TOYOTA RACING – Erik Jones
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
LONG POND, Penn. (June 13, 2026) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Erik Jones was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Pocono Raceway.
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
What is about the program that has allowed you to move to the next level?
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s one thing we’ve done better. I think it’s just everything coming together a little bit. There’s been a couple of small things that we’ve found and just improved on over the last handful of weeks, but yeah, I guess it’s kind of funny you say that, because it feels more like that year – I felt like in ‘22, if we did everything really well, we had a shot to win a handful of weeks through the year and even most weeks, week to week. So, I think that’s the same thing right now. Looking at this weekend, that’s the case. I feel like for us, if we unload well here, this afternoon. Yeah, it’s just a lot of little stuff optimizing every little piece of the car and kind of ironing out our build process, our SIM program, and everything, but along with that, when you start running better and better, the confidence comes with that and things just seems to get a bit easier.”
What was it this track that you were able to hit the ground running and be comfortable?
“I guess I was just able to make some starts beforehand, particularly in the in the ARCA series, just getting there and making a handful of starts. They moved the age to 16 or 17. I got to run a few races in that. I got to run some Xfinity races and maybe even a truck race here. So, I had quite a few starts where I came here in the cup car and felt comfortable just getting in that car and the way it drove and everything. There’s also just a lot of different strategies you can run here that’ll make your day good or bad and the way it’ll kind of play out. I don’t know. Just felt comfortable. There’s some places that you just feel good right off the bat, and I felt like for me here at Pocono, I just knew what I needed to do to make speed right away and let the rest kind of come to me.”
Is there anything that translates from Michigan to Pocono?
“The cars, honestly, obviously they’re really different tracks when you look at them, but I think the car is really not that different from a definitely a build standpoint. It’s really similar, and even from a setup standpoint, it’s honestly not that far off. It’s just this the nature of this car is that you kind of bring the same package a lot of places. Once you’ve optimized your heights, you’re only chasing a couple of small things and it’s really about the build process and how you build the, over and under body and set it before you come to the track and really the rest of it is all pretty similar. So, yeah, it gives me confidence, though, that with the speed there, it should translate pretty well from Michigan to here.”
Do you ask about how Christopher Bell’s car handled the wreck or do you wait for NASCAR?
“Kind of wait for NASCAR. I went through that process a little bit with them in the Talladega wreck and know from myself, my own experience, kind of how they go about it and what their process is going to be. So, I know it takes them some time just to gather that data. At the end of the day, it seems like everything worked pretty well. Christopher’s (Bell) in one piece pretty much and is here racing. So, I think that says a lot, but as far as the real nitty-gritty and what can be better about his stuff and what can be better going forward. I’ll just wait for NASCAR on that.”
Now that you are in striking distance, how much do you pay attention to points?
“Yeah, I’m not a huge person to look at points in general. I think probably my wife (Holly) keeps me more updated on it, just because you can only run as good as you’re going to run. Ee go to the track and try to do our best each week and if you do well, the points are going to come with that. It does matter for a place like here, for tomorrow, with the strategy that you try to run, whether you really try to go for the stage points or you just run the run the stages out and try to get your best finish you can get. So, yeah, I mean, it does matter, but at the end of the day, I try not to look at them a lot. I’m more curious about points, usually for hauler parking, and where my hauler is going to be in the garage. So, I look at it more for that and kind of let the racing side of it fall into place.”
How good are the vibes at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB with the strong performance recently?
“Yeah, it’s great. I mean, unfortunately, I haven’t been around the shop much just because, I was in Michigan and then I went and stayed up there, ran a late model race, and this week I’m going to be busy traveling around early for San Diego. I’m hoping to get up there Monday as long as Sunday here goes off on time with the weather. So, other than that, though, with the 43 group, I mean, obviously we’re feeling really good. The 42 group, I think, is on the up and up. I know the results haven’t shown for them, but their speed’s been there. Michigan, I felt like they were probably as good as us. They got caught in that restart wreck. So yeah, everybody’s really confident. I think at the end of the day, the message for me is that there’s still a lot of work to do. I think as well as we’re running is awesome, but there’s so many little things I think we can still do better and optimize and improve on. There’s still room for growth. We want to make sure that we’re continuing down this path. This isn’t just a quick flash in the pan here, this last month, or going forward as long as this lasts, that the speed is continued and we can keep this rolling for a long period.”
Are you looking forward to the upcoming In-Season Tournament?
“I mean, honestly, until last week, somebody mentioned it, I forgot it was coming up quickly, but yeah, I don’t know. I think there’s a chance right now, depending on how the next couple of races go in points that we could line up with SVG (Shane van Gisbergen) for the first one, which is at a road course. So that would be great (laughter). I think my season would be pretty short-lived, but, you know, it is cool. I mean, it’s great. You get to this stretch of the season, I would say, and things can get a bit dragging on. You got a little bit left to the playoffs and the field’s getting pretty set and there’s not a lot to always be really pumped up about. So, to have something unique and different like that, I think it’s been good, and it’s something cool to kind of keep up with for fans, even for drivers and teams. It gives us internally – last year, it was great. I think the 42 (John Hunter Nemechek) made it actually all the way to the end and was battling for the top prize. So that was really cool for our company last year, especially as we were struggling a bit more. I think it’s cool. It gives guys usually maybe up front running a chance to win something pretty big, which I think is cool. “
What has the relationship been like with Justin Alexander?
“I’d say it’s been good. For me, it’s been challenging. I’ve switched crew chiefs the last three years, and that’s not a lot of fun. It’s not really easy and it really wasn’t always something I wanted to do necessarily. It was just kind of the way that the company was reorganizing and changing that, especially from last year, this year, that our crew chiefs got moved around a little bit, and I was excited to work with Justin (Alexander). He’s got a great track record, but I didn’t really know him other than the little bit that he was in the shop last year. I think for us, it didn’t really take long to get on the same page. I tried to explain to him, obviously, the best I could of what I’m looking for from the race car and what kind of feedback I’m giving and what I’m looking to get from him, and he really quickly has just done a good job of – he’s really good at asking the right questions is what I would say. He is good at asking the company the right questions, good at asking me the right questions of, hey, why did you do this? Or why do you need this? What are you really looking for here and kind of breaking it down if he doesn’t totally understand it? So, I would say that’s been the best part working with him. Just good with the guys, good demeanor, good on the radio – cool, collected, and I think has just been a good influence on probably everybody in the team, but yeah, I would say maybe the last month we’ve clicked well and part of it’s just the cars have been really good. So, it’s easy to make adjustments when you have speed like that.”
What is it about this track that suits your driving style?
“I think you just got to focus on the right things. When you look at the track, maybe figuring out where, number one, where your car is good that day, but also where can you make the most speed and what can you ask the most out of your race car with. If there’s a day that, hey, you’re just not getting through the tunnel turn, don’t work to just make it better. Just deal with it and figure out the other two and make the most of it. There’s days I’ve had cars here that have been great in every turn and we ran really well, but there’s other days where you got to figure out what you got to sacrifice and give up and figure out how to make the most of that day. So, I think that’s what I’ve always tried to stay focused on here, and then also just trying to play the strategy the best we can, just having a plan going in of what we’re doing and knowing from my seat, hey, we’re giving up this stage to get a finish, or we’re getting stage points here, and it’s going to be a little bit of work to get back, just knowing that ahead of time, I think, makes a difference too.”
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