Saturday was Erik Jones’ one last opportunity to make it to the 2025 Cup Series playoffs. Driving the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club, he nearly got there. But some questionable shoves from Kyle Larson resulted in him losing positions from the front of the field in the final laps. He was understandably frustrated with the Hendrick Motorsports driver after the race.
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Jones said, “He had me pretty spun around on the straightaway. So, either he thinks I am really good, or he was just really trying to shove me and help me out. So, I don’t know. I gotta ask him. I haven’t really raced Kyle a lot on the speedways. I don’t really have much experience with it. So, gotta figure out what was going on.”
“He had me pretty spun around on the straightaway, so either he thinks I’m really good or he is just trying to shove me and help me out”@Erik_Jones recalled the last few laps and a push from Kyle Larson that had him out of shape and out of contention. #NASCAR… pic.twitter.com/Z3aiWZfm7C
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) August 24, 2025
Following the shoves that sent him sideways and caused him to lose positions, Jones managed to climb back to fifth place by the time the checkered flag flew. Had it not been for the hurdle, he could have won the race and secured a playoff spot. But now, he will have to wait at least another year to race for the championship.
Speaking to Toby Christie from Sports Illustrated, he reiterated, “The No. 5 got there, got behind us and was just super aggressive, just kind of bulldogging through us. He kept getting me a little more and a little more out of shape, and it was just too much at one time. Fortunately, we didn’t wreck, but I gotta ask him. I don’t know what his thought was.”
Kyle Larson’s response to Erik Jones
From the 2021 Cup Series champion’s point of view, his shoves were just a way to get the line on which he and Jones were moving. He pointed out to the press that the Toyotas and the Chevrolets don’t attach as well as the Fords do, and that he was just trying something different.
He told NBC Sports, “I’m just trying to hit him and get our lane going. I feel like the Fords, you can just really lock onto and push. Like Toyotas and Chevys, we don’t latch bumpers very well, so I feel like the slams help advance the lane more. Maybe he thinks differently. I did get him a little bit out of shape one time, I think, and then I think that’s when I got by him.”
He continued to stress that he would have to watch the replays to see if he pushed Jones into the car ahead of them. Larson finished a spot behind Jones, in sixth place. The drivers can be expected to have a conversation and sort things out between them before the playoffs begin.
