JONES NEAR INCHES FROM FIRST WIN FOR LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Multi-time Daytona winner Erik Jones starts fourth in the Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 13, 2025) – Erik Jones made it three Toyota Camry XSE’s in the first two rows in Sunday’s Daytona 500 as he came within mere inches of his first win for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in the second duel race at Daytona on Thursday evening. When the caution fell, Jones was in second, which gives the Michigan-native the fourth starting spot in Sunday’s Great American Race.
Denny Hamlin (fourth), John Hunter Nemechek (ninth) and Christopher Bell (10th) gave Toyota four Camrys in the top-10.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Daytona International Speedway
Duel 2 – 150 miles, 60 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Austin Cindric*
2nd, ERIK JONES
3rd, Chris Buescher*
4th, DENNY HAMLIN
5th, Joey Logano*
9th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
10th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
12th, RILEY HERBST
19th, JIMMIE JOHNSON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ERIK JONES, No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 2nd
Can you describe your race tonight?
“It was good. We kind of went on a different strategy just to get up front and put ourselves in a good spot after the pit stop. After the restart, I was just trying to get to the top, and it finally kind of opened up there on the final lap – I felt like I put myself in a good spot and set myself to try to beat him to the line and did, but unfortunately, the yellow came out before. I haven’t seen it. It is a bummer – you think you win the race, and I’ve never had that happen so I feel for all of the others in that spot – it’s not fun. Either way, we will go make it up on Sunday.”
What is your outlook for Sunday after having such a strong race tonight?
“It was good. I thought our speed was good. We obviously kind of leap-frogged the back there when they were saving, but I thought we were able to maintain when the pace picked up. The handling was good, and the speed was good. We led and pushed and did kind of all the different stuff so the Advent Camry’s got some speed and hopefully we can just use it all on Sunday.”
What are your emotions right now?
“A wide range of emotions. It’s a bummer. It’s the rule. If the yellow is out, the race is over and it’s unfortunate but either way I feel like the Advent Camry was really fast. It was fun running upfront, fun leading some laps, fun contending for the win. I did everything I could. It just didn’t work out and hopefully we can be in that same spot again on Sunday.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
How did your Camry work in the draft tonight?
“I thought our Camry was really good. No complaints really from me. I had everything to compete and once we clean it up on Sunday we’ll be in good shape.”
What does it mean for Bubba Wallace to earn that first Duel win tonight?
“It’s awesome. Tyler (Reddick) was able to get a Duel last year and then Bubba (Wallace) this year. The 23 and 45 really controlled that race quite a bit so it was great to see. Even though they didn’t qualify (last night) where we expected, I think obviously the true speed of their Camrys really showed up tonight.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 19th
Can you talk about your feelings in this moment?
“Definitely a good performance for us. Unfortunately, we had some kind of fuel pump issue or a fueling issue, and cost us a chance to really race for it, but Erik (Jones) did a phenomenal job. I’m a little bummed for him to not have that AdventHealth Camry in victory lane, but we saw the video and it is clear – the caution came out, he is about six inches behind the 2 (Austin Cindric) car. Roller coaster thinking of it being our first win as an organization, and then let down that came behind that. But good things ahead for us.”
What are you looking forward to for Sunday?
“Just running more laps – getting a good feel for the Carvana Camry. A strong performance. We are eager to get off to a quick start and we know for our full-time cars that a good finish in these first four or five weeks really sets you up for a strong season and a nice look at the Playoffs. So of course, we want to win the Daytona 500, but we are also very focused on the long game this year.”
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