Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club, expressed confidence prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. Speaking with the media before practice on Saturday, Jones highlighted improvements in the team’s performance, setting an optimistic tone for the weekend. His readiness reflects the ongoing development of his Toyota team ahead of this critical event.
Adjusting to Cooler Track Conditions at Darlington
Jones discussed the impact of cooler temperatures on the race, noting that the track tends to loosen as the night progresses. He emphasized how lower temperatures can reduce tire wear and affect racing lines, making the competition unique this year. The driver described this year’s Southern 500 as one of the colder ones in recent memory, suggesting it could influence tire performance and race strategy significantly.
Growing Confidence in a Car Built for Victory
Jones acknowledged that his team’s performance has steadily improved, describing this year’s car as their best chance at Darlington in several seasons. While recalling struggles in past years to have a contending vehicle, he said the current car shares similarities with their successful setup at Indianapolis, transferring some of that speed to this challenging track. He stressed that winning at Darlington requires a combination of speed, smart strategy, and some luck to avoid unfavorable cautions or situations.
“I feel like we have a shot to win when we come here. I feel like this is our best chance in a few years – our cars are getting better. The last couple of years, I don’t feel like we’ve had the cars that we’ve needed to contend, but this year, I feel like we will be a bit closer. This is a similar car to what we had in Indy, where we had a lot of speed, so I think that will transfer over a bit. I know it is a different track, but it will transfer some speed over. Definitely feel good about it. It is a hard one to win. Everything has to go really well. A lot of green flag stops. You can’t get caught in a yellow or a weird situation. A lot of things have to work out throughout the night to have opportunities but definitely have the confidence coming here knowing that I feel like I know how to run the race and knowing what I need from my car and know that if it is doing certain things that we will be able to contend. You don’t have that feeling every week. There are not always tracks that you are comfortable at or had a car that was good enough to contend, but here I definitely have that feeling.”
—Erik Jones, Driver, Legacy Motor Club
Preparing for Varied Track Conditions During Practice
Knowing that Darlington’s race conditions will shift from day to night, Jones highlighted the challenges practice sessions bring. Because of cooler temperatures during practice, the car may behave differently compared to race conditions. He intends to focus on key performance indicators in the car’s handling in each section of the track to anticipate how it will perform as temperatures change. Jones also plans to analyze long runs to understand tire wear and car falloff over 10 to 20 laps, which will be crucial for race strategy.
“Yeah, thankful that we are at least in group two, so there is a few more minutes to get some heat here and some rubber laid down. It is tough. I feel like practice for this race, specifically, is tough because it goes to night the way it does. There are a few things I look for my car to do. It will be tough with how cool it is today. It is going to drive good compared to what the race will be like. Hope, I can kind of search those things out. There is a couple of things that I like to look for in each end, that if it is doing well, I think it will have it race pretty well, so hopefully, we can kind of feel that out and get it close to that. Probably will just try to make one long run, see what our fall off is like. Even as cool as it is, you would be able to get a sense of how your car falls off after 10 or 20 laps, that will probably be the most important to us.”
—Erik Jones, Driver, Legacy Motor Club
Progress Through New Team Strategies and Data Gathering
Jones attributed the improvements this season to structural changes within Legacy Motor Club, which introduced new personnel last fall. He explained that it took several months to develop effective processes and to build a performance data repository to guide car setups. Even now, the team is still refining its approach, especially with short tracks and road courses. Nevertheless, the work done this year to create a more systematic foundation is paying off in race performance.
“Well, I mean, there were a lot of new people that came into LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in September, October of last year. It takes time to build out a new process, a new way of doing things. I feel like it just took that stretch to get everyone comfortable the way that we were building cars, probably get our cars mapped out to even know what cars are our best, and it is still kind of that work in progress, but you know, for us, we didn’t have any notebook. In ‘22, ’23, even ’24 – we were so far off, we really had no notes to go off of and really get better, so we’ve kind of really spent all of this year building that notebook and trying to work from it, and I would say that is where our short track and road course stuff has struggled because we don’t have good notes on it and we need to build that out. I think just the new process in place at the end of last year, we needed six months to get to that point to where it showed performance.”
—Erik Jones, Driver, Legacy Motor Club
Jones Highlights His Foundation with Awareness Merchandise
Outside the track, Jones brought attention to the plush toy of his dog, Oscar, available at the merchandise trailer. Proceeds from the toy support his foundation’s animal welfare initiatives, reflecting his commitment to causes beyond racing. The merch item recently restocked, providing fans a tangible way to engage with Jones’s efforts off the track.
“Oscar, my dog, this is his plushie. We sell them at the merch trailer. We got them back in stock. We sold a few more than we thought right off the bat. It supports my foundation as part of the animal welfare side of things. All of the profits and proceeds go back to the foundation for the animal welfare portion, so back in stock this weekend, so if you get a chance to go to the merch trailer, we’ve got them back for you.”
—Erik Jones, Driver, Legacy Motor Club
Looking Ahead: What the Darlington Race Could Mean for Jones
As the NASCAR Cup Series moves forward, Erik Jones’s confidence stemming from recent improvements could translate into a strong performance at Darlington Raceway. With a better understanding of his Toyota Camry XSE and favorable adjustments to cooler track conditions, he appears poised to contend effectively. Success at this challenging venue would be a meaningful milestone for both Jones and Legacy Motor Club, potentially signaling a turning point this season and providing momentum heading into the playoffs.
