Erik Jones drives the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry. In Sunday’s race at Talladega, he was behind Tyler Reddick, who eventually won the race. There were seven Toyotas in a single-file line.
On Lap 157, there were about 30 laps left. Something unsettled the group as they went into a corner. Jones got bumped from behind, causing a chain-reaction crash. His car hit the outside wall head-on. Bubba Wallace, John-Hunter Nemechek, and Denny Hamlin were also involved in the crash.
Jones said he felt pain in his back right after the crash. He was checked at the infield care center but later went to UAB University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, for more tests. He left the hospital that same night.
Sadly, the team announced that Jones has a compression fracture in his lower vertebra because of the crash. He won’t be able to race at Dover this weekend, but he’ll be there. There’s no set time for when he’ll be back racing.
Jones has been racing in the NASCAR Cup series since 2016 and hasn’t missed a race.
Corey Heim, who is a reserve driver for LMC, will drive the No. 43 car while Jones is out. Heim has never raced in the Cup series before but has experience in the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.
Jimmie Johnson, who co-owns Legacy M.C., said Jones’s health is the most important thing. They’ll wait for him to recover properly. He believes Heim will do well driving for the Club. They’re thinking of Jones and his wife, Holly, during this time.
The team will ask for a medical waiver so that Jones can still compete in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
