SiriusXM to partner with Denver-based team at Atlanta Motor Speedway
DENVER, Colo. (March 2, 2017) – The season-in-one-race atmosphere that is the Daytona 500 is now in the rearview mirror for Erik Jones, with his focus recalibrated to this week’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Jones and Furniture Row Racing’s No. 77 Toyota Camry team will also be sporting a different uniform and paint scheme for this weekend’s Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. SiriusXM will be the primary sponsor as part of a two-race partnership, with the second race yet to be announced.
5-hour ENERGY is scheduled as the primary sponsor of the No. 77 Toyota for 22 races and Sport Clips will have four during Jones’ NASCAR Cup Series rookie campaign. Sponsorship for the balance of the races will be announced at a later date.
This will be Jones first race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in NASCAR’s premier series but he has logged three previous starts on the 1.54-mile oval in Hampton, Ga., two in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2015, he qualified second and finished seventh in the Truck Series race (No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota) and qualified 12th and finished 13th in the XFINITY Series race (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota). In last season’s XFINITY Series race, he qualified on the outside of the front row and finished third in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
The 20-year-old Byron, Mich., native got caught up in a multicar wreck on Lap 104 of 200 in Sunday’s Daytona 500. The incident damaged the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry enough that it couldn’t be repaired within NASCAR’s new five-minute rule. Also out in the same incident were Toyota drivers Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.
“I thought we were in a good position, finally where we wanted to be with the 5-hour ENERGY Camry,” said Jones. “Everybody was really minding their P’s and Q’s, I thought up to that point, throughout the whole field. I was trying to figure it all out and like I said I thought we were in a good spot to cycle out towards the front. It’s unfortunate but I learned a lot.”
The 325-lap Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 will consist of three segments of 85, 85 and 150 laps (laps 85/170/325). In each of the first two segments drivers finishing in the top-10 will receive championship points (10 to 1) with the winner receiving one playoff point. The overall race winner will earn 40 championship points and five playoff points. Playoff points accumulated during the season will carry through the first three of the four playoff rounds.
The Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 will air live March 5 on the Fox network beginning at 1 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying is scheduled on FS1 for Friday, March 3, beginning at 5:45 p.m. ET. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, will provide comprehensive coverage from the speedway including qualifying on Saturday and the live race broadcast with full pre- and post-race coverage on Sunday. SiriusXM will also offer select “driver channels” that will carry in-car audio from some of the sport’s top drivers. For more info on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s programming and personalities go to www.SiriusXM.com/NASCAR.
