NASCAR: Erik Jones racing for a special cause in Charlotte

Erik Jones is set to compete for a special cause in this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

While he won’t be racing for a NASCAR Cup Series championship or to advance to the next round of the 2020 playoffs, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones is still set to race for a special cause at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval this Sunday, October 11 in the Bank of America Roval 400.

In this 109-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) roval in Concord, North Carolina, Jones is set to promote a paint scheme on his #20 Toyota which was designed by four children who are patients at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.

This is Jones’s second year working with Craftsman and the Ace Foundation, and this promotion is a part of Stanley Black and Decker’s Racing for a Miracle program. Craftsman will be presenting the Ace Hardware Foundation with a $100,000 donation to benefit their partner, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

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These four children, named Zackery, Christian, Sofia and Kyler, all played a part in the design of Jones’s paint scheme based on their dream superpowers. In addition, they got to compete against Jones in Mario Kart, and they are set to be honorary pit crew members this Sunday.

Jones spoke to Beyond the Flag about his relationship with Craftsman and the Ace Foundation and about Stanley Black and Decker’s Racing for a Miracle program.

“It’s been really neat,” he said. “This is the second year that we’ve done the Craftsman and Ace Foundation car at a race. It’s been really neat. I’ve gotten to meet the kids over the last few weeks and actually had the chance to race Mario Kart with them, which was really cool.

“It’s been fun, and getting to see the car, I finally got to see it for the first time actually last week, and see what the kids designed. They had the opportunity to design their own superhero and be on the race car. I’m really looking forward to them seeing the car, getting out there. I’ll have the chance just to meet them and get to know them.

“A little bit different this year, being on a Zoom call and doing all that, but it was really cool to spend a little time with them and now getting them to see their race car on the track Sunday at Charlotte…pretty neat.”

Jones is excited by the fact that all four kids are slated to be honorary pit crew members for this Sunday afternoon’s race.

“It’s really cool,” he continued. “I know that their lives have been definitely a little bit tough in ways growing up, so having them and having the chance just to get on the race car and have something to really look forward to this weekend is pretty cool.

“And having them honorary pit crew members, it’s definitely a little bit extra motivation, you know, you want to have a good run for them, and get their race car up front. It’d be pretty cool for the four of them to see the car that they helped design running up in front of the pack. I think that’d be pretty cool.

“Hopefully we can do that and if anyone is interested in more information on the whole program, you can go to Craftsman.com/club and that will get you some more information. But definitely looking forward to Sunday, having them be a part of the whole race.”

Asked who won the Mario Kart race, Jones admitted he was defeated.

“Not me actually,” he said. “I think Sofia kind of dominated everyone on the whole race. I know she won the overall championship. It was fun. I had a good time. It’s been a few years since I played Mario Kart, and I was relying on my skills still being adequate to go out there and compete, which, I held my own, I felt like. But I know Sofia kind of put the smackdown on me.”

Tune in to NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 11 for the live broadcast of the 2020 Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval to see Erik Jones’s new paint scheme in action.