RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Erik Jones overcame an early-race stumble to finish third in Saturday’s Heads Up Georgia 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, winner of the Camping World Truck Series title a year ago, was penalized for jumping the start of the race. The subsequent pass-through penalty dropped him to 39th in the 40-car field.
Thanks to an early caution that regrouped the field barely 10 laps into the 163-lap race, the loss of track position wasn't as painful as it could have been. Jones made steady progress and was just outside the top five at the halfway point in the race.
With 40 laps remaining, he was third and maintained his position as teammate Kyle Busch and fellow Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson battled for the win.
"I'd say I was disappointed and confused," Jones said of the penalty. "I wasn't really clear completely on the rule. The 18 (Busch) spun his tires; I tried to give it back but … you can't beat the leader to the line on the initial start but you can on restarts. I forgot about that rule, honestly. … It was unfortunate, but it was a nice test for the team and a nice comeback."
Busch shouldered the blame for the issue, saying contact from fellow JGR driver Daniel Suarez caused him to spin his tires, delaying his start and putting Jones ahead at the line.
"I could tell Jones was trying to check up and I was trying to get ahead of him so we didn't have that problem," Busch said. "He did all he could and did a good job of trying to rectify the situation but I hurt him more than he did anything wrong."
Coming from the back wasn't ideal, but it provided unexpected experiences for the 19-year-old rookie who was making just his second XFINITY Series start on the 1.54-mile track.
"It helped me learn a lot about the track," Jones said. "I struggled a lot here last year and learned a ton today about where to, I guess, properly run around this place."
Busch called Jones a "quick study" and said the youngster "learns on the fly, asks a lot of good questions and so that's why he's to the level that he is so far. He's got nothing but the horizon left in front of him."
The top-three finish was a solid rebound from last week's season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, where Jones finished 31st. He is now 11th in points.