The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to mark Erik Jones’ ninth as a full-time competitor in the series and fifth in a row driving the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE entry for Legacy Motor Club. Before his quest to win both the Daytona 500 and a Cup title for the first time commences towards the middle of February, he enters this upcoming weekend’s Cook Out Clash festivities at Bowman Gray Stadium with a goal to both make his seventh career appearance and win the pre-season exhibition event for a second time.
A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones started his first career in the Clash in 2018 when the event occurred at Daytona International Speedway. He drove the No. 20 Toyota entry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) by then. He had earned a starting spot for the event by virtue of notching his first Cup career pole during the previous season at Bristol Motor Speedway, the latter of which he drove for Furniture Row Racing. In Jones’ first start in the Clash, he started fourth and finished eighth. He would finish in 20th place, dead last, during the 2019 event after he was involved in a late 17-car wreck.
Then, in 2020, Jones muscled his way to his first victory in the Clash and in wild fashion after surviving a crash-filled event that went into overtime four times, resulting in six of 18 starters finishing the event overall. Earlier in the event, Jones slid through his pit box that pinned him a lap down. Despite cycling his way back on the lead lap, he was then involved in three multi-car wrecks that left him with a severely damaged front nose to his No. 20 Toyota. Nonetheless, the Michigan native capitalized during the fourth and final overtime shootout by receiving a draft from teammate Denny Hamlin, who was a lap behind the leaders, to storm past the remaining lead-lap competitors through the backstretch on the final lap. With the lead in his possession, Jones was able to nurse his car to the finish line in first place as he became the 24th competitor to win the Clash. In addition, he recorded the fifth victory in the event for the Toyota nameplate and the ninth for JGR. Jones won the Clash’s final outing on Daytona’s 2.5-superspeedway circuit to date.
The following season generated new beginnings for both Jones and the Clash as the former transitioned to Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the No. 43 Chevrolet entry while the latter occurred on Daytona’s road-course venue. During the 2021 event, Jones started ninth and finished eighth. Since the Clash relocated to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022, Jones notched respective finishes of fourth and 27th, the latter of which occurred in 2023, and he did not secure a starting spot for the event in 2024.
Through six previous starts in the Clash, Jones has achieved one victory, two top-five results, four top-10 results, one lap led, and an average-finishing result of 11.3. Due to finishing in 28th place in the 2024 driver’s standings, he will have to earn a starting spot for the 2025 Clash either through one of four Heat qualifying races scheduled for February 1 or through the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier Race that will occur on February 2nd, before the main event.
Currently, Jones is tied with Alex Bowman in having the eighth-most Clash starts among active competitors of all time at six. As he attempts to secure a starting spot for his seventh career appearance in the exhibition event in 2025, Jones will also attempt to become the 13th competitor to win NASCAR’s pre-season exhibition event multiple times. Should he emerge victorious in 2025, he would deliver both the first Clash victory for the No. 43 and for Legacy Motor Club, which is majorly owned by two-time Clash winner Jimmie Johnson.
The 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is scheduled to occur on Sunday, February 2, with a starting broadcast time at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
