Jones Wins at Darlington

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Erik Jones won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to lock himself into the playoffs.

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Jones took the lead late in the race, and had to hold off his teammate Kyle Busch over the final run.

With Busch closing in, Jones said he was doing everything he could to hold off his teammate.

“I’m wore out, mentally and physically,” Jones said.  “Kyle was really running hard, he’s one of the best guys out there.  I was pedaling as hard as I could, just glad to hold him off.”

Jones’ future with Joe Gibbs Racing has been up in the air in recent weeks, as the team tries to find a way to get Xfinity driver Christopher Bell into the Cup Series. 

Jones said getting to victory lane was a good way of showing that he can get it done in NASCAR’s top series.

“There been a lot of doubt and a lot of speculation; I put my heart and soul into this race team,” Jones said.  “Finally got to victory lane.  I feel like it’s been coming for a long time, so just nice to get it.”

Busch started to run Jones down in the final 20 laps, but got into the wall with three laps to go.  After cutting his right-front tire, Busch rode the outside wall the final two laps to finish third.

Busch said the current rules package played a part in his inability to get by Jones.

“You just can’t get there with this package; such a one-lane racetrack, there’s not enough options, not enough grooves to…close that gap and make that pass,” Busch said.  “Luckily we were able to salvage a third, just dragging the fence the last two laps.”

Unofficial results:

1. Erik Jones

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Kurt Busch

8. Matt DiBenedetto

9. Paul Menard

10. Austin Dillon

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Chris Buescher

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Joey Logano

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Jimmie Johnson

17. Aric Almirola

18. Alex Bowman

19. Chase Elliott

20. Ty Dillon

21. William Byron

22. Ryan Preece

23. Ryan Newman

24. Bubba Wallace

25. Landon Cassill

26. David Ragan

27. Matt Tifft

28. Ross Chastain

29. Denny Hamlin

30. Reed Sorenson

31. Joe Nemechek

32. JJ Yeley

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

34. Joey Gase

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Corey LaJoie

37. Daniel Hemric

38. Michael McDowell

39. BJ McLeod

Sean Gardner/Getty Images