Erik Jones holds off Ryan Blaney at Iowa

NEWTON, IOWA. - JULY 11: Erik Jones, driver of the #51 ToyotaCare Toyota, celebrates after winning at Iowa Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)
NEWTON, IOWA. - JULY 11: Erik Jones, driver of the #51 ToyotaCare Toyota, celebrates after winning at Iowa Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)
NEWTON, IOWA. – JULY 11: Erik Jones, driver of the #51 ToyotaCare Toyota, celebrates after winning at Iowa Speedway on July 11, 2014 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Erik Jones put on another dominating showing with the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Friday night as he led 131 of 200 laps in route to his second career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway. Jones held off a hard charging Ryan Blaney in the final laps taking the lead with five to go and powering to victory.

Jones took the lead during a round of pit stops on the 12th and final caution of the race on lap 125 after Blaney had wrested the lead away in heavy traffic on lap 104.  From there Jones moved to the front and despite the late race attempt by Blaney was able to bring home the win by nearly a half a second.

It was the 18-year old driver’s second win in just nine starts and the seventh win in nine races with three different drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Behind Jones and Blaney, Matt Crafton survived a late race duel with Joey Coulter for third, German Quiroga finished behind Coulter for fifth. Ben Kennedy was sixth, Jeff Choquette seventh, Cole Custer eighth, with Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek rounding out the top ten.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.