford pair of Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski completed the top five, followed by Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Matt DiBenedetto, Paul Menard and Austin Dillon.
Polesitter William Byron never led a lap and finished 21st, two laps of the pace of the leaders.
As he reflected in the minutes after celebrating in victory lane, Jones let the impact of winning one of NASCAR’s biggest events wash over him, knowing he’d accomplished something momentous.
“It’s going to feel pretty special,” Jones said of his Southern 500 win. “There’s a lot of great names on this trophy, and this is one – this race for me has always held a special place.
“When you think of NASCAR, for myself, I think of Darlington and this tough place. We tamed it tonight.”
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