Erik Jones “happy” with first major breakthrough of the season at Texas

Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones secured his first top-10 result of the season at Texas Motor Speedway, navigating through the chaos in the final restarts of the race. While Jones finished fifth, his teammate John Hunter Nemechek also had a strong outing at Texas, finishing three spots behind in eighth.

Jones qualified 14th for the Wurth 400 and secured a top-10 finish in the first stage. He faced multiple setbacks in Stage 2, after a speeding penalty put him at the back of the pack at the beginning of the stage. Later in the same stage, the #43 Toyota driver was penalized for vehicle interference, sending him to the tail end.

Despite losing track position twice, Erik Jones charged through the field both times, with the cautions helping him gain track position. He navigated the chaos in the late-race restarts to secure a top-five finish, with his teammate John Hunter Nemechek finishing eighth.

In a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass, the 28-year-old was satisfied with the outcome at Texas and shared optimism for the upcoming races on intermediate ovals.

"We were close to getting a couple [top-5 results], but two penalties and had to come from the back a couple times. The car was good enough to get up there. Had some things go our way obviously, some wrecks and some yellows falling like we needed.

"Happy with the AdventHealth Camry, it was fast, hopefully we can bring this speed more and more going forward. Our intermediate stuff's kind of been close, we just kind of needed [to] get the races together. Hopefully this is the start to a good stretch for us."

John Hunter Nemechek was also penalized for speeding on pit road but managed to recover the lost track position. The eighth-place finish marked his third top-10 result of the season, following a fifth-place at Daytona and another top-10 in Atlanta.

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Erik Jones explains the off-season gains made by Legacy Motor Club

Erik Jones (Source: Imagn)

Legacy Motor Club endured a disastrous 2024 campaign, as Jimmie Johnson's team struggled after switching from Chevy to Toyota. Erik Jones finished the season 28th in the standings, while his teammate J.H. Nemechek was classified 34th.

With the team off to a better start in 2025, Jones elaborated on how optimizing "little stuff" has made an impact. He added:

"I think it's just all the little stuff. We've have been optimizing everything we can, which is what the name of the game is with this car, travels, body, underbody. It's not like I'm driving harder, and it doesn't always feel like it's driving better. It's just kind of going faster," he told Pockrass. [0:36 onwards]

"It's hard to say that we did one thing or made one thing better. It's kind of a culmination of a handful of things we've done better over the last six months."

Eleven rounds into the 2025 season, Erik Jones occupies 29th place in the standings, while his teammate Nemechek is 23rd.