Erik Jones weighs in on getting walled and capitalizing on new tires after finishing 4th in All-Star Open

Erik Jones summed up his outing at the NASCAR All-Star Open, reflecting on getting walled by Bubba Wallace and finishing in fourth place by capitalizing on new tires. He rued his tough luck despite having a "good" car to race with.

Legacy Motor Club drivers Jones and John Hunter Nemechek had an impressive outing at the All-Star Open race. They did not automatically qualify for the main event, as none of the LMC drivers won a race this year or the past year.

As a result, they had to go to the main event by qualifying in the Open race. While Nemechek crossed the hurdle, Erik Jones could not. Speaking about his day in the post-race interview, the #43 driver said via Frontstretch on X:

"We got put in the wall; 23 (Bubba Wallace) put us on the wall, and that was a lot of damage, and it just wasn't any good, so yeah, we saved that."

"At the end of the day, we were in the best spot with the best tires. Yeah, I mean, it's every week someone shoving us on the wall, or it's everybody, it's expected, but yeah, the car was good," he added.

Erik Jones started his race in 12th place, behind Ty Dillon and ahead of Cole Custer. However, he crossed the line in fourth and missed the qualification by a whisker.

Nemechek, on the other hand, came home in second place, behind race winner Carson Hocevar. With this, the #42 driver qualified for the main race alongside Hocevar and Noah Gragson (winner of the fan vote event).

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Erik Jones' teammate, John Hunter Nemechek, lauded Legacy Motor Club after NASCAR All-Star Race qualification

Erik Jones' Legacy Motor Club teammate, John Hunter Nemechek (42), during the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway. - Source: Imagn

John Hunter Nemechek hailed Legacy Motor Club and the #42 team after his NASCAR All-Star Race qualification on Sunday, May 18. Speaking about how the last-minute pit helped him finish the race up ahead, he said (via Speedway Digest):

"Heck yeah. We have a shot to go win a million dollars. Hats off to this 42 team we unloaded and had pretty good two or three lap speed, but really no long run pace, so proud of them for the effort that they put in yesterday, and what they were able to find."

"Pitting on that last deal - I knew I couldn't win from where I was at. We came and got two, and that helped us out. Hats off to the whole 42 team. Proud of the effort," he added.

Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing claimed the NASCAR All-Star Race victory ahead of Team Penske's Joey Logano. Bell snatched the lead from the 2024 All-Star winner with 28 laps to go, keeping his advantage till he crossed the finish line.