Erik Jones signs with Richard Petty Motorsports, replacing Bubba Wallace
NASCAR driver Erik Jones will race for Richard Petty Motorsports next season, the team announced Wednesday.
“At only 24-years old, Erik is part of NASCAR’s next generation of stars,” RPM’s CEO Brian Moffitt said in a statement. “He has won races at every level in NASCAR he has competed in – including in the NASCAR Cup Series. Erik is a proven winner and we look forward to providing him with the opportunity to add more wins to this already impressive resume.”
Jones drives the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, which announced in August that it would pivot to Cup rookie and development driver Christopher Bell for the 2021 season, leaving Jones out of a ride. But the 24-year-old driver has found a new home in the No. 43 Chevrolet, driven by Bubba Wallace. Wallace will race for a new team owned by Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan next season, allowing Jones to transition to the single-car team.
Jones signed a multi-year deal with RPM, according to a release from the team. He will work with crew chief Jerry Baxter, Wallace’s current crew chief, and said the goal is to win races next year.
“They still have something to prove, and I have something to prove,” Jones said in statement. “We are both motivated to write a new chapter.”
Jones is familiar with Baxter from their time at Kyle Busch Motorsports, when the driver joined the Truck Series in 2013 part-time, although Jones and Baxter worked with different teams then. Jones moved through the NASCAR ranks to the Xfinity Series in the following years competing for JGR, and joined Cup with now-defunct Furniture Row Racing in 2017, when the team had an alliance with Gibbs.
Jones is in his fourth full-time season in NASCAR’s top series, and has remained tied to his current team and its Toyota manufacturer, so the 2021 season will mark a career shift for him.
“It is an incredible honor to have Richard Petty want you to drive for his race team and with the car number he made famous,” Jones said in a statement. “Richard Petty Motorsports has a rich history in the sport, but they are not resting on that history.”
Petty made the car number famous as he collected 200 career premier series race wins, only eight of which were not in the No. 43. Jones has earned two wins in NASCAR’s top series so far and 33 top-five finishes in 144 Cup starts. He missed the Cup playoffs this season, but has earned nine top-five finishes, two of which came at recent races at Talladega (second) and the Charlotte Roval (third) before last Sunday’s race at Kansas (20th).
“As a one-car team, we are able to give him 100% of our resources and focus,” RPM owner Andrew Murstein said, according to FOX Sports. “Based upon recent events for both of us, Erik, the King and I, are very hungry to prove others wrong. This is really a perfect match.”
Sponsorship partners for the No. 43 team have not yet been announced.
