Top Dog: Erik Jones
This season has featured breakthrough runs and notable strings of strong performances from several underdogs.
Todd Gilliland has been one of the most consistent drivers in the garage, Carson Hocevar has carried Spire Motorsports as a rookie, and Justin Haley is deserving of most improved driver for his performance with Rick Ware Racing.
As the NASCAR Cup Series traveled to the Pocono Mountains for the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday (July 14), it hit me that Erik Jones has not been covered here much as of late.
Jones hasn’t necessarily had several poor showings, but he also hasn’t been spectacular. However, he finally returned to his groove at Pocono, scoring a 14th-place finish.
Jones was on the move quickly, climbing into the top 10 in the first stage after starting 23rd. With a couple of drivers pitting before the stage conclusion, Jones was able to hold on and grab a stage point in 10th.
The momentum didn’t stop there. For the first time in ages, it feels like, the No. 43 was a consistent presence in the top 10, once again staying out at the end of the second stage to finish fifth. It was the first time this season Jones has finished in the top 10 in both stages.
As the saying goes, cautions breed cautions, and that was once again the case at Pocono. Lurking just outside the top 10, Jones struggled on a couple of the restarts, forcing him to battle back and reclaim the lost ground.
A 20-lap sprint to the finish allowed the Byron, Mich. native to settle into his rhythm and capture his second top 15 in four weeks and sixth such result of the season.
While Legacy Motor Club has certainly not achieved expectations this season, Jones continues to persevere, a trait that has served him well in the latter half of the season in previous years.
How Does It Compare?
Unfortunately for Jones, a top 15 was not enough to top most of the runs in the last five events at Pocono.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned his best finish at “The Tricky Triangle” last season in seventh, while Michael McDowell outdid that by one spot in sixth in 2022. Ryan Preece also scored a top 10 in that tenure, finishing eighth in the first race of the 2021 doubleheader.
Jones’ run was on par with a 13th-place run by Daniel Suarez in the second race of the 2021 doubleheader and Stenhouse’s 15th-place run in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader.
Notable Underdog Runs
Typically, races of attrition favor the underdogs. Pocono was on the brink of becoming an attrition race in the final stage, but it came at the expense of the underdogs.
Hocevar was one of the few underdogs in the top 20, settling in 17th. Hocevar ran inside the top 15 in stage one, but experienced a setback in stage two when his team was hit with an equipment interference penalty, miring him outside the top 20.
His attempt to recover didn’t come without its bumps. While battling Gilliland in turn 1 during stage two, Hocevar crossed Gilliland’s nose, causing both to hit the wall. The hit didn’t noticeably impact Hocevar, who then pulled off one of the best saves of the year in the final stage. Watch the No. 77 as he avoided a spinning Kyle Busch.
That Fast & Furious-like drift set up Hocevar to finish inside the top 20 for the sixth time in the past seven races.
Fresh off the topic of Busch’s spin, Corey LaJoie was at the center of it all. Up to that point, it had been a topsy-turvy day for the 32-year-old. LaJoie had respectable stage finishes of 16th and 11th to put himself in position for a top 10 day. Yet the strikes began to come.
First, the team’s strategy to gain track position was decimated when LaJoie sped on pit road during the stage two caution.
Then, the Busch incident happened.
On a lap 121 restart, drivers fanned out across the Long Pond, Pa. track’s frontstretch, LaJoie ducked under Busch’s No. 8. Busch threw a block as the field approached turn 1. LaJoie turned right, clipped Busch and ignited a seven-car crash.
LaJoie said that Busch checked up and came across his nose, but conversations concerning the incident certainly won’t cool down for a couple of days. Despite that, LaJoie finished 19th for his seventh top 20 of the season.
Outside of that trio above, most of the underdogs comprised the 13 DNFs in the race, the most since the 2023 Daytona 500.
Busch and LaJoie’s contact saw the race end for both Harrison Burton and Stenhouse. Contact between Zane Smith — who qualified in the top 10 for the first time — and John Hunter Nemechek ended with both drivers bouncing off the inside SAFER barrier and ending up in the garage.
Just like records, streaks are made to be broken, and that rang true for Gilliland. Entering the race on the longest-active top 20 streak in the field, Gilliland struggled for the large majority of the day before it came to a screeching halt on lap 115 when he lost his brakes. Gilliland finished 34th and said it was the first time he had lost his brakes in anything. It was his first finish outside the top 20 since April and first DNF since the Daytona 500.
What They’re Saying
LaJoie (19th):
Smith (29th):
Burton (31st) & Stenhouse Jr. (33rd):
Gilliland (34th):
Who’s Really the Top Dog?
In spite of a quiet season, Jones matched Stenhouse with his fourth gold medal in the pursuit of the overall top dog for 2024. LaJoie grabbed his first silver medal of the year, while Hocevar now has multiple bronze medals.
Gold: Stenhouse Jr. (4x), Jones (4x), Hocevar (3x), Nemechek (2x), AJ Allmendinger (2x), LaJoie, Daniel Hemric, Haley, Gilliland, Smith, Joey Hand
Silver: Gilliland (6x), Haley (2x), Allmendinger (2x), Hemric (2x), Nemechek (2x), Burton, Hocevar, Smith, Ty Dillon, Anthony Alfredo, Stenhouse, LaJoie
Bronze: Nemechek (3x), Stenhouse (3x), LaJoie (3x), Gilliland (3x), Jones (2x), Hocevar (2x), Kaz Grala, Shane van Gisbergen, Haley, Allmendinger, Hemric
Small Team Scheme of the Week
Speaking about gold metals, how about the scheme LaJoie and Spire Motorsports brought to Pocono?
With the 2024 Paris Olympics on the doorstep, LaJoie carried a special scheme to gear up for the starting block. The No. 7 featured Parity in Paris, highlighted by popping colors interacting with each other. Parity, which is a brand sponsorship company, is recognizing 75 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who will be competing in France.
About the author
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.