Erik Jones dominated the first stage and the final 100 laps to win the My Bariatric Solutions 300 in the Xfinity Series at Texas Motor Speedway.
Jones led 112 laps and took the No. 20 Toyota to victory lane for his first NASCAR win of 2017. It’s his seventh career Xfinity victory. It’s his second at Texas, where he claimed his first series win in 2015.
Jones was followed by Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer.
“The first time I came here, it’s funny, it really wasn’t that good to me, but after that it just kind of clicked, and I felt really good here ever since,” Jones said. “I tiptoed a lot there in the (early) segments and ended up letting (Blaney) catch us and pass us, but then I was just super aggressive the whole time in traffic just trying to make passes as quick as I could … and it paid off. I think we were probably a little slower than him for the last few laps – he had so many lapped cars to get around that there was no way he was going to get to us.”
Pole-sitter Joey Logano led 19 laps Saturday but didn’t finish because of a mechanical problems.
Darrell Wallace Jr. finished sixth for the fifth race in a row, giving him the second-longest streak in series history of finishing in the same spot in the top 10. Jack Ingram finished second in six straight race in 1983.
“I really fought hard there and did look with about nine laps to go where I was and got it mixed up between us and the 9 and we were sixth,” Wallace told Fox Sports. “Unreal. Shout out to my guys. My pit crew was on it all day and all year. They put us in the game there on the green-flag stop. I saw we came out a couple spots ahead of the guys we were behind and I knew it would be a good day.”
Stage 1 winner: Erik Jones
Stage 2 winner: William Byron
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Cole Custer was the top finishing Xfinity regular, placing fifth for his first top five of the season. … Matt Tifft finished ninth for his first top 10 of the season. … William Byron finished seventh after earning his first stage win of the season. … Daniel Suarez finished 12th after early contact with the wall and a spin two laps later.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Daniel Hemric was running in second on Lap 12 when he got loose and backed into the outside wall. He finished 32nd, 28 laps down. … Casey Mears, in his second Xfinity start of the year, finished 38th after dealing with a rear-brake problem that dropped oil on the track. … Brennan Poole finished 37th after a multicar wreck with 25 to go in Stage 2. He went to the garage for damage, which ended his day. … Joey Logano’s three-race win streak in the No. 12 car ended with a lost cylinder, which sent him to the garage with 53 laps left in the race for his first DNF of the year.
NOTABLE: Erik Jones is the sixth different winner through the first six races of the season. Jones has finished in the top five in of his five Xfinity starts at Texas.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What a blast out here today. Man, Texas is tough now. Giving up that bottom groove is like pulling teeth.” – Darrell Wallace Jr. on racing at Texas after a repave and reconfiguration.
WHAT’S NEXT: Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway at 12:30 p.m. ET on April 22 on Fox Sports 1.
