By Jerry Jordan, Editor
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Stalked by several media members as he walked from the No. 81 Xfinity hauler, on Thursday, to the tunnel exit at Bristol Motor Speedway, Erik Jones confirmed he is in final negotiations with Joe Gibbs Racing to return to the Nu. 20 NASCAR Cup Series car in 2020.
“I wouldn’t be worried about having to cover it up,” Jones replied, when asked if his fans with a No. 20 tattoo needed to worry. “No, we are close. I hope we can announce something soon. I don’t want to put the cart ahead of the horse but we are all really close on something.”
Jones said he actually has a contact in-hand but hasn’t “cross the t’s and dotted the i’s, yet. It is something he says, will happen, but not having a deal hasn’t been a major distraction for him because he always believed he would be back at JGR.
“I have gotten it and seen it, nothing has been signed yet but we are really close to getting a deal done, I hope, in the next couple of weeks,” Jones said. “I don’t have any plans of going anywhere else, so I see myself hopefully announcing something here sometime soon.”
Jones said he has been straightforward from the beginning and if he had any indication that he wouldn’t be returning to JGR, he wouldn’t have been so confident in interviews about his future.