Erik Jones takes his maiden NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona

  • Erik Jones wins Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
  • Erik Jones wins Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
  • Erik Jones wins Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

Erik Jones scored his maiden NASCAR Cup Series victory on Saturday evening at Daytona International Speedway. The 22-year-old driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry has won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in the overtime finish by defeating the reigning Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. in the #78 Toyota.

In the race which went eight laps beyond its scheduled 160, Jones was leading for just one lap, the most important one. He passed Truex on the backstretch of the final lap and held on to win by 0.125 seconds. Prior to that finish, Jones battled back from damage sustained in a multicar wreck on Lap 65, an accident that cost him a lap.

Erik Jones Daytona

Erik Jones became the 30th driver to win a race in all three of NASCAR’s national series

Only twenty of the forty cars that started the race were running at the finish, and only 13 finished on the lead lap. AJ Allmendinger finished third in the #47 Chevrolet Camaro of JTG Daugherty Racing, what was his first top 5 finish after last year’s 500-mile race at Daytona.

Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing #95 Chevrolet) finished fourth after leading 17 laps, and Chris Buescher makes it the double top 5 for JTG Daugherty Racing by finishing fifth in the #37 Chevrolet.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr won the first and second stages, taking his first playoff points of the season, before sustaining serious damage in a Lap 124 wreck. He finished 17th, one lap down.

Kyle Busch, who was 33rd after an accident, retained the series lead by 57 points over Kevin Harvick.

After nine Xfinity Series and seven Truck Series wins, Jones finally won Cup Series race

After nine Xfinity Series and seven Truck Series wins, Jones finally won Cup Series race


Check the full results of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Dayona


Photos: SarahCrabill, Matt Sullivan, Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images,

Related Posts