Erik Jones is the latest NASCAR Cup Series driver to accept a challenge issued by Kevin Harvick to beat Kyle Busch in a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race. Jones will enter the Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the driver of a truck fielded by former NASCAR team owners Billy Ballew and James Finch. The date of the race is unknown, as it is one of the races that has been postponed by NASCAR as attempts are made to slow the spread of COVID-19, or the coronavirus.
“We decided we would come and do a joint effort and come get us a driver,” Ballew said in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “After some things that we’ve done with Erik Jones in the past, winning the Snowball Derby, we put a deal together.”
Ballew fielded entries in the Truck Series through 2012 and is a 20-time winning owner in the series, 16 of those wins coming with Busch as driver. Finch is a former team owner in the Cup and NASCAR Xfinity series.
Jones, Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, is a seven-time winner in 42 Truck series races.
Busch has won his last seven Truck Series races, including all five he entered in 2019 and a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. After the LVMS win, Harvick offered a $50,000 “bounty” to the first Cup driver to enter and beat Busch in one of four remaining Truck Series races Busch plans to enter in 2020. Marcus Lemonis, Chairman and CEO of Camping World, the parent company of the Truck Series title sponsor, has announced he would match Harvick’s $50,000 “bounty.” If no Cup driver succeeds, a donation will be made to the Bundle of Joy Fund, established by Busch and his wife Samantha to assist families dealing with infertility issues.
Busch, as a Cup Series regular, is limited to five Truck Series races per season. His remaining races in 2020 include Atlanta Motor Speedway, the race at Homestead, Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.
Kyle Larson also plans to challenge Busch at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while Chase Elliott has accepted the challenge for races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, both drivers getting rides from GMS Racing. Cup Series rookie Brennan Poole plans to drive an On Point Motorsports Truck in all races Busch has announced plans to entire, among some additional races.
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