{"id":27872,"date":"2019-09-02T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=27872"},"modified":"2019-09-02T10:02:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T15:02:54","slug":"erik-jones-claims-southern-500-win-but-playoff-spots-are-still-up-for-grabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/02\/erik-jones-claims-southern-500-win-but-playoff-spots-are-still-up-for-grabs\/","title":{"rendered":"Erik Jones claims Southern 500 win, but Playoff spots are still up for grabs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Erik Jones, driver of the #20 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 02, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DARLINGTON, S.C. \u2013 As the clock ticked toward 2 a.m. on Monday, in a race delayed by  rain for nearly four hours, Erik Jones<\/strong> claimed the most important victory of his career in the Bojangles\u2019 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Erik Jones, driver of the #20 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 02, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

With his contract status at Joe Gibbs Racing a source of speculation throughout much of the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> season, Jones made an emphatic statement, holding off teammate Kyle Busch and charging Kyle Larson after taking the lead from Larson on Lap 283.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of pressure,\u201d said Jones, who claimed his first victory of the season and the second of his career. \u201cKyle (Busch) is a great race car driver. I\u2019ve raced him a lot, and obviously you want to beat him to win, right? I was just locked in, man. I stayed focused. I really thought it was our night when we got out front.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing for me to be able to hold off Kyle. It\u2019s really cool, just for the history we have with Kyle giving me my first opportunity in the Truck Series (at Kyle Busch Motorsports). To race him for the win in such a big race, that\u2019s pretty cool and something I\u2019m never going to forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Erik Jones, driver of the #20 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 02, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Busch, in fact, got within a car-length of Jones in the closing laps but a late brush with the outside wall ended his chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI killed it,\u201d Busch radioed to his team. Having cut a tire with the contact, Busch hugged the outside wall for the final lap and a half and still managed to finish third after Larson charged past into the runner-up spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he started to inch out a little bit,\u201d Busch said after the race, \u201cI was trying to save my right front, because I knew my right front wasn’t going to make it the whole rest of the way without me knocking the wall down, and I was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hit the wall with about four to go and then I hit it again with three to go, and it killed it that time. Luckily, we were able to salvage a third, just dragging the fence for the last two laps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson had the lead for a restart on Lap 282, after a massive pileup in Turn 4 on lap 275 ruined strong runs by Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. But Jones grabbed the lead one circuit after the restart and held the top spot after a cycle of green-flag pit stops with 40 laps left.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Erik Jones, driver of the #20 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota, celebrates after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 02, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cErik did a good job on that last restart to get by me, and I was better than him all throughout that run,\u201d Larson said. \u201cIt’s just I couldn’t ever do anything with him, just because the dirty air was really bad. Wore out surface and the groove is already narrow, and it was just extra difficult. I felt like both 18 (Kyle Busch) and I were a little bit better than he was at the end, but couldn’t do nothing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kurt Busch was the dominant driver in Stage 1, leading at the competition caution after Lap 35 and posting a convincing win in the first 100-lap stage, but Jimmie Johnson was arguably just as big a winner–temporarily.<\/p>\n

Desperate to make the Playoffs, the seven time series champion finished second to Busch in the stage and scored nine points, doubly significant because none of the three drivers Johnson was chasing for a berth in the postseason\u2014Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez–finished in the top 10.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Erik Jones, driver of the #20 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota, races Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Clover Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 02, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Excellent work in the pits, however, vastly improved Bowyer\u2019s track position in Stage 2, and though he lost spots in traffic late in the run, he held sixth in the stage and edged Johnson by one spot. Suarez and Newman, on the other hand, tangled on Lap 140, with Suarez turning Newman off Turn 2 to cause the fourth caution of the night.<\/p>\n

Neither Suarez nor Newman scored points in the stage, won by Kyle Busch, who was first off pit road after caution for Corey LaJoie\u2019s spin on Lap 157. Brother Kurt was second in the stage after chasing Bowyer for 30 laps and finally grabbing the second position on lap 187.<\/p>\n

But both Kurt Busch and Johnson were innocent victims of the multicar crash on Lap 275, and Johnson surrendered most of the margin he had gained over the other \u201cbubble drivers\u201d in the first two stages. Johnson ended the night 18 points out of the final Playoff-eligible position, with Newman (23rd in the Southern 500) and Suarez (11th) tied for the last berth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

William Byron, driver of the #24 HendrickAutoguard\/CityChvrltThrwbck Chev, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 01, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bowyer finished sixth and moved up to 15th in the standings, eight points to the good over Newman and Suarez. With one race left to decide the Playoff grid, Ryan Blaney, Larson, William Byron and Aric Almirola are now locked into the postseason, as is Jones with the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a car\u2014just bad luck,\u201d Johnson radioed to his team on the cool-down lap. \u201cLet\u2019s go to Indy (next Sunday\u2019s race) and kick some butt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson likely will need a victory to advance to the postseason for the 16th straight season.<\/p>\n

Jones, on the other hand, already has the win he needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there anything more to say?\u201d Jones asked rhetorically. \u201cThere’s been a lot of doubt and speculation. I’ve put my heart and soul into this race team. This is my living and how I want to make a career and what I want to do.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t get any better than this. On my list, this race is really high, and it’s going to look damn good to see my face on that trophy.”<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Erik Jones – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MENCS_DAR_EJones_090119.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – 70th Annual Bojangles\u2019 Southern 500<\/b><\/p>\n

Darlington Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Darlington, South Carolina<\/b><\/p>\n

Sunday, September 1, 2019<\/b><\/p>\n

                   1. (15)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 367.<\/p>\n

                   2. (3)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 367.<\/p>\n

                   3. (33)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 367.<\/p>\n

                   4. (11)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 367.<\/p>\n

                   5. (2)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 367.<\/p>\n

                   6. (13)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 367.<\/p>\n

                   7. (4)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 367.<\/p>\n

                   8. (19)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 367.<\/p>\n

                   9. (17)  Paul Menard, Ford, 367.<\/p>\n

                   10. (14)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 367.<\/p>\n

                   11. (5)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, 367.<\/p>\n

                   12. (12)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 367.<\/p>\n

                   13. (10)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 366.<\/p>\n

                   14. (7)  Joey Logano, Ford, 366.<\/p>\n

                   15. (22)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 366.<\/p>\n

                   16. (6)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 366.<\/p>\n

                   17. (30)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 366.<\/p>\n

                   18. (16)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   19. (8)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   20. (29)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   21. (1)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   22. (20)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   23. (24)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 365.<\/p>\n

                   24. (28)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 365.<\/p>\n

                   25. (25)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 364.<\/p>\n

                   26. (26)  David Ragan, Ford, 363.<\/p>\n

                   27. (32)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 362.<\/p>\n

                  28. (31)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 361.<\/p>\n

                   29. (9)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 356.<\/p>\n

                   30. (34)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 355.<\/p>\n

                   31. (37)  Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, 354.<\/p>\n

                   32. (35)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 352.<\/p>\n

                   33. (21)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 351.<\/p>\n

                   34. (39)  Joey Gase(i), Toyota, 349.<\/p>\n

                   35. (38)  Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 344.<\/p>\n

                   36. (27)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 330.<\/p>\n

                   37. (18)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, Accident, 274.<\/p>\n

                   38. (23)  Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 274.<\/p>\n

                   39. (36)  BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 194.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  133.825 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 46 Secs. Margin of Victory:  4.058 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 35 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  13 among 8 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   W. Byron 0;B. Keselowski 1-19;K. Busch 20-69;C. Elliott 70-78;K. Busch 79-103;K. Larson 104-142;K. Busch 143-159;K. Busch 160-277;K. Larson 278-282;E. Jones 283-320;C. Bowyer 321;K. Busch 322-323;J. Johnson 324-326;E. Jones 327-367.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 1 time for 118 laps; Kurt Busch 4 times for 94 laps; Erik Jones 2 times for 79 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 44 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 19 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 9 laps; Jimmie Johnson 1 time for 3 laps; Clint Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,48,42,18,11,9,2,22,19,20<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,1,11,20,42,14,48,24,2,4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. \u2013 As the clock ticked toward 2 a.m. on Monday, in a race delayed by  rain for nearly four hours, Erik Jones claimed the most important victory of his career in the Bojangles\u2019 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. With his contract status at Joe Gibbs Racing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":27880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[650,651,180,16],"class_list":["post-27872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-bojangles-southern-500","tag-darlington-raceway","tag-erik-jones","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DAR_MENCS_VLCelebration_090119-e1567436029374.jpg?fit=640%2C444&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7fy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27872"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27882,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27872\/revisions\/27882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}