Toyota Racing – Erik Jones
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
CONCORD, N.C. (October 12, 2024) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Erik Jones was made available to the media on Saturday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Can you expand on the partnership with the pink window nets this weekend?
“Yeah, it has been great. We took over the program last year, and it was a little bit last minute. We didn’t have a lot of opportunity to take it in our hand. This year, we had a lot more lead in and more time to develop the program. I feel like we were able to work with Thermal Control Products a lot and really develop that relationship with Colleen (Matte) over there, and that has been great for us, but at the end of the day, what it is really about is raising money for breast cancer and early detection and prevention. That is a huge pillar of our foundation and has been from the start – three years ago and looking forward to seeing the window nets on the cars and raising some great money for it and for the cause. Partnered up with Blue Cross Blue Shield, as well, so should be a fun couple of days.”
What has been the most eye-opening thing for you with your foundation the last few years?
“I think it is all of it. Having a foundation is no walk in the park, by any stretch of the imagination. There is a lot of time and effort that goes into it – not just from my part, but from our foundation director Brent’s (Nickola) part, from the volunteers to our board members – there is so much that goes into the foundation and making the world go round – that side of it is a lot, but the reward is the grant making that we get to do. We are starting to make those discussions right now about the money we have raised this year, where that is going to go. This program is obviously huge for us this year, and what we are going to raise for breast cancer prevention and early detection. The grant making is the best part of it. It makes all of the work worth it. Some days there is some long days, and a lot of time put into it, but you can really put it back and see it pay off and get to hand that grant over. That makes it all worthwhile.”
Do you expect Ben Beshore to be your crew chief next year and does it help that Ben has been a part of the Toyota program for years?
“I would say that it is a trial period currently. It looks like that’s going to be the rest of the season – here with five races left. As far as next year goes, I don’t know how that alignment looks. We haven’t got that far down the road, so I’m getting to know Ben (Beshore) and getting to know him through these next few. As far as what the change looks like, obviously, we haven’t performed where we have wanted too, so at the end of the day, you have to do something different, whether him being involved in that system longer makes a big difference, I’m not sure. I haven’t worked with Ben one-on-one this season, only from a far, so I don’t really know the answer to that, but I think right now it is a trial period to hopefully see some change and see some results. We want to get something moving in a different direction.”
What did it mean to you to be given this opportunity by Kurt Busch after his retirement?
“Well, huge opportunity. It would have been a lot of leg work for us to initially make a program like this happen. Kurt (Busch) at the end of the day, did a lot of the leg work before we were able to take it over and make this program a thing to begin with, so when we had the opportunity to inherit it, it just gave us a great chance to make it our own and hopefully, improve it and make it bigger and better. The leg work that he put in on the front side would have been a big challenge for us to get going. That was a huge honor. Excited to keep it going. I think it is a program that has been extremely visual in the Cup Series for the last handful of years that it has been active. For me, it was something that I was really, really pumped to take on. You see a lot of different initiatives through the season from different drivers, from in the car, whether it is gloves or names on the cars – different ways that they raise money for foundations, but the pink window net program has probably been the most visual of them all, and I was pretty excited to bring it to our foundation.”
Do you have any additional upcoming events with the foundation?
“This will be the last one for the year. We do our two events – we had our Clays for Causes event earlier this year, and then we had our Three Reasons to Race event pretty recently, just a couple of weeks ago in Michigan, to finish out our actual fundraisers, and this is kind of our last one for the year, before the year ends for us. Working on next year and getting everything going again, but this is the last one for now.”
What are you looking for the next five races?
“We had such and up and down run the whole year. We haven’t had as many flashes of speed as I would have hoped. I felt like, even last year, we had more flashes of speed, and we really haven’t been able to recreate that this year. Just some consistency, and whether that means some top-20s, top-15 right now – that’s a good day for us, staying on the lead lap. If we can finish out the next five in that area, I think that is a step forward, and then continuing to gain in the off season, but right now, it is realistic goals. You want to win, but I think, right now, top-20’s are pretty good. Talladega was obviously great with a top-five, but these top-20s, top-15s would be nice to finish the season out.”
How do you get through a season like this?
“It is up and down. Some years you just can’t do anything right, and it has been one of those seasons, but probably, by far, one of the most trying I’ve had in most of my racing career, and for sure in the Cup Series, so yeah, that is tough. I guess being through it a bit has helped some. It is not like this is the first down year that we’ve had, so you just have to take it for what it is. Fortunately, I’ve been at it for a while now, I feel like I’m a pretty level head guy in general, which probably helps out, but setting realistic goals, taking the days for what they are worth is the biggest thing for me, and hopefully, moving on. We are not stagnant I guess is the thing. We have a light at the end of the tunnel. If you feel like, you are running poorly and doing the same things, you are going to get down, but right now, I feel like we are making a lot of changes and that gives you some hope, so looking forward to that is the biggest thing that has been keeping me positive.”
When you look at this year, what needs to improve?
“I wish I could give you one thing and say that was the answer. In general, we don’t have any speed. We don’t have it right now, so that is tough. To fix that, it is not necessarily one part. It is not one person. It is not one tool. It is not one test away. It is a handful of pieces that we probably need to get better. It is a process that has to get better. It is people we are moving around currently. It is people that we are hiring currently, and all that takes time, and with the people that we’ve brought in, when you start a new job, you don’t know all that is going on. You don’t know how your company works and where things are and what you are able to access. The people we have brought on are good people, but they still have to have time to learn what is happening and figure out a plan from there. That takes some time. I don’t think there is any magic in the sport now. There is not some part or piece you are going to build or find that is going to make you fast. It is the matter of doing every little thing correctly and adding them all. That is not an easy thing to do. It is probably easy to get your cars from running 30th to 20th, but from running 20th to top-five – that is a lot of magic in there that is not easy to find, so that is going to take some time for us.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 47 million cars and trucks at our 12 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 13th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 29 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
