“It was just too much”: Erik Jones bluntly calls out Kyle Larson over ‘super aggressive’ shove at Daytona

Erik Jones calls out Kyle Larson
Erik Jones calls out Kyle Larson at the 2025 Coke Zero Sugar 400 - Images via Imagn.

Erik Jones raised questions for Kyle Larson following the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night (August 23). The Legacy Motor Club driver, who finished in the top among all Toyota entries at the regular-season finale, also said he was let down by the No. 5 Chevy at Daytona International Speedway.

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Jones drove the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE strongly through the middle stages of the race and working well with Justin Haley in the No. 7 Chevy and other cars in the lead draft. However, Larson joined the pack and began making aggressive moves. When reporter Toby Christie asked Jones about the shoves from the Hendrick Motorsports driver being fair, he said:

"I gotta ask Kyle. ... You can see the 7 and I work really well together and pushng in the lead and the 22 [Joey Logano] and the 17 [Chris Buescher], all of us working really well together. Pushing the lead where we could."
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"Then the 5 got there, got behind us and was just super aggressive, just kind of bulldogging through us. He kept getting me a little more and a little more out of shape, and yeah it was just too much at one time. Fortunately, we didn't wreck, but I gotta ask. I don’t know what his thought was. It wasn't really helping us go forward, it was kinda slowing us down before I got super out of shape," Erik Jones added.
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Despite the moves from Larson, Erik Jones managed to salvage a strong top-5 finish while Ryan Blaney surged from 13th to win in a breathtaking four-wide dash. He beat out Daniel Suárez by 0.031 seconds. Haley and Cole Custer completed the top five ahead of Jones.

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From Larson's perspective, however, the move was strategic. He explained that Chevrolets and Toyotas "don't latch bumpers" as well as Fords, and so he tried something different to get their line moving.

"The slams help advance the lane more" - Kyle Larson on shoving Erik Jones

During a post-race interview with Dustin Long, Larson shared his perspective on the incident during the final laps of the race.

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"I'm just trying to hit him and get our lane going. I feel like the Fords you can just really lock on to and push. Like, Toyotas and Chevys, we don't latch bumpers very well, so I feel like the slams help advance the lane more. Maybe he thinks differently," Kyle Larson said.

Larson added that he was uncertain whether his bump pushed Jones into the car ahead and would have to watch the replay. Meanwhile, Erik Jones, who was looking to get a spot in the playoffs, was left disappointed.

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Edited by Sumeet Kavthale
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