Erik Jones

Erik Benjamin Jones was born on May 30, 1996, in the United States and is counted among the most renowned talents of the younger NASCAR generation. His motorsports career began at the age of seven in Quarter-Midget racing, and at 13 he switched to stock cars. In 2010 he started in the ASA Late Model Series and became the youngest driver ever to win the prestigious Oktoberfest race at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, an early sign of his extraordinary talent.

His rise through the developmental series was rapid: in 2011, Jones won the CRA All-Star Tour championship in his rookie year and triumphed at the Governor’s Cup 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, leading every lap of the race. In December 2012, at just 16 years old, he defeated Kyle Busch at the Snowball Derby, which prompted Busch to sign Jones to Kyle Busch Motorsports; the Derby victory was also retroactively awarded to Jones in 2013 after original winner Chase Elliott was disqualified. In parallel, he debuted in the ARCA Racing Series in 2012 at just 15 years old and celebrated his first victory there in 2013 at Berlin Raceway. Later that same year, he made his Truck Series debut for KBM and became the youngest race winner in NASCAR’s top-series history in November 2013 in Phoenix at age 17.

The greatest successes of his career soon followed: in 2015, Jones secured the title in the Camping World Truck Series driving the No. 4 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports and became the youngest champion in series history at age 19. He was the first driver ever to earn Rookie of the Year in all three national NASCAR series: in 2015 in the Truck Series, in 2016 in the Xfinity Series, and in 2017 in the Cup Series, where he debuted in the No. 77 for Furniture Row Racing. From 2018 to 2020, he drove the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, made the Playoffs twice, and celebrated his first Cup victory at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in 2018 at Daytona and again in 2019 at the Southern 500 in Darlington. Since 2021, he has piloted the legendary No. 43, initially for Richard Petty Motorsports or Petty GMS, later for Legacy Motor Club, and earned another Southern 500 victory in 2022 as well as the win at the Money in the Bank 150 in 2023.

In the 2026 season, Erik Jones remains the full-time driver for Legacy Motor Club and continues to drive the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE after the team returned to Toyota in 2024, the same manufacturer with which Jones achieved his Truck and Xfinity success. With his experience from Crown Jewel victories and his historic Rookie of the Year record, he remains among the drivers expected to fight for top results and a playoff berth for Legacy Motor Club.