Erik Jones has taken a definitive stand against Austin Dillon after his behavior at the Cook Out 400 where he intentionally crashed out two drivers. Competing full-time in the Cup series since 2017, Jones has amassed nearly 300 career starts but finds himself in a precarious position, ranked 27th in points.
Both he and fellow racer Dillon now face pressure to clinch outright wins to advance their standings, yet their approaches to racing could not be more different.
During a press conference on Saturday, Jones emphatically distanced himself from tactics he isn’t ready to use himself – something we’ve seen recently from Dillon.
“No. No, not a chance,” Jones stated, “I don’t race that way. I wouldn’t have done it. I can probably count – I honestly don’t know – less than five times that I’ve wrecked anyone intentionally in my entire career.
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“Just not the way I race. Everyone’s got their own code. Everybody has different ways that they go about it. For me, that’s just not the way I raced.”
Jones’s recent contract extension with Legacy Motor Club proves that the team has faith in his skills behind the wheel, betting on his disciplined approach to racing over the more ruthless tactics that could potentially secure immediate wins but damage long-term reputation and integrity.
Considering a hypothetical scenario where he might be coerced into aggressive racing, Jones maintained his stance:
“I don’t think I could do that. That’s not to say that things don’t change in the moment, and how you were raced before that changes things. Obviously, that was not the situation here, but it depends on what is going down, but it is really not in my playbook.”
The impact of racing etiquette shown by top drivers like those in the NASCAR Cup Series reaches far beyond the immediate environment, with these drivers being seen as role models for those in the leagues beneath them.
“What we do on Sunday trickles down and not just to Xfinity and Trucks and ARCA; it trickles down to late models, street stocks, front wheel drives, quarter midgets, go-karts – all of these guys and kids watch what we do on Sunday, and think what we do is right,” explained Jones. “I think racing has changed a lot since 2009 — that was the first time I raced a full-size car, and I can vividly remember my dad and I talking about what this year was about was earning respect.
“Do not be out there running into people. It is not what we are doing. You have to give these guys respect.”
He ruefully added:
“Things have changed a lot.”
Recounting a recent racing event that the Michigan driver watched, Jones highlighted how common aggressive maneuvers have become:
“I was watching the CARS Tour race (Friday) night at Ace, and those guys could barely go more than 10 laps without a yellow coming out — somebody is spinning somebody, somebody is wrecking somebody. It is not what I enjoy in racing. Some bumping and banging is fine. I don’t have a problem with that.
“I’ve for sure moved a guy up out of the way for a win… but I think there is a line there. Wrecking cars and wrecking stuff out has become more and more acceptable. It just wasn’t really an option when I was younger. We just couldn’t rebuild cars over and over.”
