NASCAR: 5 possible landing spots for Erik Jones in 2021
By Asher Fair
Erik Jones won’t return to Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Where will he end up competing next year?
Joe Gibbs Racing announced in August that Erik Jones will not be back for what would have been a fourth year behind the wheel of the #20 Toyota in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Jones joined the team ahead of the 2018 season as the replacement for 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, but he is slated to be replaced by Christopher Bell next year.
Bell, a former Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver who won a series-high 15 races over two seasons before arriving in the Cup Series ahead of the 2020 season, competes for the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated Leavine Family Racing behind the wheel of the #95 Toyota.
With Leavine Family Racing having sold their team to Spire Motorsports for next year, Joe Gibbs Racing were effectively forced to choose between Jones and Bell, given that their other three drivers, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., are all slated to be back.
Because they went with the 25-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native, the 24-year-old Byron, Michigan native is without a ride for next year.
Where will the two-time Cup Series race winner end up in 2021?