[autotag]Erik Jones[/autotag] showed tremendous speed during NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, and it translated to qualifying. Jones qualified in fourth place and finished fourth in Stage 1. Unfortunately for Jones, a slow pit stop got him in traffic, and he later bent a toe link after contact with Bubba Wallace.
However, the No. 43 team blamed Chase Briscoe for the incident, and Jones talked to Fronstretch about his run-in with the Stewart-Haas Racing driver. Jones was clearly frustrated after a good car turned into a 31st-place finish.
“[Chase Briscoe] is dragging us down over and over, restart after restart,” Jones said. “He put us four wide because he’s slowing us down so much, and I got wrecked. So, that sucks, but he seems to have an issue with me every week. I’ll call him this week, he probably won’t call be back, and [I’d] love to talk to him.”
Jones’s frustration is reasonable, as the No. 43 car had a lot of speed at Phoenix. It was the fastest Legacy Motor Club car for Jones in 2024 and represented a chance to turn it around after a rough start. The Michigan native has one top-10 finish through four races and hopes to earn another at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend.
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