Jones Eighth in Slocumb Memorial and Fourth in First Super Late Model Race at GMP
CONCORD, NC (November 14, 2011) – Going into the World Crown 300 weekend at Georgia’s Gresham Motorsports Park, Erik Jones was riding the momentum of his recently captured JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championship. With a successful weekend in Jefferson, Georgia now in his rear-view mirror, Jones will ride that success into this weekend’s Governor’s Cup at New Smyrna Speedway.
After starting on the pole in his first race at Gresham, the Beau Slocumb Memorial 100 Pro Late Model event, Jones and his team battled a tight racecar and pit strategy for an eighth-place finish.
"Gresham is a cool place," said Jones immediately after the race. "The long runs just killed us. The stagger closed way up; we couldn’t get what we wanted all weekend on that. It got really, really tight and we were hoping for a caution. We were going to come in earlier and free it up a little bit, but it just ended up being a lot cleaner race than we thought it was going to be. We had to come in on lap 75 and we freed it up as much as we could. We were still a little tight after that, but it helped a lot and made our way back up to ninth (eighth after technical inspection disqualified another competitor, moving Jones up one position)."
On Sunday, Jones started sixth in the Rheem World Crown 300 Super Late Model event and held on through three segments and 200 laps to battle it out down the wire with some of the toughest young talent in the country for his fourth-place finish.
"We definitely exceeded our expectations for this weekend," said Jones. "It’s my first Super Late Model race. The first time I was in this car was Thursday, so this is definitely better than what we would have ever imagined. Butch (VanDoorn, crew chief) gave me a great car and the team worked hard all day. They did great on pit road and made the right adjustments and we just ended up having a nice top-five run.
"Running against Chase (Elliott), and Ross (Kenseth), Stephen Nasse and Chris Wimmer – those guys, they’ve been at it for a while now, so to run against experience like that and run that well, that’s big."
With his first Super Late Model race under his belt, Jones is ready to turn around and do it again next week in the Governor’s Cup at New Smyrna Speedway. "The Super is a lot more rolling in the throttle - easy on the throttle, easy off. Where in the Crate car, it’s just hammer down and you go," explained Jones. "I definitely like the Super better. There’s a lot more to work with there. If you’re a little tight in the center you can use the throttle to help it turn. I went to New Smyrna two years ago in a Crate car and it was my first-ever Crate race, so that’s one of my favorite tracks. It’s a fun, racy track and I’m excited to get back there."
Next up for Jones and his Paragon Corvette Reproductions team will be a trip south to the 46th Annual Florida Governor’s Cup 200 presented by Bright House Networks at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday November 19th. Penske Racing Shocks, Fram/Autolite and FLUIDYNE Radiators provide additional support to the Jones team.
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