LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Race Preview: Darlington Raceway – Erik Jones

LEGACY Motor Club

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Stage points in Kansas: After starting 19th, Erik Jones had a roller coaster of a day at Kansas Speedway. He recovered from two spins, collected points by finishing fourth in Stage 2 and battled until the end to finish 21st. Jones remains 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.

‘Petty’ like it’s 1968:  In 1968, Richard Petty drove the iconic black-top Plymouth to victory lane 16 times. That season, Petty won 12 pole positions, while scoring 25 top-five, and 34 top-10 finishes in 49 starts.  

Throwback Inspiration: A key highlight of that 1968 season came when Petty was leading the Daytona 500 and sustained damage to the top of the windshield, causing the roof to separate from the windshield. Petty brought the No. 43 to the pits and the attention of his crew chief Dale Inman to fix. To everyone’s surprise, Petty jumped out of the car, grabbed a hammer and began hitting the roof of the car in an effort to fix the damage. Inman and crew brought out duct tape, and taped the windshield in place, sending the No. 43 back into the race. Petty and Inman finished eighth on the day, despite the major disruption to their race.

The Lady and The King: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team ambassador Richard Petty leads all drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington Raceway with 65 starts. ‘The King’, who holds the all-time wins record with 200, won just three times at “The Lady in Black’. He has 25 top-five and 34 top-10 finishes and has led 2,391 laps at the South Carolina egg-shaped track. All three of Petty’s wins came in a stretch of four races from 1966-1967. 

Dave knows Darlington: Crew chief Dave Elenz has 11 starts at Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series combined.  He won the 2021 Xfinity Series race with Noah Gragson and most recently won the 2022 Southern 500 with Jones, ending a 110-race drought for the driver and giving team owner Maury Gallagher his first NASCAR Cup Series win. Additionally, Elenz was the lead engineer on the No. 48 team of Jimmie Johnson when they won the Southern 500 on May 11, 2012. Johnson started second, finished first leading 134 laps, and scored the historic 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports that night. 

Jones is “Too Tough To Tame”: Jones is a two-time winner at Darlington Raceway.  The 26-year old has 10 starts at the Darlington, S.C., track throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career, scoring two historic wins, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes with 132 laps led. 

Erik in the FOX Booth: Jones will be in the FOX broadcast booth on Saturday, May 13th for the NASCAR Xfinity Series coverage of the Shriners Children’s 200.  Coverage begins at 1:30 pm ET on FOX. 

May is Melanoma Awareness Month: The month of May is Melanoma and Skin Care awareness – a cause very dear to the Jones family, as early cancer detection and care is one of the three pillars of the Erik Jones Foundation (EJF). Cancer detection and care have been a priority for Jones since his father, Dave, succumbed to the disease in 2016. Last October, Jones and his family attended the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) Gala in New York City, where Jones accepted the 2022 Courage Award on behalf of his late father. For more information visit: www.erikjonesracing.com/foundation/ .

Quoting Erik Jones: “Darlington will be a cool weekend. The ‘throwback’ weekend is always fun especially with the No. 43 Chevrolet the last few seasons. Just being able to run that car with the “Petty Blue” on it is an honor.  I always love going there, Darlington has been a good track for me, been a good track for our team.  So, hopefully we can get there, have the same kind of speed that we had last year, put a good race together, and contend.  I look forward to it and hopefully we will have a great race.” 

LEGACY Motor Club PR

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