Jones shakes woes of last month-plus with win at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON - The proverbial monkey is finally off his back.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Erik Jones had figured out every way to lose a race in the last month and a half. Headed into the American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway, he was banking on all the heartbreak being out of the way.

Just like last year - but with a lot more joy this time - his first Truck Series win of the year came in Iowa. He restarted fourth with 36 laps to go, drove to the lead in a little more than a lap, then held on through another late restart to firmly put a stamp on the past six weeks.

'This one's enjoyment. I won a race on Tuesday (at the Battle at Berlin 251 Late Model race), that was relief,” Jones said. 'The last month was stressful all around; stressful on me as a person. It really made me grow a lot and look at a lot of things and just figure out a lot of things at this level of racing.

'I kind of came to realize it doesn't come as easy as everyone thinks it does. I had a lot of success early on and kind of got into a hard spot where it wasn't coming as easy. It's part of racing at this level, and kind of had to figure that out. It's just enjoyment tonight and soaking it all in.”

Jones dominated everything there was to dominate at Iowa Speedway on Friday in his No. 4 Toyota.

He was fastest in the only practice session in the morning, was fastest in every round of knockout qualifying in the afternoon, then led 112 of the 200 laps in the race after starting on the pole. His restarts were the best of any truck all night, as evidenced on the final two in which he got and retained the lead.

His victory was nearly a carbon-copy of last year's win in this race - in which he led 110 laps - and both the weekend and the weeks leading into it reminded him of 2014.

'It's really similar,” Jones said. 'Last year we came off the same beginning of the season to this point and got a win here and it kind of turned everything around. I would say our luck - or whatever you want to call it - was worse this year … than it was last year, but it's definitely a similar feel getting back to victory lane here and getting back going in the right direction.”

Three teenagers swept the podium Friday night, with 18 year-old Brandon Jones finishing second and 19 year-old Tyler Reddick third. Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton was fourth, while 20 year-old Christopher Bell was fifth in his first career Truck Series start.

Crafton said he got stuck on the bottom on one of the late restarts, and 'it just killed us,” by hurting track position. He retained his points lead by 12 over Reddick with his top-five finish, but reiterated what he's said all season - and the last two, for that matter - that he's not concerned with the championship picture.

And with all the youth around him, an aggressive, win-focused mentality might be what it takes to keep the youngsters behind him.

'You don't know how old they are until they make stupid mistakes, and besides that, it's just part of the game, I guess,” Crafton said. 'I'm not worried about the championship. If I go out and win races, it'll take care of itself.”

Jones got himself back in the championship hunt with the win, sitting 26 points behind Crafton in third place in the standings.

He can't rest too long on the win Friday night, however, as he's off to Chicagoland Speedway to race the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Jones can make it three wins in one week if he gets the job done in Joliet, Ill., after winning in his Super Late Model at the Battle at Berlin 251 on Tuesday night.

Jones won an Xfinity Series race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway, and Saturday is a stand-alone race, so his chances remain strong to do just that.

'I'm definitely excited to get over there. We've won two races this week, so it would be cool if we could try to knock down a third one this week,” Jones said. 'Obviously it's a little bit of a mindset shift getting into a totally different vehicle on a completely different track, but I trust in those guys that they've got it set up pretty good and have things figured out for me. It'll be ready to go when I get there.”

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