Erik Jones continues Top-3 hot streak at Pocono By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
Erik Jones and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team continued their hot streak for the third straight week in a row at Pocono Raceway.
Three weeks ago, at Kentucky Speedway, Jones finished third, following up that result a week later at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with another third-place finish.
With the NASCAR playoffs five weeks away, Jones is still without a win but could make the playoffs on points.
However, a check in the win column would guarantee him a spot in the 16-driver lineup to make a run for the Championship.
Last Sunday’s Gander RV 400 from Long Pond, Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway saw victory within reach for the 23-year old driver.
Jones crossed the finish line in his No. 20 Reser’s Toyota as runner-up to his teammate, Denny Hamlin who claimed his fifth victory at The Tricky Triangle.
With the event coming down to a fuel mileage game, anything was possible, and Jones acknowledged saving fuel and how close him and his team have been to finding victory lane this season.
“Yeah, it’s probably my least favorite part of racing is just having to save fuel”, said Jones. “You know our opportunity to win when we were going green was to make it to the end and it would’ve been really tight. Those guys kind of gave up saving there and we were hoping it was going to stay green.”
“Man, it’s a bummer, we’re close every week, you know third, third, second, so we’re right there. We’re doing great building points, but it sure would be nice to just knock a win out. We’re just so close it stings a little bit more.”
Either way the 20 group has been on it. Proud to see how far we’ve come the last three months
— Erik Jones (@Erik_Jones) July 28, 2019
Jones started out the season with a third-place finish in the season opener Daytona 500, but then saw a decline in solid results.
Despite some not so hot luck on the track, Jones has had a fairly successful season heading into this Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen from Watkins Glen International having earned seven Top-5s, and 11 Top-10s.
Jones has finishes of tenth and fifth in his only two other MENCS starts at the track.
With a good track record at The Glen, the Michigan native could capture his first victory of the season and also keep his hot streak rolling as these summer months tick on.
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