NASCAR: 3 possible landing spots for Erik Jones in 2021
By Asher Fair
Erik Jones is one of the top remaining free agents for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Where will he end up competing next year?
With Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman having signed contract extensions with their current teams in recent months and with Kyle Larson losing his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing after using a racial slur, Erik Jones is arguably the top pending free agent remaining for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The 24-year-old Byron, Michigan native is in his third season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and his fourth full season competing at NASCAR’s top level, but he is only competing on a one-year deal after signing an extension late last season.
He has only won two races since he replaced 2003 champion Matt Kenseth behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota, one at Daytona International Speedway in July of 2018 and another at Darlington Raceway in September of 2019.
Teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have won 13 and eight races since Jones joined them, and Martin Truex Jr. has won eight since joining the team last year. Additionally, while all three of these drivers qualified for last year’s Championship 4, Jones didn’t advance past the first round of the playoffs, just like in 2018.
Through the first 20 races of the 2020 season, Jones sits in 18th place in the point standings and 19th in the playoff picture, and Joe Gibbs Racing have decided that it is time to move on from him, knowing they have Christopher Bell waiting in the wings. So where will he end up next year?
Here are three possible landing spots for him in 2021.