Jones Hopes to Capture Championship 4 Berth at Texas

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rik Jones, driver of the #20 Reser's Main Street Bistro Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo - Jeff Curry/Getty Images

#rik Jones, driver of the #20 Reser’s Main Street Bistro Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Jeff Curry/Getty Images

Texas Motor Speedway is the site of many memories for Erik Jones.

In 2014, he received his diploma on the driver introductions stage prior to the June NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the 1.5-mile track. Last season, he won his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Texas and took the checkered flag again when he returned for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in November.

Jones will try to make another Lone Star state memory by winning Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway at 3:30 pm ET on NBC. In three career NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at TMS, Jones has finished first (spring 2015), fourth (fall 2015) and second (spring 2016).

Another victory would earn Jones a berth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 19. Right now, Jones sits outside the Championship 4. He is tied with Justin Allgaier for fourth in points, but is fifth on the Chase Grid since his top Round of 8 finish of 15th at Kansas is worse than Allgaier’s best Round of 8 finish of 14th at Kansas.

“After a few weeks off, I’m really looking forward to getting to Texas this weekend and putting ourselves in position to compete for the championship in Miami,” Jones said. “Texas is a track I really enjoy and have had success in both the Truck Series and XFINITY Series. It’s a fun place, a place where we can put on a show for the fans and that makes it a lot of fun for the drivers.”

Jones and No. 20 Toyota crew chief Chris Gabehart have teamed to produce a series-leading four wins this season. The 20-year-old Michigan native is trying to earn both the championship and Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in the XFINITY Series after achieving the feat in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series last season.

“Erik has performed fantastic (at Texas) at every level thus far in his young career and really loves racing there,”  Gabehart said. “I think we will have a great shot at getting ourselves locked into the Championship race at Homestead a few weeks from now.”