By now, everyone knows how fatherhood has changed the game for drivers like Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace, both on and off the track. This time, even Jimmie Johnson’s driver, Erik Jones, lifted the lid on how that chapter has shaped his own life.
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Busch, once known for his fiery “Rowdy” persona that sent shivers down rivals’ spines, has learned to keep a cooler head behind the wheel. With his son, Brexton, now following in his tire tracks in legend cars, Busch aims to set the right example, preaching safe and smart racing. Fatherhood, it seems, has matured his approach in more ways than one.
Meanwhile, Wallace, who once had a short fuse and often let frustration get the better of him, has found his center since the birth of his son, Becks Hayden, last year. He admitted that fatherhood has helped him see the glass half full, softening his edges and steadying his nerves.
Jones echoed similar sentiments. According to him, “Yeah, I think you are forced to get over things quicker. I feel like I’ve always done pretty good of kind of separating, racing, and home, and I’ve always been a guy that I loved to race, but racing isn’t my life. It’s what I do. That’s how I make the living, and it’s what I do. I’ve always been able to kind of separate that from home.”
“But I think it’s made that easier, a day that’s not gone well. If David’s [Jones’ son is] at the track, you get back to the motorhome, and as frustrated as maybe you are, he’s smiling and laughing just because you’re back and reaching for you and wanting to hang out, so it’s kind of hard to be mad at that point or even be thinking about the race anymore. I think it’s probably made my approach better, my focus better,” he added.
Jones now simply wants to sit beside his son, David, someday, reliving old races and explaining the method behind every move he made. Leading by example, he believes, carries more weight than words ever could. Having his son around has nudged him to walk that talk. For Jones, fatherhood has turned rough days into lessons and good days into memories that linger longer.
This new balance seems to be paying off. So far this season, the #43 Legacy Motor Club driver has bagged four top-five and five top-ten finishes, a marked step up from his last year’s run, proving that fatherhood may just be his best pit stop yet.
