Top Dog: Erik Jones
The 2022 Southern 500 (Sept. 4) certainly brought about the throwback vibes it has inherited over the years. Mechanical failures, close-quarters racing, and the No. 43 of Erik Jones in victory lane were on display in front of an electric, sold out crowd at one of NASCAR’s brighest gems.
In 2017, NASCAR brought legendary figures into the booth to commentate for a stage during the Southern 500, including Hall of Fame broadcaster Ken Squier. Squier coined then-rookie Jones “That Jones Boy,” and it stuck.
Five years later, “That Jones Boy” is in a completely different situation. Instead of driving for Furniture Row Racing or his three-year home of Joe Gibbs Racing, the talented driver is with Petty GMS Motorsports, who is in its first season after Richard Petty Motorsports merged with new team GMS Motorsports. Together, the pairing has brought improvements and impressive runs, but there was still a donut in the win column … until Darlington.
For most of the final stage, it appeared a playoff spoiler would emerge, but it came in the form of Martin Truex Jr., who paced the field for 48 laps. Meanwhile, Jones ran steadily inside the top 10 but had not looked like a large threat to handle the Joe Gibbs Racing party.
That was until two crucial turning points in the final stage cleared the way for a Jones victory. The first came on lap 277. In the middle of green flag pit stops, Kevin Harvick’s car burst into flames and triggered a caution. Jones was running sixth and had not made a pit stop yet. While several cars were forced to take the wave around, the No. 43 restarted towards the front.
Jones was running fourth when the second factor took place. Race leader Truex suffered a power steering loss and overheated, retiring him from the race. A caution for Cody Ware occurred a few laps later, bringing the field to pit road. Jones’s crew had a strong stop, vaulting him to the second position. However, more trouble struck JGR when then-leader Kyle Busch lost an engine under pace laps. That set Jones in the catbird seat and gave him a legitimate shot to finally get that first win in the No. 43
To do it, he would have to hold off the winningest active driver at Darlington and another JGR driver: Denny Hamlin. Hamlin stalked Jones lap after lap, looking like he would crush the hearts of the No. 43 team at any moment. But that moment never came. Instead, Jones crossed the line in first and shocked the NASCAR world with his third…
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