Erik Jones set to make Nationwide Series debut this weekend at Chicagoland

After winning this past weekend’s Camping World Truck Series event at Iowa Speedway, Erik Jones is set to begin his next step of climbing the NASCAR ladder, making his Nationwide Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday night.

“I’m really excited,” Jones commented. “It’s a great opportunity for me, and I’m really excited it’s with Joe Gibbs Racing, such a strong team in the Nationwide Series, and I think it’ll be a great opportunity.  Really looking forward to what that’s going to bring and seeing how it all works out.”

Going into the weekend, the goal is simple for the 18-year-old – run as many practice laps as they can, and complete all the laps during the race.

“It’s a really big step for me getting into a Nationwide car, and especially at a place like Chicagoland,” Jones said. “At first I’m just going to be looking to make laps and get to the end of the race and hopefully running up in the top 10.  At the end of the day we’re all race car drivers and we all want to go for the win.  I think we’ll be challenging hard to do all we can to run up front and contend, and at the end of the day I hope we’ll be up there.  I know we’ve got great equipment and a great team.  I’m pretty excited to see what it’s all going to bring.”

Jones isn’t going into the weekend without any experience as he was able to test with a Nationwide Series car on the Memphis short track a couple weeks ago.

“That’s the only time I’ve been in a Nationwide car and felt like we learned quite a bit and I definitely got acquainted with the team,” he explained. “I think there’s definitely an expectation every time you step into a race car that’s successful and always runs well, especially with the 51 truck this year.  Kyle (Busch) has been extremely dominant, and every time I get into it, it makes me feel more confident just knowing that the truck can win and we have a shot to win every weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to the start I get in the 20 car.  I know it’s a great team, and there are some expectations there, but at the same time they’re obviously a little different for me just making my first couple starts in the Nationwide Series, but at the same time I’m wanting to go out and show them that I can do it and run well in the Nationwide Series and hopefully show that we can go out and be competitive.”

There are plans for Jones to run Bristol and Phoenix later this year, though once this weekend is done with, though, Jones will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports, set to hit the dirt at Eldora Speedway.

“I think it’s cool just in the sense that we do get to go to a dirt track and especially a place like Eldora that they host a lot of really prestigious dirt track races throughout the year,” Jones said. “For us to get a shot to race there and really put our mark down at Eldora is pretty special.  I think it would be pretty cool to pick up a win there and definitely think we’ve got a good shot at it.

“I think it’s something that NASCAR and the Truck Series should continue to do.  I think it’s a great show for the fans and brings a lot of people out to watch the trucks that maybe necessarily wouldn’t watch them every weekend.  I think it’s a great thing all the way around for drivers, teams and fans, and it really puts on a good show.”