Teen Erik Jones wins Xfinity race over Sprint Cup stars

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Erik Jones wore a cap and gown so he could pick up his high school diploma on a stage at Texas Motor Speedway a year ago.

Holding his first Xfinity Series trophy in Victory Lane, the 18-year-old's racing suit was just fine this time.

Jones outran Sprint Cup stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a restart with 25 laps remaining Friday night, winning by 1.6 seconds in his ninth career Xfinity start.

The four-time winner in the Camping World Truck Series, where Jones races full time, turned away a strong bid from Keselowski on the restart after earlier battling Earnhardt.

Jones even bumped the popular driver from behind, eventually getting past Earnhardt before a crash brought out the caution flag and led to the duel with Keselowski, who has 32 career Xfinity wins.

"I don't know what to say right now. It's surreal," Jones said. "We beat Cup guys tonight. That's huge for us."

Keselowski was second, and Earnhardt third, with both getting quick questions after the race about Jones in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

A year earlier, Jones ran a truck race in Texas rather than attend his high school graduation in Michigan, and track president Eddie Gossage presented him his diploma during introductions.

Jones, who became the youngest winner in the truck series when he was 17 at Phoenix in 2013, is the second-youngest Xfinity winner at Texas at 18 years, 10 months. Chase Elliott won last spring's race at 18 years, 4 months.

"I knew he was good," Earnhardt said. "Now everybody else knows."

The win also was a first for Jones' crew chief, Michael Wheeler, a former engineer for Denny Hamlin in the Cup series.

Jones acknowledged after the race that he was frustrated with Earnhardt as he tried to get around him with about 50 laps to go, figuring the veteran was trying to teach him a little patience.

"I hope he had fun," Jones said. "I know we had a blast. Just racing hard with those guys. They've been doing it so long. They know exactly what they're doing. I'm just trying to figure it out."

Gibbs says he's figuring it out fast, saying after the race there's no question Jones is well on his way to NASCAR's top series.

"We know Erik is on a fast track," Gibbs said. "It's just a matter of when."

Elliott finished eighth, and Xfinity points leader Ty Dillon was 12th.

*****

FULL RESULTS: O'REILLY AUTO PARTS 300

1. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, 200 laps, 143.2 rating, 0 points, $88,579.

2. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200, 128.8, 0, $57,338.

3. (5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 200, 121.5, 0, $46,614.

4. (6) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, 107.8, 40, $45,220.

5. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, 113.9, 0, $33,945.

6. (8) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 200, 107.2, 39, $39,631.

7. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, 98.2, 0, $27,864.

8. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200, 100, 36, $33,478.

9. (10) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, 91.4, 35, $32,186.

10. (7) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, 102.3, 35, $32,521.

11. (13) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 200, 88.7, 33, $31,319.

12. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, 84.8, 32, $31,068.

13. (22) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200, 75.9, 31, $30,815.

14. (17) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, 80.7, 0, $24,452.

15. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200, 80.2, 29, $30,739.

16. (18) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 200, 70, 29, $29,927.

17. (15) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 200, 72.2, 0, $29,615.

18. (4) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 199, 78.9, 26, $29,227.

19. (20) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 199, 67.2, 25, $29,091.

20. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 199, 70.4, 24, $29,480.

21. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199, 57.8, 23, $28,869.

22. (25) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 198, 61.1, 22, $28,753.

23. (31) David Starr, Toyota, 198, 57.8, 21, $28,566.

24. (23) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 197, 54.4, 20, $28,455.

25. (30) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 197, 57.7, 19, $28,469.

26. (29) Brandon Gdovic, Chevrolet, 196, 49.1, 18, $28,208.

27. (26) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 195, 44.7, 17, $28,097.

28. (34) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 195, 41.4, 16, $27,976.

29. (27) Eric McClure, Toyota, 192, 38.2, 15, $27,800.

30. (38) Peyton Sellers, Chevrolet, 190, 34.1, 14, $21,989.

31. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 186, 33.1, 13, $27,558.

32. (24) Blake Koch, Toyota, 182, 44.3, 12, $27,447.

33. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, accident, 167, 76.1, 12, $27,331.

34. (28) Cale Conley, Toyota, accident, 165, 52.5, 10, $27,220.

35. (32) Timmy Hill, Dodge, 150, 39.2, 0, $27,089.

36. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, engine, 79, 33.7, 8, $18,799.

37. (33) Stanton Barrett, Ford, engine, 11, 33, 7, $17,799.

38. (35) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 10, 33.2, 6, $16,799.

39. (39) Derek White, Dodge, transmission, 7, 30.8, 5, $15,799.

40. (40) Mike Harmon, Dodge, engine, 2, 29.2, 4, $20,799.

RACE STATISTICS:

Average speed of winner: 132.989 mph.

Time of race: 2 hours, 15 minutes, 21 seconds.

Margin of victory: 1.624 seconds.

Caution flags: 6 for 30 laps.

Lead changes: 15 among 8 drivers.

Lap leaders: E.Jones 1-4; D.Earnhardt Jr. 5-13; E.Jones 14; D.Earnhardt Jr. 15-17; E.Jones 18; B.Gaughan 19-21; B.Scott 22-47; B.Keselowski 48-65; E.Jones 66-82; B.Keselowski 83-120; D.Wallace Jr. 121-123; D.Armstrong 124-130; A.Dillon 131; E.Jones 132-137; D.Earnhardt Jr. 138-150; E.Jones 151-200.

Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): E.Jones, 6 times for 79 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 56 laps; B.Scott, 1 time for 26 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 25 laps; D.Armstrong, 1 time for 7 laps; D.Wallace Jr., 1 time for 3 laps; B.Gaughan, 1 time for 3 laps; A.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in points: 1. T.Dillon, 219; 2. C.Buescher, 217; 3. C.Elliott, 208; 4. D.Wallace Jr., 204; 5. R.Reed, 197; 6. R.Smith, 197; 7. E.Sadler, 181; 8. B.Gaughan, 176; 9. B.Scott, 169; 10. D.Suarez, 160.