As several dominoes of the annual and wild Silly Season began to move into place, one recently fell with the announcement by Legacy Motor Club to extend its contract with Erik Jones, driver of its No. 43 Toyota.
Jones has been with the team since 2021 when it was then branded as Richard Petty Motorsports, and he has stood through thick and thin as the team goes through its ebbs and flows.
The 28-year-old delivered the team perhaps its biggest milestone by returning the famed No. 43 to victory lane in the 2022 Southern 500, Jones’ third career win and second triumph in one of NASCAR’s toughest races. Since then, the sea has not been calm at several points, yet Jones’ extension proves his loyalty and commitment to what the team is building.
Jones sat down with Frontstretch following the Aug. 11 race at Richmond Raceway to discuss his new deal, the vision for LMC, changes the team has faced over the past year, racing off the track and his input on Austin Dillon‘s controversial victory at Richmond.
Luken Glover, Frontstretch: You announced your contract extension with Legacy Motor Club. Can you just tell me how that all came together, and how much of a relief is it to have that out of the way?
Erik Jones: Yeah, it’s always nice to have that done. Obviously, it was a pretty easy negotiation in general. I think both sides kind of knew what we wanted. Legacy was wanting to have me back, and I was wanting to get back there and continue to build this program that we’ve got.
I’ve been in the [No.] 43 car for a number of years now, and I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with my group on the 43. We’ve been pretty similar since I started up and joined the program. It all went pretty smooth, but it’s nice to have it done and just lock back in on the racing side and what we’ve got to do to get better.
Glover: Were there any thoughts about entertaining other options, or was it Legacy all the way?
Jones: I think every time contract negotiations come up there are other things out there that you explore a bit. I went through that list of options and looked at what was available, who’s moving around. I thought at the end of the day, Legacy was going to be the best option for me to continue to grow and eventually be in a situation that I was really content with.
[Legacy] is on a trajectory to improve a lot. We have a ways to go to get where we want to be, but I’ve still got a lot of things I want to accomplish in the Cup Series and the goals that I have through what I want to do in Cup. I really feel like at 28, 29 years old, you’re kind of at your prime for six years. I feel like I’ve got that time to hopefully we’re in a situation where we’ve got equipment where we want to be, go out and take advantage of it, and contend. I felt like Legacy was going to be the best option for it.Glover: One thing that has been centered around you all as a team is the switch from Chevrolet to Toyota. Can you take fans through that process and what that has looked like so far?
Jones: Yeah, it’s changed a lot. Fortunately, next year we’re going to keep the same name, same manufacturer and same ownership group, which will be nice.
I think right now, currently, we’re in a spot where we’re taking on more than we initially thought we were going to have to with the switch to Toyota. TRD is trying to up their support level to what we need, so there’s a stretch of road ahead that is a bit bumpy right now. We’re going to have put a lot of things into place to make ourselves better, but I think we’re aligning now to where we’ve got the people coming in, TRD is starting to up their support. So hopefully, here in the next handful of months, it’s going to start to come together and show improvement on the racetrack as well.
It’s not an easy road. It’s a lot of work, and there’s a lot of things that have to change to continue to put ourselves in a position where we feel comfortable with running up front. We’re working hard at it, and there’s a lot of people trying to make those changes, but it’s going to take a bit of time right now.
Glover: Last year, the ownership at Legacy had mentioned the different tiers of a manufacturer. Are you getting top-tier support (from Toyota), or are you still behind the eight ball in that sense?
Jones: I think we have all the information. The biggest hurdle is processing that information, and that’s been taking on a lot more manpower, bringing in a lot more people to build out different programs and different areas of our team. We have to be able to digest that information that is usable, beneficial and is driving us in a direction to have more performance.
So currently, I think we’re in the phase where we have to build out a lot more infrastructure to process everything we’re getting.
There’s no real gap of information for us. I think TRD is doing all they can to get us as much as they can, but there’s a lot of things where a team like [Joe Gibbs Racing] does in-house that we just didn’t have the capability at the start of the year to do. We’re working hard to bridge that gap, but it’s not something that can happen overnight with the amount of people that we have to take on getting those different areas of the company kind of rolling.
Glover: For you personally, what are you looking to build and what is the goal in the short term and the long term for your vision?
Jones: Short term, right now, we’ve just got to get running better, and that would be running top 15 right now. Obviously, running in the top 10 is the next goal. Long term, we want to be a championship-contending team.
How long is that? It’s hard to say currently with everything we’re doing, but that is our goal. There’s nobody in the company in a leadership role that doesn’t want to see us contending for championships, contending for wins, and at this moment, it seems a ways away.
But I think if we continue to work and try to build out what we’re currently doing, then that is eventually going to be a position that we’re in. There’s work to be done, but I think everyone has that same kind of goal of being up front, contending for wins and eventually being a perennial championship contender.
Glover: How much did your team circle Darlington Raceway at the end of not only running well, but maybe even pulling off the win?
Jones: The confidence from my side is high, and I think the confidence from everyone’s side is high. It’s just a matter of putting together a good car and one that is going to go out and contend. Each track is different from the next and what you need out of your car and the performance of your car, but I think the confidence level is there, and I feel good about all these tracks coming up.
I’m excited. You always look forward to going to places you enjoy and have run well at. I’m hoping we have a good car and that we can go out and run well. Obviously, when you can win a race, no matter how bad your year has been, it puts a band-aid on there and makes you feel good about how everything else is going.
Glover: Outside of the NASCAR track, you have went back to your roots and the late models. You had the win at Jennerstown Speedway a few weeks ago, and you finished second at Berlin Raceway. Does that help your confidence for when you strap into the Cup car?
Jones: Yeah, I think it does. Any time you can get in and win in anything, it makes you feel good. I just enjoy doing it more than anything.
Late model racing is what I came up doing, and I still get to go back and race against guys that I raced when I was younger, and that’s a cool part for me. I enjoy working on the cars and working on the setup of them and being with the guys that I’ve raced with or guys that I’ve known for a long time. It’s always fun to go back and do it.
I think anytime you can go and win — those aren’t easy races to win. The guys that do it every week are really good, and when you can go and contend and beat them, that’s a good feeling. I do it as much as I get the chance to. If I could do it more, I would, but it’s always fun when you can go and grab one.
Glover: We saw the incident at Richmond. We’re sitting here on a Wednesday waiting for the penalty report (Author’s note: Austin Dillon’s win did not count toward the playoffs in addition to other penalties). I know it involved separate drivers, but when you look at what happened, do you feel like we’re at a crucial point in NASCAR regarding driver etiquette?
Jones: It is for a lot of reasons, depending on what we think is acceptable. It wasn’t all that long ago that guys got black flagged or wins taken away for wrecking someone for the win, and it’s still that way for a lot of short track racing.
The unfortunate thing is this is a trickle-down effect. It trickles down to kids that watch NASCAR on Sunday, kids who race go karts and bandoleros and everything else, guys who are even racing late models that are older and see that. Things trickle down from the Cup Series, no matter whether we like it or not.
I think everybody has their own code of ethics, but there’s got to be a line drawn in the sand of what is and isn’t acceptable. I don’t know that anyone in the field would feel [Dillon’s move] is an acceptable way to race. I would highly doubt Austin thinks that’s an acceptable way to race, honestly. I definitely have my opinion on it, but I don’t really agree with it.
I don’t think there was any intention of moving anyone out of the way, I think the intention was probably to wreck Joey [Logano] to begin with, and then Denny [Hamlin] was the bystander who got more of it. The intention definitely has a lot to do with it, and there was definitely an intention to crash there.
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.
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