Erik Jones scored his third top-10 of 2022, but not the outcome he’d hope for at Talladega (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish).
There’s a saying about Talladega Superspeedway — the start/finish line is past the tri-oval and towards Turn 1. Erik Jones went from potential GEICO 500 winner to an agonizing sixth in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Alabama.
Leading 25 of 188 laps, Jones was in front of the field in the closing laps with guys like Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain hot on his tail, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.
For Jones, there was a lot on the line because his most recent points-paying Cup race victory was the 2019 Southern 500 when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. As for Petty GMS Motorsports, the No. 43 Chevrolet haven’t won since Aric Almirola in the rain-shortened 2014 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.
At one point, both droughts were on their way of ending, but in usual superspeedway racing passion, the madness unfolded on the last lap.
Jones was able to lead the pack all the way past turn 3, pulling away from the pack. That’s when Larson began making his moves thanks to getting a run with the bottom draft line.
From the bottom to the middle, Jones attempted to block Larson’s pass when all hell broke loose.
Larson got hooked by Chastain as a result of Austin Dillon’s push. The contact darted Larson onto Kurt Busch, sending the latter hard into the wall before bouncing back across the bottom, clipping his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, sending him hard into the wall as well.
Simultaneously, Jones’ No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro wiggled, allowing the bottom lane now led by Chastain to sweep by him in the tri-oval. Now defenseless, Jones saw a third career Cup win fade way as Chastain scored his second win of the year.
Chastain scoring the win at Talladega as Jones settled for sixth (Photo: James Gilbert | Getty Images via NASCAR Media).
The Michigan racer picked up his third top-10 of the season, but it could’ve been more sweeter. Jones felt he should’ve just stayed at the bottom and hope that Chastain led him home.
“I mean, just the last lap, right? It’s typical here. Been close here so many times, in this race and the fall race. U.S. Air Force Chevy had good speed, felt good to be up front,” Jones on his afternoon.
“Coming there that last lap, we were single file. I felt pretty good about it. They kind of doubled up behind us. That top lane was getting some momentum. Looking back, I wish I would have stayed at the bottom and let the 1 push me. I didn’t realize they were coming with that much speed.
“But try to defend on (Larson), you’re too far ahead already right here. Obviously a defense on the 5 kind of gives the door to (Chastain),” Jones continued.
“It is what it is. You’re trying to just win the race. You can only see how much is going on from the seat. You’re trying to make the best decision you can the last 1500 feet.
“Happy to run up front, lead laps. Would really love to get the 43 in Victory Lane. I thought today might be the day. All day long we were fast and had speed. Especially being up front there at the end, the last 10, I knew we had a shot, but just couldn’t quite close it out.”
Sunday’s result improved him to 17th in the championship standings, outside the playoff cutoff line by 12 points over Christopher Bell. Heartbreak aside, Jones will head to Dover Motor Speedway for the running of the Duramax Drydene 400. Live race coverage begins Sunday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
In nine previous Cup starts at the “Monster Mile,” Jones has two top-10 finishes with a personal best result of fourth in the fall 2018 race.
