(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
LINCOLN, Ala. — Much like the spring NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Erik Jones found himself in the lead with two laps to go.
Unlike that race, where a long green-flag run settled the finish, Jones would have to win the YellaWood 500 on a late-race restart.
Jones, who led 10 times for 23 total laps, stayed in contention throughout the entire afternoon. He finished 10th and fifth in the first two stages, respectively, and continued to flex his superspeedway racing skills.
In the final stage, Jones made it to the bottom and controlled that lane for the majority of a 57-lap run. He battled Ryan Blaney, who controlled the top, and they went back and forth leading the race.
But with seven laps to go, Daniel Hemric stalled at the end of pit road, causing a caution. Jones led at the time and had lane choice for the restart with two laps to go.
Jones chose the top, but Ryan Blaney got a strong restart on the bottom with help from Ford teammate Michael McDowell. Jones dropped back to third before Chase Elliott jumped from the bottom lane to the top and got a run.
Entering Turn 3, the top started to lose momentum, but Jones gave Elliott a big push to put Elliott door-to-door with Blaney at the white flag.
Jones stayed attached to Elliott all the way back through Turns 3 and 4 before Elliott could clear Blaney and drop to the bottom. Jones had no help and fell back to sixth while Elliott went on to win the race in front of him.
(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
“Frustrating ending for sure, but we’ll take it and move on,” Jones said after the race. “I’m proud of the progress this 43 team and everyone at Petty GMS has made this season. It’s fun to drive cars like this and have a shot at the win.
“Our FOCUSfactor Chevy was fast all weekend. We were able to push and be pushed when needed and stay up front most of the race. I thought we had a good shot at the win and put ourselves in the right position on the final restart but unfortunately, the guys behind us had some issues and we didn’t get the push we needed on the final restart.”
A win for Jones would’ve been his second in five races. Last month, Jones won the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway for his second Southern 500 victory. It would’ve also been his second at a superspeedway — his first career victory came in the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.
Though the race didn’t end how Jones hoped, he scored his second top 10 in a row and his 12th of the season. He also improved his cushion over Bubba Wallace to stay 18th in driver points.
The Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on Oct. 9 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
