DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — At the end of regulation — 160 laps — of Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, not enough cars had been wrecked. So they raced for eight more laps, had another big crash and mashed a few more cars.
When the checkered flag mercifully flew after three hours and 13 minutes of some of the most calamitous racing of this or any year, the win went to 22-year-old Erik Jones, one of the crowded room of youngsters who are trying to break into the top level of their sport.
Jones barged through that door Saturday night, surviving and thriving and scoring the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.
Behind Jones, everything basically looked like the bad corner of the junkyard. Cars mangled. Hoods flying. Wheels spinning off cars. Fire erupting. Drivers emerging from crumpled cars wondering what the heck was going on.
Ten cautions. One red flag. Two overtimes. Half the field failed to finish the race — all taken out in accidents.
Even by the often iffy standards of restrictor-plate racing, this one was a titanic mess. Before the closing laps, it all reached a certain level of ridiculousness.
When the final flag flew, none of these drivers were racing — Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott.
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Among the results of so many top drivers failing to finish was this — eight of the 13 drivers who finished on the lead lap had their best finishes of the season, and four (Jones, Ty Dillon, Jeffrey Earnhardt and D.J. Kennington) had the best finishes of their careers.
Quite a night for juicing the stats.
Strangely enough, despite the decimated field, one of the Big Three drivers (Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.) who have dominated the season almost won the race. That would be Truex, who led the white-flag lap but was passed by Jones on the final lap.
For Jones, none of the wackiness of the race mattered Saturday night, and none of it will matter the rest of the season or the rest of his life. A promising driver since he scored an upset win over Kyle Busch in the popular super late model Snowball Derby in Florida in 2012, Jones now collects everything that goes along with winning a Cup race — not the least of which is a spot in the playoffs.
Toyota racing officials picked Jones to be one of their future stars, and pressure was added to those expectations when he was selected to replace former champion and popular star Matt Kenseth in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car. Jones got the message that he was expected to win sooner rather than later.
Now he has. The world changes.
Missing from the color and champagne of Saturday night’s raucous victory lane was Dave Jones, Erik’s father and the power behind his racing career. Dave died of cancer in June 2016, even as his son was beginning his rise toward the top.
About 10 years ago, Dave Jones sold a treasured Corvette to fund Erik’s Late Model racing, the next step on his ride toward NASCAR.
“There were a lot of sacrifices from my family to get to a point to have an opportunity,” Jones said. “That wasn’t the only thing that was sold along the way, and chances were taken financially to get me to this point.”
Eighteen months ago, Jones found his father’s Corvette and bought it, returning the car to the family.
“I always wanted to give it back to him, but it sure feels good to have it in my hands now,” he said. “I definitely wish he could have been here to see this one. That was one of the first things I thought about crossing the finish line.”
Now he has that car, and a win, and so much more.
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