Writer: Gage O'Leary
Twitter: @Deep_Shot_Gage
Twitter: @DeepShotSports
Erik Jones' wins Darlington:
After 8 very long years one of NASCAR's most famous hotrods has made it's way back to victory lane... Prior to Sunday night the last driver of Richard Petty's famed 43 car to win was Aric Almirola in 2014 at Daytona, it was a rain shortened Coke Zero 400. At the time Richard Petty Motorsports was a Ford team. Sunday night at Darlington 26-year old Michigan driver Erik Jones snapped a winless streak for the 43 that lastest 2,982 days. Jones' snapped his own personal winless streak however, it was his first points paying race win since 2019, ironically that win also came at Darlington. This was Erik Jones first win with Petty GMS and Chevrolet since he joined RPM in 2021, this is the first year of the merger between GMS Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports. Jones' was let go from power house Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2020 season. At JGR Erik Jones won 9 Xfinity Series races with 50 top 10's and 15 pole's. He went on to win a few Cup Races with Gibbs, he won the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, the 2019 Southern 500 at Darlington, and 2020 Busch light Clash at Daytona... The win this past weekend was special for the Petty GMS camp as it was the #200th win all-time for the #43, the driver's to win in the 43 are Richard Petty (192 wins) Bobby Hamilton (2 wins) Jim Paschal (2 wins) Aric Almirola (1 win) John Andretti (1 win) Lee Petty (1 win) and Erik Jones with his win at Darlington. Also very cool is the fact that Jones is the only driver to ever win 2 Snowball Derby's and 2 Southern 500's. Something worth noting is that RCR's Austin Dillon won the weekend prior in the #3 car at Daytona, this is the first time since 1999 that the 3 and the 43 won back-to-back races when Dale Earnhardt won in the 3 car and John Andretti won in the 43 car. Although it was one week to late to make the Playoffs for the 43 team, Jones said he doesn't look at life that way when asked about the missed opportunity to make the playoffs and advance to the RD of 12 with the win last weekend. A couple weeks back Team Co-Owner's Maury Gallagher and Richard Petty were able to sign Erik Jones to a multi-year contract to keep him in the 43 car, the same can't be said for Jones teammate Ty Dillon, driver of the 42 car, it was announced that he would no longer continue to drive the car at the conclusion of this season. JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson will run his first full-time season in the 42 car next season as Jones teammate. So now that a wins out of the way for Erik Jones and the 43 team, does the momentum they've built carry into more success in 2022?...
Can momentum carry Jones, Petty GMS to more success this season?
Jones and the 43 camp have been a fun underdog story to watch this season as EJ has performed past his expectations. Last year was a struggle for RPM in the final year with the old car. Jones only had 7 top 10's last season (Clash at the Daytona RC, Las Vegas, Bristol Dirt, Indy RC, Bristol Night Race, Talladega, and Martinsville) 3 of those came came in the Playoffs much like the Darlington win this past weekend. Jones highest finish last season was 7th at the Indianapolis RC. EJ had an average finish of 19.67 with a Qualifying average of 22.7. Jones has 4 DNF's in 2021, he only led 9 laps all year. Now the fun part is looking at his stats with still 9 races left this season, the difference since the merger that formed Petty GMS has been night & day. Erik Jones has 13 top 10's this season and it started with 3 straight, he's earned top 10's at The LA Coliseum 2x if you count the heat race, he finished 6th at the Duels at Daytona and in the regular season he has top 10's at Auto Club, COTA, Bristol Dirt heat, Talladega, Dover, Texas, WWT Raceway, Atlanta, Pocono, Michigan, Watkins Glen, and Darlington. Jones has 7 top 5's (LA Coliseum 2x, Auto Club, Bristol Dirt Heat, Texas All-Star Open, Atlanta, Darlington) he came up just shy of the pole at Auto Club where he qualified 2nd behind Austin Cindric. In 2022 Erik Jones has an average finish of 16.37% and a Qualifying average of 20.1%. He's led 122 laps compared to just 9 the year prior. He's had 4 DNF's this season and his worst finish was a 35th place run at Richmond. So what does the rest of the season bring for Jones and Petty GMS?...
Previewing the rest of the 2022 season for Erik Jones:
There's 9 races left on the schedule and 9 different tracks, so to end the article I'll show you how he's faired at these upcoming tracks in his career.
Kansas: Erik Jones finished 32nd earlier this year at Kansas in a race won by Kurt Busch, but he's been strong on similar tracks this season. EJ has an average finish of 17.3 at Kansas with an average starting position of 17.7. Jones has had success at Kansas with 2 top 5's and 3 top 10's. His best finish at Kansas was a podium finish coming home 3rd.
Bristol Night Race: Bristol is a place Jones has been great at in the past, he even won the pole there in 2017, that was one of his 2 career pole's. Jones was leading here in 2020 but got into the wall out front costing him a chance at the win. He has an average finish of 12.4 at Bristol with an average start of 14.0. He has 2 top 5's and 3 top 10's and has led 33 laps there. His best finish was 3rd.
Texas: Jones has always been good on intermediate tracks besides his first season at RPM. At Texas Jones has 1 top 5 and 3 top 10's. He has an average finish of 10.6 and an average start of 21.0. He's led 48 laps at Texas and his best finish was 4th, his worst was 21st.
Talladega: If you follow NASCAR then you know that Jones has been one of the best plate racers in the sport over the past few seasons. For whatever reason Jones finds a way to get up front and stay upfront at the bigger tracks. He has 2 wins at Daytona and has came close multiple times at Talladega even as recently as this spring where he was leading coming to the checkered flag before Larson went high and as Jones went to block he shot loose. He went on to finish 6th as Ross Chastain took the win. Jones has an average finish of 14.6 with an average start of 19.4. He has 2 top 5's and 4 top 10's at Dega and has led 50 laps there in 7 starts at the track. His best finish was 2nd and his worst was 34th.
Charlotte Roval: The Roval is one of the most exciting Road Course's on the NASCAR schedule. There's only been a few races at the track so the sample size is small. Jones has an average finish of 20.0 and an average start of 15.3. He has scored 1 top 5 and that was his only top 10 at the track, he led 1 lap and his best finish was 3rd, his worst was 40th.
Las Vegas: The 2nd track that Jones has won a pole at, he has a great run going earlier this season running 6th with a few laps to go until a tire went down and caused him to crash hard into the wall ending his day. He has an average finish of 21.0 and an average start of 21.0... How often do you see that?... He has not earned a top 5 yet at Las Vegas but has 2 top 10's. He has not led a lap there yet. His best finish is 8th at Las Vegas and his worse is 36th.
Homestead-Miami: Jones will carry a new sponsor in Miami as he'll drive the "Morgan Law Group" Black, Petty Blue, White & Gold 43 car. Jones has an average finish of 17.0 at Homestead with an average start of 16.3. He has 1 top 5 and that was his only top 10 there. He's not yet led there, his best finish was 3rd and his worst was 27th.
Martinsville: Erik Jones finished 13th earlier this year at Martinsville. He has an average finish of 19.0 with an average start of 18.0. He has no top 5's but did score a top 10 on Halloween there last season. He has not yet led a lap there, his best finish was 8th and his worst was 30th.
Phoenix: Erik Jones finished 25th earlier this season at Phoenix, he has an average finish of 21.9 and an average start of 14.1. He doesn't have a top 5 but does have a top 10. He has not led a lap there, his best finish was 7th and his worse was 29th.
Thank you for reading, enjoy the upcoming race at Kansas!
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