Born to Race: On Fast Track from Michigan
Jones’ Journey From Farm Town To NASCAR’s Next
A sleepy farm town of just over 500 people nestled between Detroit and the Great Lakes, Byron, Michigan, is quite the distance from the stock car racing hotbeds of the southeastern United States.
Against all odds, one of its own has risen through the motorsports ranks and is experiencing success on NASCAR’s national stage. Erik Jones, 18, with already three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories to his credit, is considered one of the sport’s brightest young prospects.
Coming from a family with little-to-no roots in auto racing, as well as an area rabid about hockey and football, how did Jones even get into sport?
“It was always something I wanted to do,” Jones said. “I remember being 6-years-old just wishing I could drive on the street and be able to go places. It was always a love of cars and wanting to drive them.”
SATURDAY SCHEDULE AT MARTINSVILLE: 10:15 a.m. ET Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Follow live) | 1:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 (200 laps, 105.2 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Follow live)
Jones’ parents noticed his affinity for cars from the time he could talk. He was always playing with Matchbox cars or sitting in automobiles at the family business, Paragon Reproductions – a Corvette restoration shop. Jones could never stop thinking about cars. Even when he had to draw pictures at school, they were always of motor vehicles.
When Jones was 3, he told his uncle he was born to race – a self-fulfilling prophecy the family laughed off at the time.
“I don’t remember it honestly, it was a story that was told to me,” Jones said. “Apparently I did say that to my uncle. I just told him I was born to race. It’s kind of funny looking back at it now, but it’s definitely a neat story.”
Unable to ignore her son’s love of cars, Jones’ mother, Carol, decided to take action and make it her goal to get him into motorsports at 7. The family’s only link to racing was through Carol’s father, Bert Eckert, who built some engines and drag raced in the 1960s, but he had passed away. With no experience in motorsports and the responsibility of running a business he had just purchased, Dave Jones, Erik’s father, was unsure about getting involved in racing. He knew it would take a major time commitment and didn’t even know where to start.
“(Carol’s) exact words to me were, ‘We’re going to do it with or without you,’ ” Dave Jones said. “She meant it too. She got involved, made some phone calls to some people that were involved in the sport and she did it.
“She led this madness.”
Dave Jones jumped on board and bought Erik a quarter-midget car that he first practiced with by himself and eventually raced. The elder Jones educated himself on racing with every book he could get his hands on and became his son’s first crew chief. As Erik moved up the motorsports ladder, Dave eventually stopped being the crew chief, but ran the family racing team and helped at the track fulfilling responsibilities ranging from tire changer to jack man.
“I took it and ran wild with it,” Dave Jones said. “I fell in love with it. I loved going to the track. I liked the camaraderie amongst the team. It was a lot of fun.”
Wanting to make sure their son gained a variety of experiences, Dave and Carol Jones had Erik try out other sports, but he always preferred racing.
“We had him try every sport, the only one I can think of he didn’t participate in was track,” Dave Jones said. “He played hockey, baseball, football, wrestling, he’s done them all. And didn’t like any of them.
“He was never interested. It was all racing all the time.”
Dave Jones credits Erik’s rise up the different levels of racing from Quarter Midgets to the ASA Late Model Series all the way to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to his natural talent and ability to listen.
“One thing he does, and people appreciate it, is he listens to people,” Dave said. “Even when he was 12, they could tell. A lot of these racers they want to share their knowledge, but they want to share it with people who appreciate it. Even if he didn’t think they were necessarily telling him the right things, he would listen. He would stare at them and listen.
“He was just a sponge and he still is to this day. He’d just focus on what a person was saying and go out there and do it.”
Jones’ ability to listen to a variety of people, test tips out on the track and implement the ones that work for him has been essential to his development as a driver.
“He hasn’t had this big sound team to propel him right to the top,” Dave Jones said. “We had a family team. We had (different) crew chiefs and things like that. He’s had some tough times as far as that goes, but I look back at it now and think, ‘Well, he learned something new from every crew chief. ‘”
Young drivers can have all the passion and talent in the world, but in order to move up in stock car racing, they must post results at the track – and it helps if someone important is watching…
Jones’ breakthrough victory came on Dec. 3, 2012 in the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. The then-16-year-old, improbably held off NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch on the final 18 laps to win the race. The victory would lead to a relationship with Busch, which eventually developed into Jones sharing time with him in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Jones continued to open eye balls around the racing world when he became the youngest winner of a NASCAR national series event – at 17 years, nine months, four days – when he captured the checkered flag in just his fifth NCWTS start at Phoenix on Nov. 8, 2013. His record has since been broken by Cole Custer, but Jones has gone on to win two more truck races on a part-time schedule in less than a calendar year.
“It’s pretty exciting for me, being able to go out and win these races already while coming up through the ranks is pretty special,” Jones said. “I never really would’ve thought a few years back I’d have (three) truck race wins at this time, and racing a part-time truck series schedule, I never would’ve thought that.
“Just to be at this point in my career is pretty awesome, especially looking back at some of the races we’ve won the past couple years and just the opportunities I’ve had. It’s been pretty amazing. I just hope we can continue winning races and keep it going. I want to be in a race car as much as I can.”
A major obstacle on Erik’s journey to NASCAR was his desire to complete his high school education. Traveling throughout the country, he was missing days of class and needed a more flexible schedule. Following his freshman year, Jones enrolled in an online program through Swartz Creek (Mich.) Academy. Although he completed his classes from his laptop, the coursework was considered even harder than it would be in a typical school setting.
“It was all completely online, all on my own time,” Jones said. “I had a due date when I had to have the class completely done by. In ways it was more fun than regular school, but in other ways it was more challenging because you didn’t have a teacher you could ask questions to straight off the bat at any time.”
Jones balanced his schooling with his racing slate and his hard work paid off when he graduated from Swartz Creek. His one issue with obtaining his diploma was that he could not attend the formal graduation event because – you guessed it – he was competing at a race track. Instead, he received his diploma prior to the June 6, 2014 Camping World Truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. Adorned in a scarlet red cap and gown, Jones marched across the stage at the Fort Worth track and received his graduation certificate from TMS President Eddie Gossage and got a congratulatory kiss on the cheek from a couple of the “Great American Sweethearts.”
“I can’t think of a better way to go and get your high school diploma, being able to do that at Texas was pretty awesome.” Jones said. “Just the way it turned out, we all had a lot of fun. Graduating up on stage with the two Texas Motor Speedway girls, what more can you ask for?”
These days, Jones is living in North Carolina where he spends the majority of his time at the Kyle Busch Motorsports shop trying to help the No. 51 team win its second consecutive Camping World Truck Series owner title and further advance his racing career. He made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Chicagoland in July, finishing eighth, and is slated to run his final truck and Nationwide races of the season at Phoenix next month.
Despite his success and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series aspirations, Jones doesn’t model himself after any famous drivers. He admires drivers like and Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, but does not want to be them.
“I’ve always been one to go out and do my own thing,” Jones said. “I don’t ever say, ‘Man, I wish I can go out and be just like this guy.’ I’ve always just wanted to go out and be my own driver.”
Jones thinks the great drivers have a supreme confidence in themselves and a belief that they can beat anyone on the track at any time. He is motivated by competition and teamwork to be the best driver possible.
“What pushes me most is the competition, going out and being able to compete is something I’ve always loved to do,” Jones said. “I don’t want to let my team down. I think that’s something that drives me to go out and be better. These guys work so hard for me to go out and be fast, I don’t want to go out and let them down. I want to go out and be successful not just for myself, but for everyone around me.”
While focused on his racing career, Jones realizes that he sometimes needs to do outside activities to give himself a break. Away from the shop, he is an avid fantasy football player and scuba diver. He even took up golf within the past year, but notes it doesn’t come as easy to him as driving.
“I really need to get some lessons to be where I need to be,” Jones said. “But I can at least hit the ball.”
Although Jones enjoys his hobbies, none of them come close to the passion for racing that’s burned within him since childhood.
“Nothing beats coming around a turn for me,” he said. “That’s my ultimate rush.”
Sources: James Hallas, NASCAR PR