Erik Jones Claims a Victory in Texas Xfinity Race

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – Young Erik Jones dominated the last stage of the event to win the My Bariatric Solutions 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.  Jones led 112 of 200 laps for his seventh career Xfinity victory, four of them coming on 1 1/2-mile tracks.

Jones finished a half-second ahead of Ryan Blaney, another full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver and the second-place qualifier for Sunday's race. Blaney led 43 laps and went into his final pit stop still with the lead before Jones went back in front for good on lap 156.

“We passed him before the last pit stop and I thought our car was pretty decent right there,” Blaney said. “We didn't come out with the lead and that hurt us. I think if we would have come out with the lead, I don't know if I could have held him off.”

Only nine drivers finished on the lead lap, and only seven held the lead at any point during the race.  Blaney led the second-most laps at 43.

Kevin Harvick, the polesitter for Sunday's Cup race, finished third more than 21 seconds off the lead, ahead of Austin Dillon and Cole Custer.

Darrell Wallace Jr. overcame a spin 67 laps into the race to finish sixth, the fifth consecutive race in that position. That is the second-longest streak in the series with the same top-10 finish, one behind Jack Ingram's string of six consecutive runner-up finishes in 1983.

Wallace also won stage two, after Harvick won the first stage of the race. Elliott Sadler kept the Xfinity season points lead after a 10th-place finish, the first driver off the lead lap. But his gap over William Byron, who finished seventh and got points in the first two stages, was trimmed from 17 to six points.

Still only 20, and now a full-time driver in the upper-level Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for Furniture Row Racing, Jones got his fifth top-five finish in his five Xfinity races at Texas in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.  

Jones will be in a backup Cup car for the O’Reilly 500 Cup race after his crash in practice Friday, and will start 36th in the 40-car field.

Unofficial Race Results for the 21St Annual My Bariatric Solutions 300, Texas Motor Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, St1, St2, Playoff Pts, Tms, Laps, Pts, Status, Laps
1) 2, Erik Jones(i), No. 20 GameStop/GAEMS Toyota, 1, 6, 6, 3, 112, 0, Running, 200
2) 4, Ryan Blaney(i), No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, 2, , , 2, 43, 0, Running, 200
3) 14, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 10, , , , , 0, Running, 200
4) 3, Austin Dillon(i), No. 2 Ruud Chevrolet, 9, , , , , 0, Running, 200
5) 6, Cole Custer #, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, , , , , , 32, Running, 200
6) 8, Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 6 Leidos Ford, 7, 10, , 1, 1, 36, Running, 200
7) 5, William Byron #, No. 9 Axalta/Priefert Chevrolet, 4, 1, 1, 2, 17, 47, Running, 200
8) 12, Ty Dillon(i), No. 3 Bulwark/Oncor Chevrolet, , , , , , 0, Running, 200
9) 19, Matt Tifft #, No. 19 SiriusXM Toyota, , , , , , 28, Running, 200
10) 10, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, , 2, , , , 36, Running, 199
11) 9, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford, 5, 3, , , , 40, Running, 199
12) 15, Daniel Suarez(i), No. 18 Juniper Toyota, 6, , , 2, 3, 0, Running, 199
13) 20, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet, , 4, , , , 31, Running, 199
14) 16, Spencer Gallagher #, No. 23 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet, , , , , , 23, Running, 199
15) 13, Brandon Jones, No. 33 Freightliner Chevrolet, , 5, , 1, 5, 28, Running, 199
16) 18, Blake Koch, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, , 8, , , , 24, Running, 198
17) 23, Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 WinField United Toyota, , , , , , 20, Running, 198
18) 17, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Smiley Transportation Chevrolet, , 7, , , , 23, Running, 198
19) 24, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, , 9, , , , 20, Running, 198
20) 34, Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, , , , , , 17, Running, 197
21) 28, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, , , , , , 16, Running, 197
22) 27, JJ Yeley, No. 14 Toyota, , , , , , 15, Running, 197
23) 22, Ross Chastain, No. 4 GK Services Chevrolet, , , , , , 14, Running, 197
24) 38, David Starr, No. 99 WHATABURGER Chevrolet, , , , , , 13, Running, 196
25) 29, Ray Black Jr., No. 07 GlobalHBOT.org Chevrolet, , , , , , 12, Running, 195
26) 35, Joey Gase, No. 52 Donate Life Texas Chevrolet, , , , , , 11, Running, 195
27) 30, BJ McLeod, No. 78 Chevrolet, , , , , , 10, Running, 194
28) 33, Alex Labbe, No. 90 Can-Am/Kappa Chevrolet, , , , , , 9, Running, 194
29) 21, Jeb Burton, No. 24 Estes Express Lines Toyota, , , , , , 8, Running, 192
30) 32, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Flex Seal Chevrolet, , , , , , 7, Running, 188
31) 37, Timmy Hill, No. 40 CrashClaimsR.Us Chevrolet, , , , , , 6, Running, 179
32) 7, Daniel Hemric #, No. 21 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet, , , , , , 5, Running, 172
33) 11, Tyler Reddick, No. 42 Broken Bow Records Chevrolet, 8, , , , , 7, Running, 148
34) 1, Joey Logano(i), No. 12 PPG Ford, 3, , , 1, 19, 0, Engine, 145
35) 36, Harrison Rhodes, No. 01 Flex Tape Chevrolet, , , , , , 2, Clutch, 137
36) 40, Jeff Green, No. 8 Chevrolet, , , , , , 1, Suspension, 114
37) 25, Brennan Poole, No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, , , , , , 1, Accident, 66
38) 26, Casey Mears, No. 98 GEICO Military Ford, , , , , , 1, Rear Gear, 50
39) 39, Carl Long, No. 13 Lovers or Losers Toyota, , , , , , 1, Steering, 24
40) 31, Jordan Anderson(i), No. 93 RSS Racing Chevrolet, , , , , , 0, Electrical, 17
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 16 Mins, 49 Secs.
Average Speed: 131.563 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.512 Seconds
Race Comments: Erik Jones won the 21st Annual My Bariatric Solutions 300, his seventh victory in 63 NASCAR XFINITYSeries races.

Failed to Qualify: (2) 97 Stephen Leicht, 74 Mike Harmon.

Caution Flags: 6 for 31 laps: Laps: 13-15 (No. 21 incident in turn 1 [None]); 47-57 (Stage 1 conclusion [14]); 63-65 (No. 18 spin in turn 2 [5]); 67-71 (No. 6, 7, 18, 42 and 48 incident in turn 3 [01]); 85-87 (No. 0 spin in turn 2 [99]); 92-97 (Stage 2 conclusion [51]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers: J. Logano(i) 1-19; E. Jones(i) 20-48; W. Byron No.  49-57; D. Suarez(i) 58-59; R. Blaney(i) 60-84; W. Byron No.  85-92; E. Jones(i) 93-130; R. Blaney(i) 131-148; D. Wallace Jr. 149; B. Jones 150-154; D. Suarez(i) 155; E. Jones(i) 156-200.

Coors Light Pole Award: Joey Logano, No. 12 192.768 mph
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Joe Gibbs Racing Engines - Mark Cronquist, No. 20 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Erik Jones, No. 20 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Cole Custer, No. 00

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2017, Issue 4, Posted 8:59 PM, 04.08.2017