RELATED: Full race results | Series standings
BRISTOL, Tenn. — It’s payday for Erik Jones, as the 19-year-old is going home with an extra-large $100,000 check for taking the first NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash bonus at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday.
The race-winning Joe Gibbs Racing driver led a total of 62 of the 200 laps in the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300, and his victory essentially locks up a spot in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase. Should Jones record another Dash 4 Cash bonus in any of the three remaining Dash 4 Cash races, having two Dash 4 Cash bonuses would be the equivalent to a regular-season race win and give him a leg up on seeding when the Chase begins on Sept. 24 at Kentucky Speedway.
MORE: What to know about the Dash 4 Cash
“We got a really good restart and Kyle (Larson) just left the top open and we went up there and he worked pretty hard to keep us behind him,” Jones said post-race. “We just kept digging and it worked out. Just an awesome feeling. I never thought we’d get our first win here at Bristol.”
As for what he’s spending the dough on, Jones is a frugal man.
“Well, we’re all going to dinner so that’s going to be a big bill already I can tell,” Jones said. “After that, I don’t know, I’ll probably put it away. I don’t like to buy too many things.”
RELATED: Jones’ discusses emotional Victory Lane call
Jones’ JGR teammate Daniel Suarez, Richard Childress Racing driver Ty Dillon and JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier all qualified for the Dash 4 Cash competition by being the top two finishers among XFINITY Series regulars in the two heat races that preceded Saturday’s main event, which all came down to the final restart on Lap 198.
With just three laps remaining, it looked as if Suarez — who was running the highest of the Dash 4 Cash drivers in third — was going to be the one to hoist the cardboard check after the checkered flag fell. That was until his JGR teammate Kyle Busch spun his tires, backing up Suarez’s No. 19 Toyota.
“I feel like we had a top-three car all day long and we were running in the top five, top three all day,” Suarez said after the race. “In the end, the outside line was the preferred line and my teammate (Kyle Busch) spun his tires right there at the end with old tires and I was just right there stuck in the middle on the inside and there was nothing I can do at that point.”
Jones came from fourth on the restart to win the race. This was Jones’ first Dash 4 Cash event, as he was not eligible for the competition last season being a full-time Camping World Truck Series driver.
The next Dash 4 Cash event will be the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, April 23 (12:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The two heat races will be 35 laps each, with a 140-lap main event. There are a total of four Dash 4 Cash events in the 2016 season.