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.
Possible Erik Jones 2021 landing spots: Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart-Haas Racing seem to have an ever-changing driver lineup, and that may very well continue into 2021. They were the only one of the sport’s top five teams to make a change to their driver lineup after the 2019 season, and they have now altered their lineup after each of the last four seasons.
Kevin Harvick is already under contract through the 2023 season, and rookie Cole Custer is believed to be a long-term option, highlighted by his win at Kentucky Speedway in July. Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola, however, are both in contract years for the second consecutive season.
Bowyer told Beyond the Flag in an interview that moving to the broadcast booth “damn sure ain’t gonna happen anytime soon”, and he has had a solid start to the season that would justify another extension. However, nothing has been confirmed, and he and Almirola could both end up on the hot seat.
If Stewart-Haas Racing do opt to change their driver lineup for the fifth consecutive year after the 2020 season, Erik Jones could be their go-to guy. Team co-owner Tony Stewart is known to be fond of Kyle Larson, but Larson’s situation remains up in the air, as he is still indefinitely suspended by NASCAR.
Stewart-Haas Racing Xfinity Series driver Chase Briscoe could be another option, but would the team want to risk bringing him up to NASCAR’s top level too quickly and have him struggle mightily like Custer did before his upset victory?
Signing Jones would not be the first time Stewart-Haas Racing plucked a driver from the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota squad. They signed Daniel Suarez following the 2018 season, although that didn’t work out; their relationship ended after only one year.
If he doesn’t end up with Stewart-Haas Racing, where else could Jones find himself next year?
Possible Erik Jones 2021 landing spots: Hendrick Motorsports
Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski had been the rumored replacement candidate for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson next year after Johnson retires from full-time competition.
But the 2012 champion, who has only ever competed full-time for Roger Penske’s organization, signed an extension earlier this month, just like teammate Ryan Blaney did in March.
As a result, Hendrick Motorsports are still looking for a replacement, and landing a talented veteran like the 36-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan native is effectively be out of the question.
While they could go young and turn to the Rick Hendrick co-owned JR Motorsports Xfinity Series team like they did for Chase Elliott and William Byron and sign Noah Gragson, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to rush him up the ladder with other more experienced and yet still young options available.
Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Go Fas Racing’s Corey LaJoie are two 28-year-old veterans who are pending free agents. But at 24 years old, Erik Jones is even younger than they are and still has four seasons of experience to his name. He would fit in well with the team’s current young lineup, which, aside of the retiring Johnson, does not feature anybody above the age of 27.
Jones could drive the #48 Chevrolet that Johnson has driven since 2002, or if Hendrick Motorsports opt to move Alex Bowman to that seat due to the fact that it is already fully backed by Ally Financial, he could drive the #88 Chevrolet.
But if that doesn’t work out, where else might he land?
Possible Erik Jones 2021 landing spots: Chip Ganassi Racing
Erik Jones replacing Matt Kenseth, part II?
Chip Ganassi Racing unexpectedly hired 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth after just four races had been contested in the 2020 season, as long-time driver of the #42 Chevrolet Kyle Larson used the N-word back in April and was dropped by several sponsors tied to the team, effectively forcing Chip Ganassi to fire him.
Kenseth, who has stepped away from NASCAR twice already, is 48 years old and is the oldest full-time driver in the field by more than three and a half years.
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While he showed that he is still capable of running at the front once in a great while with his second place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he is clearly not the long-term answer behind the wheel of the #42 Chevrolet, probably not even for next year.
Who replaced him at Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2017 season in what had been his most recent full-time ride? Erik Jones. Now Jones is out at Joe Gibbs Racing with Christopher Bell lurking, and with him set to lose that seat, there are no guarantees that he will land with either Stewart-Haas Racing or Hendrick Motorsports, as there are a number of other drivers who are more than capable of winning and have been linked to those teams as well.
Chip Ganassi Racing certainly have quite a pool of drivers to choose from as far as their 2021 lineup is concerned. But they do already have 2004 champion Kurt Busch under contract to drive the #1 Chevrolet next year, so pairing the promising Jones with the veteran could be the right move to push his career forward following an underwhelming stint at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Given that Jones doesn’t have a ton of sponsors of his own, a move to a team with several big-name primary sponsors also makes sense.
Where will Erik Jones end up in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season? Will he sign with Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing or another team not discussed in this article?