JONES AT MARTINSVILLE: With three previous Cup Series starts at the historic Martinsville Speedway, Jones best finish is 12th in his first-career series start at the track. In addition to his Cup Series starts at the track, Jones has five starts in Truck Series competition. Of those five starts, Jones best finish is third with an average start of 10.0 and average finish of 8.8. Only one of his five Truck Series starts at the track resulted in a finish outside the top 10. The track also holds the distinction of being the location of Jones first-career NASCAR start in 2013 when he was just 16.
· JGR AT MARTINSVILLE: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 126 total starts at Martinsville Speedway in Cup Series competition earning 10 wins, 43 top-five finishes, 67 top-10 finishes and eight pole starting positions. The team has led 4,761 laps, completed 60,959 of 62,978 attempted laps (96.8%) and earned an average start of 13.3 and an average finish of 13.2. Denny Hamlin leads the team with five wins followed by Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch with two wins each and Bobby Labonte with one win for the team.
· THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 CAMRY: This week the No. 20 Toyota Camry, DEWALT will return as the primary sponsor for Jones.
· KANSAS RECAP: With a fast CRAFTSMAN Toyota Camry, Erik Jones and the No. 20 team started the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway from the sixth position and with a strong car, crossed the finish line solidly in the fourth position.
· POINT STANDINGS UPDATE: Jones moves up to 14th in the point standings following his fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway.
· RACE INFO: The First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, October 28, 2018. Coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.
Jones Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Martinsville Speedway:
|
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12.0 |
18.3 |
Jones 2018 Season NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
|
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
|
32 |
1 |
8 |
17 |
1 |
88 |
10.5 |
13.4 |
Jones Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
|
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Poles |
Laps Led |
Avg. Start |
Avg. Finish |
|
71 |
1 |
13 |
31 |
2 |
399 |
12.5 |
15.7 |
From the Driver’s Seat:
Erik Jones: “Martinsville has been a tough track for me overall throughout my career. It’s a place I need to continue to work on and get better. We’ve always had ok speed, just haven’t had the race ability we need and handling that we need. We’ve had a good streak of runs the last few races, so it would be nice to keep it going at Martinsville and hopefully this is the time we can hit it right and leave with a solid finish.”
From the Pit Box:
Chris Gayle: “Martinsville was a challenging race for Erik and the 20 team in the spring. We never really had enough speed or the balance of the car good enough all weekend. The weather was an oddity with very cool temps and snow in the spring event so we didn’t get to qualify and had to start on points in 13th. This weekend will be the fourth race for Erik at Martinsville, and it’s a tough place to get a handle on without a lot of time behind the wheel at the track. We’ll do all we can to improve the car and help Erik improve with his driving style here. Hopefully we can make progress and get another top 10 for this 20 team, and Erik’s first top 10 at Martinsville.”
JGR PR/Photo Credit Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
