Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was made available to the media at Texas Motor Speedway:
ERIK JONES, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What has today been like bouncing between all three series?
“It’s been busy today. I think today was the busiest day overall for us — just the sense that we’re practicing all three cars and we’re racing tonight in the Truck Series. It’s just been kind of a busy day and going back and forth between all three series and all these garages and trying to get our stuff setup right.”
Does practicing the Cup car help prepare you for tonight’s Truck Series race?
“It does a lot really for both nights. I know getting here to do the Cup qualifying here in a little bit and then hopping in the truck will definitely make the truck a little easier to drive for me. It’s nice whenever I get to run the XFINITY Series let alone the Cup Series. Just excited about that and excited to get our Tundra going tonight, I think it’s going to be a good night.”
Have you spoken with Matt Kenseth today?
“I have not, I haven’t talked to Matt (Kenseth). I’ll probably send him a text tonight and just see what’s up and talk to him a little bit about this track and a little bit about Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief). I don’t know Jason too well, the crew chief over there, so just get some more information on him.”
When did you find out that you would be in the Cup car this weekend?
“We knew as soon as the penalty was announced that it was a possibility before they went through the appeals process. Then when the appeals process was done, we knew we were going to be doing it. We’d done some things throughout the week to try to get prepared a little bit. Mainly, fitting in the 20 car and making sure everything was going to be somewhat close. I found out I guess for sure last night when everything was all said and done.”
What is your goal for Sunday’s race?
“We want to make it to the end of the race. In Kansas we had really good speed and unfortunately didn’t put ourselves in even a position to have a shot by not making it to the end, which was my fault. I want to be able to make it to the end of the race and say we ran all 334 laps on Sunday and if we can say that and have run in the top-15 I think that’s a really good day for us.”
Are you more comfortable this weekend after running the Cup races at Kansas and Bristol?
“For sure, just having that one Cup race, it’s only one race, but there’s a lot that was learned just in that one day and getting figured out a little bit and seeing what they differences were between racing the Cup car compared to the truck or the XFINITY Series.”
Do you have a realistic chance to win the race on Sunday?
“I never say it’s out of the question. Obviously, the 20 team has been really, really fast here the last month as well as the rest of Joe Gibbs Racing. I think we have a good shot here and I’m excited to get to Phoenix for sure. That’s probably one of my favorite tracks we get to go to. It’s not out of the question, but I think it’s definitely a little far-fetched in some ways.”
How has working with the 20 team compared to working with the 11 and 18 Cup teams this year?
“I didn’t really know anybody on the 20 car. I knew Adam (Stevens, 18 crew chief) really well on the 18 and that kind of made everything a little bit easier just knowing the crew chief. Going into this weekend I didn’t know Jason (Ratcliff, 20 crew chief) that well, I’d only met him once. I really didn’t know anybody that worked on the 20 so I just had to kind of get to know people. When you kind of step into that position, it’s a hard spot for anybody to fill in for a driver and just try to get yourself acquainted with a team within a week or two weeks, it’s not the simplest thing to do.”
Have you been working on communication with Jason Ratcliff and the team today?
“That’s a big part of it, getting that chemistry between Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and I and Jason’s a great guy and obviously a really good crew chief. Getting that communication pattern down, which I think we did a nice job of kind of accelerating that process in practice and getting a little closer on that.”
What has Coach Gibbs said to you today?
“I actually haven’t talked to Coach (Joe Gibbs, team owner) today. He called my Dad and let him know that he was just happy as could be with the way practice went for us. I’m sure I’ll hear from him tonight after the Truck race and he knows this is a tough position for everybody involved and I think he’s just excited that we do have some speed here this weekend so far in practice and I think he’s looking forward to seeing how we do Sunday night.”
