Erik Jones: ‘Little sore’ after hitting wall, breaks down wreck with Bubba Wallace

Erik Jones said after the multi-car accident with 33 laps to go in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in which he hit the outside barrier head-on that he’s a “little sore,” but he’ll “be alright.”

Erik Jones is okay after taking a huge hit Sunday at Talladega. pic.twitter.com/0mXP26bc9w

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 21, 2024

“Yeah, I’m a little sore but I’ll be alright,” Jones told Regan Smith of FOX Sports. “The 23 [Bubba Wallace] was pushing us there, obviously we were pushing and shoving trying to make sign with our strategy, and I got pretty sideways getting into [Turn] 3 and tried to gather it up and ended up hitting really hard into the wall. It’s unfortunate. I hate it for my team and my guys. Obviously, wanted to have a good run but I’m alright. That’s a good thing. It was a hard hit. At the end of the day, if you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough, so keep rolling.”

Jones was checked and released from the infield care center.

The accident occurred after the Toyotas came to pit road together as part of a plan to get a jump on the rest of the field. Racing in a single-file line, the group stacked up going into Turns 3 and 4. Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek and Denny Hamlin were involved along with Jones.

Wallace provided his perspective on what happened while speaking with Smith.

“Look forward to running in these places and then you just get trapped in somebody else’s mess. I hate it,” Wallace said. “It doesn’t make us look good at all. But all in all we’ll just reset and go to Dover. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re fine, just frustrating.”