NASCAR CUP SERIES
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 22, 2021
MICHIGAN-NATIVE ERIK JONES, DRIVER OF THE NO. 43 MEDALLION BANK CAMARO ZL1 1LE FOR RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS, MET WITH MEDIA AND DISCUSSED HIS BUSY WEEK LEADING INTO TODAY’S FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400 AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. Teleconference Transcript:
LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO AND HOW YOUR WEEK HAS GONE
“Yeah, it’s been good. Right after Indianapolis, I drove up here and I’ve been here all week. I had a lot going on. Tuesday night I went down to the Tigers game in Detroit and threw out the first pitch, which was really cool, especially since I’m a Tigers fan and grew up going to those games. And then Friday was a big day for us down at Back to the Bricks in Flint, Michigan. I was able to announce my foundation, the Erik Jones Foundation which has been a lot of effort over the last few months for a lot of different people. But it was good get it announced, and really cool to be home. And then yesterday I was actually down at Woodward in Detroit with Chevrolet, doing some stuff with them. I had one of my cars down there on display with Kurt Busch’s car. And so that was cool. I did a little Q&A and saw some fans. And through all that, I did get to spend some time at home with my family and see those guys, so it’s been a good week.”
I WAS AT YOUR COMMUNITY EVENT IN BYRON, MICHIGAN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHEN YOU HAD A CELEBRATION WITH YOUR OWN TOWN AND YOU’VE GOT YOUR FOUNDATION NOW. IT REALLY SEEMS LIKE GIVING BACK IS SOMETHING THAT’S THE CORE OF WHO YOU ARE. IS THAT THE PHILOSOPHY YOU HAVE GOING FORWARD?
“Yeah, I’ve worked a lot in the last five or six years with a lot of different groups and really that’s become the core of my foundation now from three different points. There are three things that we really focus on with the Erik Jones Foundation. One being reading and getting kids involved in reading. That’s been a big thing for me my whole life, and being an avid reader still, to this day. And number 2, being cancer detection and care, especially early detection, especially being that I lost my father to cancer in 2016. It became something really close to me and something I really care about and wanted to be more involved in and do more stuff with. And then third just being animal welfare and caring for pets and making sure they’re getting the care that they deserve, especially through shelters; and we’ve done a lot with the Adopt a Pet Michigan already over the last five or six years. We’ve done a lot of work on all three of those fronts and have tried to give back as much as I can to those efforts through my platform, and that’s kind of where my foundation is really be focusing our efforts. Giving back is something I’ve tried to do a lot of the last few years and really just thought the foundation was the next step to keep that effort going.”
CAN YOU COMMENT ON YOUR EMPHASIS ON READING AND HOW THAT BECAME IMPORTANT FOR YOU AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT FOR YOUNGSTERS?
“For me, I grew up just reading all the time. Every night, really, I would sit down and read; either with my parents and then when I finally got old enough to do it on my own, I would just read whatever I was interested in. And so, for me, and why I want kids to get into reading and being involved in reading, number one, I think it gives you a competitive advantage in life. If you can read well and are literate, that’s kind of a jump-start on a lot of things early on. And, continuing on later in your life, it just makes you smarter. It grows your brain and keeps you sharp and that’s for me. I just enjoy learning about a lot of different subjects and reading different things and being able to carry conversations with different walks of life and different walks of people and expand on my outlook and I think that’s fun as a person. And that starts from a young age, being interested in it and wanting to do it for the majority of your life. If you’re not reading as a kid, I just don’t think it carries you through life as well.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE AUTHORS OR PARTICULAR SUBJECT MATTERS?
“For me, I’m mostly into autobiographies. I like to read a lot about people and history and their lives and different kinds of things. That’s mostly my favorite. I’m not too much into fiction and that sort of thing. I really just like autobiographies and what those are all about.”
HAVE ANY DECISIONS BEEN MADE WITH RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS FOR NEXT YEAR?
“Actually, yes. I can officially announce that we have put pen to paper and that I’ll be back in the No. 43 next year. That was literally done yesterday while I was out doing some stuff. It’s cool to have it done. I’m just happy to have it done at this point in the season and to be able to focus not only on the rest of this year but work on getting next year settled in with a new car and everything going on there. So yeah, I’m happy we can finally say it and get it out there. We’ve been really close on everything the last couple of weeks and just finished everything up.”
WHAT GIVES YOU CONFIDENCE IN RUNNING WELL, AND EVEN WINNING IN TODAY’S RACE?
“I think for us, it’s a matter of RPM has run well here in the past. I’ve had some good runs here in the past. I think some of the stuff we’re going today, car-wise, is going to be good, too. It’s a little bit different package than what we’ve probably run at the 1.5-miles through a lot of this year and some stuff we’ve tried at other races kind of combined. So, hopefully that bodes well for us. We have a good car. And we’re starting 13th. So, it’s been a big jump forward from where we have started in the last month or so. So, I just want to keep this string going. We’ve got some momentum from Indy. We ran 7th there. Hopefully some of the stuff we’re trying on the car this weekend is going to be good for us.”
WITH ALMOST A SEASON UNDER YOUR BELT, WHAT APPEALS TO YOU THE MOST ABOUT WORKING WITH RPM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU?
“I just want to continue to build. For me, this season has been challenging to build, with this car getting phased out and there is really no development happening especially with these cars right now. So, things are tough to get better through the season. But for me, just going into next year with a new car, I wanted to be able to stay with the same group, the same group of guys that I’ve worked with already and feel comfortable going into a new situation with. Moving teams again wasn’t really enticing in working with a new group and just starting over again. I just want to be with the same group and the same guys and just continue to build and work. I think just having a year under our belts together is going to bode well for next season with a new car and being able to start there, obviously from scratch with the car, but not necessarily from scratch with the team.”
WAS THERE ANY INCENTIVE TO KIND OF WAIT AND SEE WHAT ELSE MIGHT DEVELOP IN THE CUP GARAGE BEFORE DECIDING TO PUT PEN TO PAPER AT RPM?
“No, not really. We’ve been really working on getting this deal done now for a few weeks. So, I was pretty comfortable on moving forward next year with these guys, just like I said, just continuing to build and not starting from scratch with a group next year with a new car and trying to build something there. I just wanted to take, at least with the new car next year, I’ve got a baseline with this team and the people, and just be able to work on the new car from that standpoint.”
WHAT EMPHASIS DO YOU PUT ON BEING ABLE TO RACE HERE AT MICHIGAN AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
“It’s always special for me. I grew up driving by this place and coming through the town. It just always feels special to come here. It’s just a special opportunity. I feel privileged and honored, two good words to describe getting to race here. So, there is some more emphasis on it. I’ve got a lot of friends and family here today watching and hanging out. So, you want to put a good show on for them and be able to go out and run well. I put a lot into every week. But definitely there’s a little bit of I guess, more, want to go our here and really succeed. It’s definitely cool to come back home and feel the support from not only friends and family, but also the fans in general, that come out here. They definitely love their fellow Michiganders so it’s always cool.
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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