Erik Jones felt he had a car capable of contending for a win in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, just as he was started to work his way forward in the field from the 16th starting spot, the right front tire on Jones’ No. 20 Toyota Camry went down. This caused him to go hard into the outside wall at lap 23.
Early trouble for Erik Jones pic.twitter.com/UAYTQEClZJ
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“We had a really good Reser’s Camry,” Jones said After the crash. “I think we were in a really good position to work our way forward and just lost a tire. That hasn’t happened to me in a long time so it’s just unfortunate. I don’t know if we ran something over. It’s a bummer, you don’t want to be out of the 600 this early and we had a car that could have contended today. Just have to go back to work and go get them next week.”
The damage incurred was severe enough to end Jones’ day. He will be credited with a last-place finish. Jones had been running at the conclusion of the first 12 races this season until Sunday’s misfortune at Charlotte.
