NASCAR Cup Series competitor Erik Jones, who typically drives for Richard Petty Motorsports in the famed No. 43 car on the weekends will slide behind the wheel of BJ McLeod’s Late Model in the upcoming Blizzard Twin 100’s double header at Five Flags Speedway on Friday, July 23rd and Saturday, July 24th. McLeod broke the news on Speed51’s Thursday edition of The Bullring.
Here is video of the entire episode of The Bullring, where the announcement was made:
https://www.facebook.com/speed51/videos/345810257213119
DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT
We are very excited to head to our first race in our @mcleodxbraden house car with 2x Snowball Derby winner and NASCAR Cup Series driver, @Erik_Jones!
Erik will be behind the wheel at 5 Flags Speedway July 23 & 24 for a @SoSuperSeries double header. pic.twitter.com/ziUD8TJ9VU
— McLeod x Braden (@McLeodxBraden) July 15, 2021
If you would like to watch Jones compete at Five Flags Speedway, you can stream the race on Speed51.com, by clicking here.
For Jones, the start in the Blizzard Series will coincide with a two-week break for the NASCAR Cup Series. While it would be easy for the Michigan-native to stay at home or go to the beach or something non-racing related, Jones is a racer through and through and will keep his competitive juices flowing even during his off time from the Cup Series.
Jones, 25, has quite a but of prior experience at the short track in Pensacola, Florida, as he won the prestigious Snowball Derby in 2012 and 2013. Jones also competed in the event in 2014, but a crash after leading 18 laps relegated him to a 27th-place finish that year.
Currently, Jones sits 25th in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. He has scored a pair of top-10 finishes in his first season with RPM in the NCS. Jones has two-career NASCAR Cup Series wins, which came while he was driving the No. 20 entry for Joe Gibbs Racing.