Erik Jones to make first Sprint Cup start at Kansas

Erik Jones will start a Sprint Cup Series race for the first time at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night, May 9, driving the #18 Toyota as a substitute for Kyle Busch, replacing David Ragan in that role. Jones, who turns 19 next month, is a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, having won at Texas earlier this month, and is a full-time driver for Kyle Busch's JGR-aligned Toyota team in the Camping World Truck Series with five wins in the series. Jones got his first taste of Sprint Cup action at Bristol Motor Speedway a week and a half ago when he was called from his Charlotte-area home to fill in for Denny Hamlin, who was having neck spasms during a rain delay after 22 laps after apparently pulling a muscle during that short green flag run. Jones quickly got his Sprint Cup license and drove Hamlin's #11 Toyota to a 26th-place finish.