Erik Jones to drive No. 20 Cup Car at Texas

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From NASCAR.com

Erik Jones

Erik Jones will drive for the suspended Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM) at Texas Motor Speedway, according to a Joe Gibbs Racing official. 

A series of appeals of Kenseth's two-race suspension were heard on Thursday in Concord, North Carolina. Ultimately, the two-race suspension was upheld. 

Jones, 19, filled in for Denny Hamlin (in the No. 11 Toyota) in the Bristol spring race in April when neck spasms flared up for Hamlin during a lengthy weather delay at the 0.533-mile track. Jones made his first Sprint Cup start in May at Kansas for the injured Kyle Busch (in the No. 18 Toyota) and was enjoying a nice run until an accident on Lap 196 sent him to a 40th-place finish.

With this addition to the schedule, Texas will be a tripleheader weekend for Jones. The points leader in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will race Friday night in the WinStar World Casino 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) and will also run in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM) on Saturday afternoon as well. 

This latest opportunity comes as Kenseth has been parked by NASCAR for his actions at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. 

NASCAR suspended Kenseth for two races on Tuesday for his role in a crash with Joey Logano at Martinsville Sunday. The 2003 champion was also placed on probation for six months by the sanctioning body, but that was lowered to through December 31, 2015 in the appeals process. Kenseth and Logano wrecked on Lap 454 and the incident occurred as Logano was leading the race and Kenseth was several laps down. 

"Based upon our extensive review, we have concluded that the No. 20 car driver, who is no longer in the Chase, intentionally wrecked the No. 22 car driver, a Chase-eligible competitor who was leading the race at the time," Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, said in a statement announcing the suspension. "The No. 20 car was nine laps down, and eliminated the No. 22 car's opportunity to continue to compete in the race.

 

"Additionally, we factored aspects of safety into our decision, and also the fact that the new Chase elimination format puts a premium on each and every race. These actions have no place in NASCAR."

Logano pressured and eventually spun Kenseth in a late-race battle for the lead two weeks earlier at Kansas Speedway. Logano, having already advanced to the next round in the Chase with a win the previous week at Charlotte, continued on to victory and was unapologetic for his aggressive racing in his post-race remarks.