TOYOTA RACING – Erik Jones
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
LEBANON, Tenn. (May 30, 2026) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Chase Erik Jones was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Nashville Superspeedway.
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
Can you talk about this weekend at Nashville and racing on a concrete surface?
“Nashville is pretty unique. Not only from a concrete side but the shape and the layout. It’s kind of an odd size and shape compared to other places we go to. It’s a bit of a challenge to drive. It’s really easy to get into a bad spot on entry, just driving in way too far. You feel like you can barrel off in to (turn) one and it’s way sharper than what you think. It’s fun, I’ve enjoyed it, we’ve run well here and it’s definitely a unique place.”
This is the same aero package as Dover a few weeks ago where you ran well. How do you think it will translate?
“I think a lot. We brought a pretty similar package what we had in Dover here. Obviously, Dover is pretty high banked but your loads aren’t crazy different with the concrete and what you fight in right quality translates place to place. When rubber gets put down heavy it gets pretty rough and bumpy, we obviously a big bump in (turns) three and four similar to what we have in Dover on the landings and entry. I hope it’s really close, but I think we have a good baseline in general for this package. We ran great at Darlington and other places with this package as well. It’s really been pretty decent for us, so I’m excited to get out there. It’s been fun to drive and I think it’s put on good races as well, so I think it’s pretty close.”
Is there a lot of carryover from the intermediate tracks like Charlotte to her at Nashville?
“I think some. It’s interesting, you would think this aero package would switch things up a lot. But to be honest, you go with a pretty similar setup. For the tracks we are good with this other package and switched to this package it’s translated well. As far as mile and-a-half’s and here, you do bring a lot of stuff from where the balance was there and what it is here. I hope it carries over, seems like we found something there. The intermediates were pretty bad for us to start the season between Kansas and Las Vegas, then we starting clicking at Texas with some stuff. I think we know where we found speed, which is good. It’s not like we just stumbled upon getting better all the sudden. We kind of know what we did and what steps it took to get there. Hopefully we can just continue to evolve it and get better. I feel like we are right on the cusp of a top-10 team right now, which is great. It’s definitely a step better than we started the year. We got to be better than that and know what it’s going to take to make that next step.”
Do you guys feel like you are ready to breakthrough and be consistently in that top-15 or so?
“I think so. The last month, Watkins Glen is a little bit of an outlier, we had mechanical issues that plagued our day and I think we could have run better. Overall, I can’t remember the last day we struggled with Kansas being the last place. Since then I feel like we’ve rolled in the right direction. When you are in the top-10 you have a chance here and there, but when you are in the top-five it’s when things start to swing where you have opportunity to win races. Do I feel like we are on the verge of that? Maybe, if we hit it really good. I feel like we are in a spot now where if we unloaded today and feel like we just nailed it on car and setup, maybe we contend for a win. The pit crew has been good and I feel like I’ve been doing a good job. That’s nice, but we got to get to a spot to say we nailed it today, we got to be in a spot where we can do a few good things through the day and have a few opportunities.”
What can you as a team take from the first half of the season and take to the second half?
“Right now momentum is important. Pit crew has been doing a good job which is a big deal in the sport. I feel like for me, I’ve been communicating what I need from Justin (Alexander, crew chief) and the engineers have been doing a good job just bringing race cars to the track. Momentum is important and taking advantage of your strong suits. That’s going to be tomorrow, that’s going to be Michigan, that’s going to be Pocono. Hopefully decent days at Sonoma and San Diego. We really need to capitalize on the days we are good. We’ve been fighting this cusp of Chase hope. I think we are somewhere 60ish points out, which is a little long. If we can get through the next couple of weeks where we can tighten that up so we are 20 or 30 out and then you are really fighting for a spot. I think right now we are in a opportunity where we feel like we have a chance to do that and that’s driving some great momentum and great effort from everybody. I just don’t want to lose that, and I think that’s just capitalizing on these next few weeks.”
Can you talk about the feeling of racing in front of your hometown crowd at Michigan next week?
“It’s always fun. I go up there a bit early and spend time. I always look forward to those couple of weeks just being at home, we get to race Sunday at the big track and get to run the Super Late Model in Berlin a couple of days later, so it’s just a fun couple of weeks for me. We have one race a year there now and a little bit more special to everyone in that area. Getting to go up there is also just fun to have friends and family out there. Not all of them can travel to every race we do throughout the year and that might be their only opportunity to come check it out. Just spending some time with them in the week leading in and after is always fun. I always feel relaxed and comfortable. You always think of great scenarios and winning at Michigan is one of them. Always a lot of high hopes for me and high expectations going back.”
How will having a third car next year improve the strength of the operation overall?
“You look at the Cup Series and look at the top three teams and their data points are just there three or four cars and they have alliance teams. For us, our data points are two and that’s me and the 42 (John Hunter Nemechek). One more car isn’t a gamechanger by any means, but it does make a difference and an opportunity to try different things to go about things, air pressure an all of that. You wouldn’t think a team goes into a race weekend wondering about air pressure and how low they can go, but we do every week. The only way to judge is off of one of our cars. Anytime in the Cup Series anytime you can have a house car or alliance, it makes a difference and makes life a lot simpler. You’re playing the game of air pressure and ride height and that’s the majority of your weekend and when you have more data points to narrow that gap it makes a difference.”
Have you interacted with Parker Retzlaff?
“I don’t know Parker, but I think what he’s done in O’Reilly has been good. He’s done a good job in his equipment. I think there’s a big step from being in that to being in a top car and winning races, that’s a long step to take. That’s not to say he couldn’t take that step tomorrow if he were in a top ride in O’Reilly but it is a big step. He definitely makes the most of what he’s got and does a good job. I hope he gets more opportunities. To see what he can do in more top level equipment would be awesome.”
What do you think will happen with how NASCAR is treating the tracks with the resin during the race tomorrow night?
“It’s funny, I think if you didn’t tell any drivers there was resin on Dover I don’t think they have have said anything. I think they are all lying but I don’t think it’s any different. I hope it widens out, it’s been pretty hit or miss here on whether it gets wide or not. I remember 2022, maybe the first year we came here, it got super wide and we could run up high. Then there was one or two years there where it was pretty narrow – last year it was pretty narrow. So I hope it’s good and I hope it widens out. With all the rain this weekend I can imagine there’s not a lot left right now. I think the O’Reilly cars naturally widen the track out. I think if you just put nothing down I think they would find themselves widening out. It’s tougher with our cars. I don’t know if there’s a lot of magic there. I think people might be in their own head a little bit.”
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