Erik Jones earned a third-place finish in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at The ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jones was followed to the line by teammate Martin Truex Jr. who finished sixth in the race. Both Truex and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin will advance to the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Kyle Busch finished 30th after being forced to pit late in the race, Busch will not advance into the next round of The Playoffs.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Race 32 of 36 – 248.5 miles, 109 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Chase Elliott*
2nd, Joey Logano*
3rd, ERIK JONES
4th, Kurt Busch*
5th, Ryan Blaney*
7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
15th, DENNY HAMLIN
24th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
25th, DANIEL SUÁREZ
30th, KYLE BUSCH
38th, TIMMY HILL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ERIK JONES, No. 20 Craftsman ACE/CMN Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How tough was Chase Elliott in today’s race?
“I knew we were there and had tires. We were in a really good spot, but I knew that 9 (Chase Elliott) was really fast and has been pretty tough to beat here the last few years. They’ve got something figured out, they’re really quick here. I was just kind of losing time to him everywhere. He caught me and I couldn’t hold him off more than a couple cars. The Craftsman Camry was good, it was good to get a top-three. Probably a little bit better than what we ran, but we’ll definitely take it.”
MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
How eventful were the closing laps for you?
“Had a little bit of a run on them coming to one to go and probably stuffed it in there a little too far. Tried to get out from inside of him (Kurt Busch) and hit that water back there and from there it was all over. Little too aggressive there at the end. Overall, just a so-so day for the Bass Pro Toyota. We had decent speed, not winning speed, but had a lot of fun out there, especially in the rain.”
How do you feel heading into the Round of 8?
“For sure. We have some good tracks coming up for us. Looking forward to Kansas next weekend for sure. See if we can’t go get one there, it’s been a while.”
Toyota Racing PR
