Rookie Xfinity Series driver Erik Jones said Joe Gibbs Racing knows what they plan to do with him in 2017. ‘There’s a plan in place that will be in motion here later in the year,’ Jones said Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway’s Media Day at Gilley’s. ‘There’s a plan in place and really, my performance this year isn’t going to be indicative of where that’s going to end up.’ Jones didn’t give specifics on the team’s plan. The 20-year old driver is five races into the Xfinity season with the #20 team for JGR after winning last year’s Camping World Truck Series title for Kyle Busch Motorsports. All four Sprint Cup rides at JGR are filled, but the team formed a technical alliance with Furniture Row Racing before this season. Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser has expressed interest in fielding a second car. ‘It’s the first time in my career where I’ve been in a position like this, where I am set in my future at this point at least, and that’s a great feeling as a young driver, not to really have to really fight every week,’ Jones said.
It’s a slightly different story for defending Xfinity Series champion Chris Buescher. The Texas native is in his first full-time Sprint Cup season, driving the #34 Ford in a partnership between Roush Fenway Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The 23-year-old driver doesn’t know yet where he’ll be competing in 2017 but said the possibility remains that he could be right where he is a year from now. ‘We don’t have anything figured out yet beyond this year,’ Buescher said. ‘I’m still under contract with Roush as a development driver. I do not know what next year holds. It could be the same, could be different. We haven’t gotten that far, we’ve barely gotten far enough as to discuss how this year is all going to work out.’ Buescher would be surprised if he learned his fate any time soon.(NBC Sports)
