After being sidelined for two races, Erik Jones has returned to the helm of his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.
Jones, who sustained a fractured vertebra in a crash last month at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, was cleared to compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Legacy M.C. reserve driver Corey Heim filled in for Jones. He earned a best finish of 22nd at Kansas.
During a press conference on Saturday, Jones said he’s feeling healthy, but with an asterisk attached.
“I would say 100 percent. Well maybe 95,” Jones admitted. “I feel 100 percent, but I say 95 because I can’t go in the gym and lift weight.
“I can’t put that kind of load on my spine from a precautionary standpoint. I would say 95, just from that, but I feel 100 and ready to get back.”
Along with his solid recovery has been the lack of restrictions he’s endured due to the type of fracture.
“Through this injury, it has kind of been a pain tolerance thing, more than anything,” Jones said. “It is a stable fracture – there is not really a risk of it becoming unstable or anything like that – so it is mostly what I feel like I can take.
“Some of it has just been getting back outside, working at my house seeing what feels comfortable and what makes me sore and what doesn’t. I would say we are at three weeks tomorrow.
“Four weeks, next week, I feel like I will be able to get back in the gym and do my normal thing again, and at five weeks, be totally back to normal.”
Fortunately for Jones, lifting won’t be a priority as much as hanging on to his race car at the always-demanding Darlington track.
While The Track Too Tough To Tame is typically an unwelcome one for some drivers, it’s the opposite for Jones.
Two of Jones’ three career Cup Series wins have come at Darlington, including his most recent one two years ago aboard the No. 43.
For Jones, his success at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval isn’t pinned to anything in particular.
“I think it is a combination of things. I don’t think it’s one thing,” Jones said. “Through the years, I’ve had some good cars here, which obviously helps. I always feel comfortable here, and always have. I came here in the Xfinity Series in 2016 for the first time, and felt good, but first race here in Cup in ’17, I was just really comfortable with what the track was doing and how it changed and transitioned and how the tires fell off and how you need to manage your race.
“I feel like I have a good feel for that. I think that is a lot of it. It’s the feel of how the car transitions through the run, how these tires fall off. The track is changing every year as it is getting older,” Jones continued.
“We have the patch off of (turn) two, which has changed things more than probably a lot of people thought, but overall, I think a lot of it is being able to manage through the run, and through the race – really racing the track too. You hear that term less and less now, but being able to go out and race the track is something useful as well.”
Jones starts 30th on Sunday at Darlington.