NASCAR News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Erik Jones frustrated with Chase Briscoe after wreck at Phoenix: ‘I’d love to talk to him’

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated 3/10/24

After today’s Shriners Children’s 500, we have driver beef! Erik Jones was anything but happy with Chase Briscoe after today’s Phoenix race. These two NASCAR drivers apparently have a little history.

Erik Jones started in the top-5 today in Phoenix. He had a great qualifying run and was fast throughout the first stage. Later in the race, Jones felt that Chase Briscoe forced the issue too much and sent them four-wide.

Soon after going four-wide, Jones found himself wrecking and taking damage to his Toyota Camry XSE. His steering wheel was off-kilter from there to the end of the race, causing him to struggle.

A bad pit stop put Jones in a bad position to begin with.

“Just wasn’t good,” Briscoe told Fronstretch about the pit stop. “I don’t really have anything to add on just wasn’t good.”

When asked about the wreck, Jones was quick to point the finger.

“The 14 [Chase Briscoe] was dragging us down over and over, restart after restart and he put us four wide because he was slowing us down so much. I got wrecked, so that sucks, but he seems to have an issue with me every week. So, I’ll call him this week, he probably won’t call me back and I’d love to talk to him.”

.@Erik_Jones not happy with how @ChaseBriscoe_14 raced him at Phoenix. "He seems to have an issue with me every week."

: @TheBryanNolen pic.twitter.com/LDPp4xjyz1
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) March 10, 2024

A day that could have ended in a top-10 finish or better ends with Erik Jones finishing a poor P31 and only earning six points. The new Legacy Motor Club has made some noise recently but they need to close out the deal.

Erik Jones made noise at Phoenix for Legacy M.C.

The good news for Erik Jones is that his car had speed. He qualified well, was fast in practice. All he needed was a complete race on Sunday. Unfortunately, due to Chase Briscoe or that bad pit stop, he ends up going home P31. It’s a tough pill to swallow.

Still, there are takeaways from today. When the rest of the Toyotas were fast, Jones was right there with them. So, clearly, they have the speed to keep up with the rest of their manufacturer teammates.

Christopher Bell went on to win this race, pulling away from the field in the final stage in convincing fashion. It showed Toyota overall was strong at the championship venue.

Heading into Bristol next week this is good momentum. Jones will be upset for a day or two, but then he will turn his attention to the Food City 500, a track where he has performed well at in the past.

Of course, Erik Jones has not won at Bristol, but he has some top-5 finishes at the track in his career. Getting back to Bristol, sans dirt, should be a good test of this new and improved Legacy Motor Club.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: