Jones ‘sore but alright’ in wreck that eliminated majority of Toyotas

A group of seven Toyota Racing drivers were the first to hit pit road with 36 laps remaining to make their final green flag stop for fuel to make it to the end of the race.

Tyler Reddick was leading a group of seven drivers in a single-file line when a bad push entering Turn 3 sent Jones head-on into the inside wall. His Legacy Motor Club teammate John-Hunter Nemechek was also involved.

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin suffered significant damage in the crash, and none of them were able to continue.

The incident started when Nemechek got into the back of Wallace entering Turn 3 on lap 156. Wallace got into the right-rear of Jones. As Nemechek’s damaged No. 42 Toyota came back down the track, he collected Hamlin.

Jones, after initially complaining about back pain on the radio, was checked and released from the infield care center.

“I’m a little sore, but I’ll be alright,” said Jones. “No. 23 (Wallace) was pushing … we were pushing and shoving, I got sideways into (Turn) 3, tried to gather it up and got really hard into the wall. Hard hit, but I’m alright. If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.”

Christopher Bell was eliminated in an earlier incident, leaving just three of the original eight Toyotas still in the race.