Jones' swan song with Joe Gibbs Racing last season netted just one win and 13 Top-10 finishes in what was a mildly disappointing campaign. He now moves on to JRM and the No. 9 team and what he hopes are greener pastures for 2023. This race team stormed to eight victories and 21 Top-5 finishes under the guidance of Noah Gragson last season. While it would be a stretch to expect Jones to equal those feats, he should still get a tremendous boost in terms of performance and post career-best marks in the upcoming season. Jones has 236-career starts in this division of NASCAR, and his best season to this point was his three-win, 19 Top-10 campaign of 2020. The pairing with crew chief Jason Burdett should help to surpass those marks. JRM cars have been dominant recently and bring out the best in drivers. We should get to clearly see what Jones has to offer this season.
Jones returns in 2022 for another season in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Now with six full seasons under his belt in this division of NASCAR, Jones is quickly becoming a seasoned veteran in this series. While last year was a winless campaign for this driver and team, Jones still showed the speed to collect Top-5 (11) and Top-10 (19) finishes. However, his 88 laps led for the season were a four-year low mark and a major contributor to his lack of wins. We expect Jones to regain some of his swagger in the upcoming season. The possibility of one or two victories is likely and modestly increased Top-10 total as he continues to find better consistency with crew chief Jeff Meendering.
Jones took some major steps in his fifth full season of Xfinity Series racing last year. He piloted the Joe Gibbs' No. 19 Toyota Supra to his first multi-win campaign with three victories and career-best marks in Top 10's (19) and a career-best points finish (sixth-place). While Jones fell short of the championship round of the playoffs, he did serve notice that he'll be a championship contender in the near future. JGR is bringing him back to drive the No. 19 entry and Jeff Meendering will remain his crew chief in 2021. The 23-year-old driver now has 170 starts of Xfinity Series experience, which makes Jones one of the more seasoned youngsters in this division of NASCAR. He has the potential to elevate his win and Top 10 totals even further in 2021.
Jones returns for his fifth full-time season of Xfinity Series action in 2020. It will be his third with Joe Gibbs Racing, and the results could be the best yet. Jones enjoyed a career-best campaign in 2019. He grabbed his first-career victory (Kansas Speedway) late in the season and posted a career-best mark with six Top-5 finishes. Jones' progression over the course of last season was the most encouraging thing to see as he rounded out the year strong. With Jeff Meendering returning as crew chief in 2020, we expect to see the growth continue for this driver and team. We expect Jones to tally another Xfinity Series victory and likely break the 20 Top-10 finish mark. Now with 130+ starts in this division of NASCAR, his experience is starting to show.
Jones is locked-in for season two in Joe Gibbs' No. 19 Toyota Camry. He posted career-best marks of two Top-5 and 17 Top-10 finishes in 2018. The ninth-place standings finish was also a career-best mark for the 21-year-old driver. Gibbs has brought Jones back for another campaign, and brought in new crew chief, Jeff Meendering, in hopes of boosting this young driver's performance. Meendering comes over from Stewart Haas Racing and a runner-up standings finish with Cole Custer last season. Jones is a young, raw talent, although he now has over 100 Xfinity Series starts the last four seasons. That experience and pairing with Meendering should start to show some improvement. This will be a pivotal season in Jones' NASCAR career.
Jones replaces Matt Tifft in the JGR No. 19 Toyota this season. He comes over from Richard Childress Racing and defects from Chevrolet to Toyota. Jones had a forgettable season last year in the No. 33 Chevrolet, registering only three Top 10's for the season. He'll get to hit the reset button in a lot of ways making the jump to Gibbs and this good race team. Tifft raced to 13 Top-10 finishes with this team last year and wound up seventh in the final driver standings. That should be seen as the floor for Jones. He'll be paired with Chris Gabehart as crew chief, and be racing for the best team he's had in his short, five-season career. Jones is a breakout candidate and poised to outperform in the upcoming campaign.
His first full-time venture into the Xfinity Series was a reasonable success last year. Jones ran the entire 33-race schedule and nabbed 12 Top-10 finishes en route to a respectable 10th-place finish in the final driver standings. While his campaign lacked the laps led and wins we'd like to see it was understandable given the depth of talent in this division of NASCAR. Jones will be expected to inch the bar higher in 2017, and he'll have a new crew chief to help him in that effort. Nick Harrison comes over to the No. 33 team and replaces Mike Hillman Jr. atop the team's war wagon. Harrison spent last season guiding Ty Dillon to 17 Top 10's and a fourth-place finish in the points. Jones will be given a big opportunity to improve and succeed in the upcoming season.
The Richard Childress Racing No. 33 team was much stronger last season that anticipated. Austin Dillon made just 20 starts for this team and claimed four dominant wins. Paul Menard claimed another victory in his eight starts in the No. 33 Chevrolet. Combined, Dillon, Menard and Jones racked up five wins and 24 Top-10 finishes last season. Jones will take over this strong team full-time in the upcoming season. He’ll have guidance from veteran crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. and lots of support. The 18-year-old registered eight Top-10 finishes in a part-time truck series slate last season, so the talent is definitely there. However, his scant five starts of Xfinity Series experience from last season point to a steep learning curve in the coming year, but filled with bright spots along the way.
