As the clock ticked toward 2 a.m. on Monday, in a race delayed by rain for nearly four hours, Erik Jones claimed the most important victory of his career in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
With his contract status at Joe Gibbs Racing a source of speculation throughout much of the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Jones made an emphatic statement, holding off teammate Kyle Busch and charging Kyle Larson after taking the lead from Larson on Lap 283.
“It was a lot of pressure,” said Jones, who claimed his first victory of the season and the second of his career. “Kyle (Busch) is a great race car driver. I’ve raced him a lot, and obviously you want to beat him to win, right? I was just locked in, man. I stayed focused. I really thought it was our night when we got out front.
“It’s amazing for me to be able to hold off Kyle. It’s really cool, just for the history we have with Kyle giving me my first opportunity in the Truck Series (at Kyle Busch Motorsports). To race him for the win in such a big race, that’s pretty cool and something I’m never going to forget.”
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF THE GO FAST
To start of the third and final segment starts off with a bang! This week we have two players who will be sharing this award. Both Edie The Las Vegas Super Star and Linda B. The Cookie Mom selected “That Jones Boy”, aka Erik Jones, to win the the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Vegas Super Star and The Cookie Mom start out this segment with a big bang and 48 points!
THE MOVERS AND THE SHAKERS
The biggest scorers of the week was not the players who selected the race winner. This happens from time to and this week the biggest scorers are the two players, Linda B. The Cookie Mom and Leon Your Most Humble Sheriff. That duo selected the player formally known as The Outlaw, now know by his given name, Kurt Busch. Fro their efforts they were rewarded with 49 much needed points.
As noted above The Cookie Mom and The Vegas Super Star was riding shotgun with the race winner “That Jones Boy”. But even though Jones won the race, he was not the highest point-getter this week,
Meanwhile, David The Mudslinging Throttle Jockey (who is enroute with his midgets to Indy for the BC 39) racked up a cool 39 points from Freaky Fast Kevin Harvick’s 4th place finish.
There was a trio of players that racked up a nifty 26 points from Sliced Bread’s 14th place finish. That trio rooting for Joey Logano consists of Carlton The Doorman, Linda R. The Lemonade Lefty, and Dan The Numbers Cruncher.
Rounding out the top five scorers this week is Jim, aka Chiefy and Kathy The Church Forecloser. Both players added 24 points to the bucket. Even though these two players received the same score, Chiefy and The Church Forecloser were rooting for two different drivers this week. Chiefy was betting the farm on Martin Truex, Jr, while The Church Forecloser was hanging with YRB, Young Ryan Blaney.
STRAIGHT FROM THE CRAPPER
This week we have to share The Crappiest Pick of the Week with two of our players. Even though Carole, aka Rudy and Snoopy Dawn racked up 22 points, which in any other week would be a medium weekly score, this week 22 points gets you thrown into The Outhouse! Since all the contract work was completed in the off-week, The Outhouse now has the capacity to house multiple winners simultaneously!
TIL NEXT TIME, PULL YOUR BELTS TIGHT AND LET’S GO RACIN”