Erik Jones cleared for NASCAR Kansas race, but will return at Darlington
Erik Jones, who suffered a broken compression fracture in his lower back at Talladega Superspeedway, has been cleared by doctors to return to NASCAR competition, but Legacy Motor Club officials announced Thursday they will hold Jones out for another week.
That means Corey Heim will drive the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway (2 p.m. CT, FS1).
Jones' tentative return would be at Darlington Raceway in the Goodyear 400 on May 12, where he has two wins — his most recent in September 2022 while driving for Petty GMS Motorsports Jones has three top-five finishes at Kansas, including a third-place finish in September 2023.
Jones, 27, suffered the injury after being involved in a head-on-crash with Bubba Wallace after Wallace was pushed by John Hunter Nemechek with 34 laps left in the Geico 500 on April 21.
Jones was checked into the infield care center complaining of pain in his back, but was released after being checked. The pain persisted and Jones was taken to a Birmingham, Alabama hospital later that night where he underwent an evaluation from specialists.
Legacy Motor Club officials stated that Jones, who missed last Sunday's Wurth 400 race at Dover, would be held out of this week's race due to "an abundance of caution."
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Heim is a reserve driver for Legacy Motor Club Club, who competes full time in the NASCAR truck series. Heim finished 25th subbing for Jones at Dover. Jones traveled to Dover to support Heim and plans to be in Kansas Sunday.
Jones had made 263 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series starts before last week. The Dover race was the first Jones has missed due to injury since the start of his rookie season in 2017.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Kansas race: Erik Jones cleared but will wait for Darlington
