Erik Jones wins rain-delayed Xfinity Series race at Chicagoland

Jun 21, 2015 - 8:39 PM Joliet, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Erik Jones capped off a perfect week of racing by winning Sunday's Owens Corning AttiCat 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, delayed one day due to rain.

Jones, a 19-year-old Byron, Michigan native, began the week with a victory in the ARCA/CRA Super Series Super Late Model race at Berlin Raceway, located roughly 107 miles west of his hometown. Then he won Friday night's 200-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Iowa Speedway.

"That's three wins for me this week," Jones said. "That's pretty awesome."

At Chicagoland, Jones passed Ryan Blaney for the lead following the last restart with 11 laps to go. He went on to beat Blaney at the finish by two seconds for his second career Xfinity win. Jones drove the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, the same car that Kyle Busch took to victory lane in last weekend's Xfinity race at Michigan. Busch had made his first start in the series since suffering a fractured right leg and left foot during an accident in the Feb. 21 season-opener at Daytona.

Jones' first Xfinity win occurred on April 10 at Texas, a 1.5-mile track similar to Chicagoland. He ran in front for 79 of 200 laps in that event, driving the No. 20 Toyota for JGR. Jones led a race-high 94 laps at Chicagoland.

Blaney had to start from the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary vehicle in Saturday's qualifying here. He led 43 laps en route to his second-place run.

On lap 155, Blaney grabbed the top spot after there had been some confusion if pit road was opened or not during a caution. Twenty-two drivers ended up being penalized for pitting too soon. Blaney was about to drive on to pit road but realized the red light, located at the entrance, was still on, indicating the pits were still closed. He quickly swerved back on track and then pitted one lap later before taking the lead.

After the late-race round of stops, Blaney ran in front for 35 laps before Jones made his winning pass.

"We were just too tight on last restart," Blaney said. "I put us in a bad spot yesterday when I wrecked in qualifying."

This 300-mile race at Chicagoland featured a track record 23 lead changes.

Austin Dillon, a Sprint Cup Series regular, finished third, followed by Brendan Gaughan and Chris Buescher, the current points leader. Buescher bounced back from a pit road speeding penalty he received shortly before the halfway point.

Sprint Cup had the weekend off before heading to Sonoma, California later this week for its first road-course race of the season.

Jones was the only driver who pulled double duty in NASCAR this weekend. He is a full-time competitor in trucks, driving the No. 4 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Ross Kenseth, the 22-year-old son of NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, finished sixth in his Xfinity debut. Driving the No. 20 car for JGR, Ross Kenseth started second and led the first lap before pole sitter Dillon passed him for the position.

"For a one-off deal like this, I was happy, and hopefully I can do it again," Kenseth said of his one-race deal with JGR to drive the No. 20 car.

Daniel Suarez, a rookie in Xfinity this season, placed seventh, while Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Darrell Wallace Jr., also a rookie this year, completed the top-10.

Buescher increased his lead in the championship standings to 29 points over Ty Dillon. Chase Elliott fell 43 points behind after finishing 14th. Elliott, who won at Chicagoland during his championship season last year, spun out while exiting turn 2 with 22 laps to go.