Erik Jones finally has fun day at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH — Erik Jones had a splendid afternoon at Daytona International Speedway using the Toyota stadium access area to show off stuntman-like moves driving a passenger car and pickup truck.

The so-called “injector” area has two small courses — one for cars, the other a mock trail featuring a hill with a 31-degree incline.

Jones gave the media rides on both courses in a fun-and-gun session Wednesday.

“It’s good to have you down here man,” Speedway president Chip Wile told the young driver before the assembled media.

Jones didn’t have this kind of fun on his last visit to the mammoth facility — Feb. 18 — when his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was swept out of the Daytona 500 on Lap 60.

The crash was of the “Big One” variety and involved nine cars in a violent, torrent twist on the backstretch.

The 22-year-old driver has been in three NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona and wrecked out twice.

His only complete Cup race at the Speedway was in last year’s Coke Zero 400 when he finished ninth.

He has much the same history at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR’s other track that uses restrictor-plate technology to slow the stock cars. He has crashed out in all three of his starts at the Alabama track.

“You want to run the best you can and stay up towards the front the whole race and stay out of trouble,” Jones said. “Making it to the end is a big thing here.

“We were able to finish this race here last year. It seems like me and superspeedways don’t always have the greatest relationship. I just want to make it to the end of the race and have a shot at it.”

Jones spent last year at Furniture Row Racing, based in Denver, Colorado, before joining the Gibbs Racing lineup in 2018.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year said the equipment is the same, but JGR dwarfs the Furniture Row operation.

“The transition to Joe Gibbs Racing was a process,” said Jones, who is 14th in Cup points. “Obviously, more employees and a much bigger company; learning how they go about things and getting to the race track were probably the biggest things for me.

“Figuring out how to get to know everybody there, how to take advantage of all the resources there has been important. It’s very similar race cars and equipment, but learning the process has been challenging.”

Wile asked Jones about the No. 20 this year.

“Where do you feel like you have made improvements and where do you think you need to look at?” Wile asked Jones.

Jones gave his team a “C” grade.

Jones said the team has been bringing fast cars to the track, running with the leaders, but stumbling on a regular basis as the laps wind down.

“We just haven’t been able to finish where we have ran during the race,” he said. “Making sure we start closing races out will be the big thing for us.

“We are bringing top-10 cars to the track every week and we need to start getting the finishes out of that.”

Jones was asked the inevitable question — if his teammate Kyle Busch has scored four Cup wins this year, why can’t the No. 20 Toyota find Victory Lane.

“You look at Kyle and he’s a very talented driver and that is No. 1,” Jones said. “Kyle and his crew chief Adam Stevens have a good thing going on. They use their resources well and take full advantage of them.”

In comparison, Jones and his crew chief Chris Kyle are in their second year and still building a working relationship in a completely new environment at JGR.

“Chris and I are still trying to get into our groove and figure out exactly what our cars need to be successful week in and week out,” Jones said. “We’ve done a good job of putting together cars with good speed; we just need to put together the rest of the package. That is what Kyle (Busch) has done really good this year.”

As for his lack of success at Daytona, he is looking at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 as his ticket into the NASCAR playoffs.

In many cases, the winning Daytona driver has been situated in the right place at the right time.

“It’s important,” he said of Daytona’s next race on July 7. “For me, it’s an opportunity to get a win. You don’t have to have everything going your way to go out and grab a win in this race.

“Whether you like superspeedway racing or not, it is a chance to get into the playoffs and earn bonus points.”