Jones, who lined up a three-race deal this season in the Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing, was helped by a pair of chaotic late-race restarts on Saturday to finish fifth at Portland International Raceway.
Jones was competitive in his first start with SHR earlier this season at the at Circuit of the Americas but got caught up in a late-race wreck and finished 35th. He drove SHR’s No. 24 Toyota at the 1.97-mile, 12-turn road course, on which Jones had made three previous starts in the IndyCar Series.
On Saturday, two late-race restarts – one which collected six cars – proved beneficial for Jones and allowed him work his way into sight of the leaders.
“We rolled off the truck pretty good. Obviously, practice is so short, but we got a good feel,” Jones, 29, said. “Our car wasn’t the best for qualifying – a single-lap run – but we felt comfortable that we had a good car in the long run, and it proved its case in the race.
“Started mid-pack and gradually worked our way up the field every stage to inside the top-10 for the final stage. For the last two restarts, it was all about going full attack. Again, I’m still learning how to aggressive to be.”
Jones, the 2013 Euro F3 Open Champion, is a road course regular who is making the transition to stock car racing following a career in IndyCar, IMSA and FIA’s World Endurance Championship.
He is the 2016 Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) champion and has collected three IndyCar podium finishes, including third in his Indianapolis 500 debut. He also owns a third-place finish in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class.
Jones made his NASCAR debut last season, running the Truck race at COTA with Young’s Motorsports. He finished 36th after getting knocked out of the race on Lap 1 with a suspension issue.
Saturday’s finish at Portland is even more important as Jones will make his first-ever consecutive NASCAR starts. He’ll drive the No. 26 Toyota for SHR in next weekend’s race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
“It’s been an experience, it’s great to get a full race’s experience in, and even better, to be in the top-five,” he said. “Just thank you to the team and Toyota for helping me prepare for the weekend.
“Looking forward to Sonoma in a few days’ time.”
