Erik Jones is on the verge of achieving a milestone start in his ninth full-time season competing in the NASCAR Cup Series division. By competing in this weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE entry will make his 300th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones made his inaugural start in the Cup Series division at Kansas Speedway in May 2015, where he filled in as an interim competitor for the injured Kyle Busch and in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota Camry entry. By then, Jones, a four-time race winner in both the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series divisions, had made his unofficial Cup debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, where he relieved Denny Hamlin early in the event due to Hamlin suffering neck spasms and finished in 26th place. Starting in 12th place for his official Cup debut at Kansas, Jones was having a strong start towards the front before he snapped loose while racing in the top-five mark and hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch with 72 laps remaining. The incident relegated him to 40th place in the final running order.
Six months later, Jones, who would proceed to win the 2015 Truck Series championship, returned to the Cup Series as an interim competitor for JGR’s No. 20 Toyota team, where he replaced Matt Kenseth for two events after the latter was issued a two-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Playoff contender Joey Logano from the lead during the previous weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Ultimately, Jones would notch a season-best 12th-place run at Texas Motor Speedway before he finished 19th at Phoenix Raceway.
In 2017, Jones, who was coming off a four-race winning season in the Xfinity Series with JGR as he also claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title and made the Championship 4 round, graduated to the Cup Series for the first time in his career, where he piloted the No. 77 Toyota Camry entry for Furniture Row Racing as the organization expanded to fielding two full-time entries for the first time. Commencing his rookie Cup campaign by being involved in a multi-car wreck on Lap 90 and finishing in 39th place during the 59th running of the Daytona 500, Jones recorded a total of five top-10 results, including a strong third-place finish at Pocono Raceway in June, through the first 20-scheduled events.
Jone would then ignite a six-race hot streak to cap off the regular-season stretch by finishing in the top 10 in all of them. Mired within the results were a third-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August and a career-best runner-up result at Bristol Motor Speedway during the following weekend despite starting on pole position for the first time and leading a race-high 260 of 500 laps. His late hot streak was not enough for him to make the 2017 Cup Series Playoffs. With three additional top-10 results accumulated for the remaining 10 events on the schedule, the Michigan native proceeded to finish in 19th place in his rookie Cup campaign and claim the Rookie-of-the-Year title. By then, he became the first competitor to achieve the rookie title across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).
After Furniture Row Racing scaled back down to a single-car entry in 2018, Jones replaced Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota entry for his sophomore Cup campaign. Like his rookie season, Jones commenced the season by being involved in a multi-car wreck, this time on Lap 59, during the 60th running of the Daytona 500 as he ended up in 36th place in the final running order. Over the next 16 events on the schedule, he notched a total of seven top-10 results.
Then at Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 in July, Jones survived two overtime attempts and received a drafting help from Chris Buescher to overtake former teammate Martin Truex Jr. during the latest attempt, which was enough for him to muscle his way to his first Cup Series career victory. By then, Jones became the first competitor to achieve a first Cup career win in Daytona’s 400-mile event since Aric Almirola made the last accomplishment in 2014.
With an automatic berth to his first Cup Series Playoffs by winning at Daytona, Jones capped off the regular-season stretch with six top-10 results and a runner-up result in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway through an eight-race span. Despite notching the pole position for the Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he ended up in 40th place, dead last, during the main event after he wrecked into Playoff contender Kevin Harvick through the first two turns towards the Lap 150 mark.
Jones would then be eliminated from the Playoffs after finishing 11th and 30th, respectively, during the following two Round of 16 events. Nonetheless, he proceeded to finish fourth three times over the final seven events on the schedule, which was enough to claim a career-best 15th place in the final standings. Overall, he capped off his sophomore Cup campaign with a career-high 18 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 14.0.
Remaining at Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team for the 2019 Cup season, Jones commenced his junior season by finishing in third place behind teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch during the 61st running of the Daytona 500. He proceeded to rack up an additional seven top-five results and 11 top-10 results throughout the next 23 events on the schedule. Then at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 in September, Jones, who was sporting a special black late model throwback scheme to his No. 20 Toyota entry, led 79 of 367-scheduled laps and held off a late charge from Kyle Busch to score his second Cup career victory and first of the season.
The Southern 500 victory occurred in Jones’ 100th career start in NASCAR’s premier series. It automatically guaranteed him a spot into the 2019 Playoffs. His second Playoff appearance ended following the Round of 16 for a second consecutive season after he finished 36th, 38th and 40th, respectively, during the first Playoff round. During the second Round of 16 event at Richmond Raceway, Jones initially finished fourth as part of a 1-2-3-4 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, but was demoted to 38th place due to his car failing the post-race inspection process. After recording four top-10 results during the remaining seven events on the schedule, Jones settled in 16th place in the final standings. Despite ending up one spot lower in the final standings compared to the previous season, he managed to obtain a career-high 10 top-five results and lead a career-high 172 laps in a season.
Jones commenced the 2020 Cup Series season on a wild note by winning the Busch Clash at Daytona after rallying from being involved in three multi-car, overtime wrecks and receiving a strong drafting push from teammate Denny Hamlin, who was a lap down, to rocket his battered No. 20 Toyota away from the field of six competitors on the final lap. Amid the early celebrations, the 2020 season would end up being a winless season for Jones, who racked up a total of nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule. After missing the Playoffs, he settled in 17th place in the final standings.
Jones transitioned to Richard Petty Motorsports to pilot the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry after he was replaced by Christopher Bell at JGR. In the 2021 Cup season, Jones would only record a total of six top-10 results and settle in 24th place in the final standings. He remained in the No. 43 Chevrolet entry after Richard Petty Motorsports rebranded to Petty GMS Motorsports in 2022.
The Michigan native recorded nine top-10 results, including a strong third-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in February, throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Despite missing the Playoffs for a third consecutive season, Jones served as the ultimate spoiler to commence the Playoffs by winning the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for the second time in his career after leading the final 23 laps and taking advantage of Playoff contender Kyle Busch losing an engine in the closing laps.
The Southern 500 victory marked Jones’ third Cup career victory and the 200th win for the No. 43. Jones’ victory in three seasons also occurred 55 years to the day when team owner Richard Petty celebrated his latest victory at Darlington. The Michigan native proceeded to finish in the top 10 three additional times over the remaining nine scheduled events, finishing in 18th place in the final standings. By then, the 2022 season marked his fifth season where he achieved double-digit top-10 results in a season as he also tied his second-best average-finishing result of 16.3 to the 2019 season. He had also surpassed 200 Cup career starts.
Returning to Petty GMS Motorsports that rebranded to Legacy Motor Club in 2023, Jones, who had also inked a multi-year contract extension to remain with the organization during the previous season, only recorded a total of seven top-10 results and a season-best third-place run at Kansas Speedway in September before finishing in 27th place in the final standings.
This past season, Legacy Motor Club switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota. Jones endured a difficult campaign, where he recorded a single top-10 result throughout the first 10 scheduled events. Then at Talladega in April, he suffered a compression fracture in his lower vertebra. The fracture occurred during a late multi-car wreck with his Toyota teammates. It resulted in Truck Series competitor Corey Heim filling in for Jones over the next two events.
Returning to Darlington in May, Jones finished no higher than 13th over the remaining 14 regular-season events on the schedule. He also missed the Playoffs for a fifth consecutive season. Managing a fifth-place run at Talladega in October and throughout the final 10 events on the schedule, he settled in 28th place in the 2024 final standings.
This season, Jones has racked up two top-15 results and five top-20 results through the first 10 scheduled events. His highest result of 2025 is a 12th-place finish during the 67th running of the Daytona 500 in February. Jones is currently in 30th place in the 2025 driver’s standings and he trails the Playoff cutline by 72 points.
Through 299 previous Cup starts, Jones has achieved three victories, two poles, 38 top-five results, 90 top-10 results, and 828 laps led. He has an average finishing result of 18.0 as he continues his pursuit of his first Cup Series championship.
Erik Jones will make his 300th Cup Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway for the Würth 400. The event will occur this upcoming Sunday, May 4, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
