Erik Jones Will Not Return to Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR Cup team for 2021
Erik Jones will not return to Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
"We appreciate all Erik has done for Joe Gibbs Racing over the past several years," said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing in a statement. "He joined us as a teenager and has accomplished so much in his time here and we remain focused on the remainder of this season and earning him a spot in the playoffs."
The 24-year-old has driven for the flagship Toyota Racing Development organization since 2013, when he was a teenaged pavement short track prodigy, who famously outdueled Kyle Busch to win the 2012 Snowball Derby Super Late Model race.
Since then, Gibbs and Toyota has shepherded his development into a full-time Cup Series driver, where he has raced since the 2017 season.
"I greatly appreciate the opportunity that JGR provided me with over the last four years and I wish the team nothing but success and good fortune," said Jones. "JGR gave me a solid foundation from which to go out and compete at the highest level and I look forward to building on that in the years to come."
This presumably clears open a path to the No. 20 for Christopher Bell, who like Jones, has been a Toyota Racing Development prospect for much of the past decade. With Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin all under contract, Gibbs needed to make room for Bell or lose him to another manufacturer, as per their current contract.
Jones signed just a one-year extension with Gibbs last summer upon his impending free agency, while Gibbs loaned out the 25-year-old Bell to Leavine Family Racing, who announced earlier this week that it would shut down its Toyota affiliated program at the end of the season.
With team owner Bob Leavine unable to field a team for Bell next season, and with nowhere else for Toyota and Gibbs officials to develop their newest prospect, it appears Jones was the sacrifice.
Jones has won twice in 131 Cup Series starts -- the 2018 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and the 2019 Southern 500. Bell has also captured the 2015 Truck Series championship, in addition to Rookie of the Year awards in all three national touring divisions.
"Erik has been an incredible friend to Toyota throughout the last eight years," said Ed Laukes, Group VP of Toyota Motor North America. ""We’ve become close not only to Erik, but to his entire family. We’ve celebrated together, we’ve cried together and we’ve supported each other through it all. Unfortunately, the time has come that we have to part ways from a competitive standpoint.
"We know Erik will continue to do great things in this sport and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors. We will certainly continue to follow his career and will be there to congratulate him as he continues to succeed."
Jones is currently 19th on the playoff grid and 31 points out of a provisional spot in the Round of 16. There are just six races remaining in the regular season.
Meanwhile, Bell has made 20 starts in 2020 in the LFR No. 95, with a best finish of fourth at the first Pocono race in June. Bell captured the 2017 Truck Series championship and set an Xfinity Series record for rookie wins with seven in 2018.
He is currently 23rd in the championship standings and must win in order to make the playoffs.
