NASCAR Winner Spotlight: Erik Jones earns first win in 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400

Erik Jones earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona International Speedway in the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Congratulations, Erik Jones! Jones survived and won the wreck-filled 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, giving him the first NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.

This victory locks Jones into the Cup Series playoffs for the first time in his career. Currently in his second full-time Cup Series season and his first as the driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, he sits in 13th place in the championship standings and sixth in the playoff standings. The win also gives him five playoff points, which are his first playoff points this season.

Jones now has at least one victory in all three of NASCAR’s top three series. He has one Cup Series win, nine Xfinity Series wins and seven Truck Series wins. He debuted in the Cup Series in May 2015 at Kansas as the replacement driver for the injured Kyle Busch in the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He finished in 40th place, but he displayed flashes of brilliance. Now, he has earned his first career Cup Series victory at, and he definitely has a bright future ahead of him.

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At the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, Jones only led the last lap. While he did not accumulate any stage points, he avoided the majority of the wrecks. Including the two stage-ending caution flag periods, there were 10 caution flag periods throughout the race.

Of the 40 drivers who started the race, only 20 finished. Daytona is famous for wrecks, including “the big one”. When drivers race around the track in large packs with speeds of over 200 miles per hour, survival is key for any hope at a win. Jones survived all the wrecks and dashed to the victory by a 0.125-second margin over Martin Truex Jr. in second place.

Jones is 22 years old and hails from Byron, Michigan. He first caught the attention of Kyle Busch when he defeated Busch in the 2012 Snowball Derby. The Snowball Derby is one of the most prestigious late-model stock car races in the country, and many NASCAR drivers have competed at that race.

Jones, Busch and Chase Elliott are Cup Series drivers who have won the race. Following Jones’ first career Cup Series win, Busch congratulated him on Twitter with a photo from the 2012 Snowball Derby.

Jones first caught the attention of the NASCAR world when he won at Phoenix in the 2013 Truck Series season. He then went on to win the 2015 Truck Series championship. He competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series the following year and finished in fourth place in the championship standings.

Continuing his ascension up the NASCAR ladder, Jones drove the #77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota in the 2017 Cup Series season, and he won the 2017 Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award. Most recently, Jones won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race this past weekend. Now he will set his sights on his first career Cup Series championship.

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Once again, congratulations to Erik Jones on his first career NASCAR Cup Series win. He and the rest of the Cup Series drivers will compete next at Kentucky Speedway in the Quaker State 400. The race will take place on Saturday, July 14, and you can watch it live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.