Erik Jones is an established Cup driver today. But 14 years ago, he was just a little-known teenager racing Late Models. That is, until late Kyle Busch intervened.

Jones recently sat with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic for his customary 12 questions segment. In one of the questions, Gluck asked Jones about the impact Busch had on his life. Recalling how the late driver has been instrumental to his NASCAR career, Jones said:

"Early on, I had no idea about that phone call (from Busch to Toyota executives). Then I went and tested his car later that year and filled in for him a little bit, then beat him at the Snowball Derby at the end of the year. That kind of put the cherry on top as far as me getting an opportunity."

Toyota Racing Development executive Jack Irving had stated that Kyle Busch was the one who spoke to TRD to invest in Jones after seeing Jones perform in late models.

Busch then gave Jones a platform at Kyle Busch Motorsports, helping launch a path that eventually led to Joe Gibbs Racing and the NASCAR Cup Series.

"Kyle always stood there and tried to mentor me…. But it was always little things like that. He was always there helping out. Always a supporter and a friend," Jones further told Gluck of The Athletic.

Having known him since the 2012 Snowball Derby, Busch took up the role of his mentor when Jones was at Kyle Busch Motorsports. He then vouched for Jones to have him as Joe Gibbs Racing's Xfinity Series driver from 2018 to 2020.

From then on, there was no stopping Erik Jones, and he raced for several other teams and drove Toyotas before finally settling for Legacy Motor Club.

Besides that, Jones, along with Daniel Suarez, also received Kyle Busch's guidance during the initial years in NASCAR.

When Kyle Busch helped Daniel Suarez in NASCAR

After coming from Mexico, Daniel Suarez found it hard to navigate the tough terrains of NASCAR. Having started in the Xfinity Series (now O'Reilly Auto Parts Series), he struggled significantly, both on and off the track.

And then came Kyle Busch, who reportedly was always in touch with the rookie driver. Speaking about this, Suarez said in a report published by the Charlotte Observer in May this year:

"Every single race in 2015. I remember, in the second half of the year, I just kept asking him," Suarez said. "I was the kind of person, I was a sponge. I wanted as much information as possible.

"And I remember when I started getting good, and we started racing together, and he said, ‘I think you’re getting too good. I think I need to stop helping you.' But he always continued to help me. So to me that was very impactful,” he added.

This year, Daniel Suarez reached one of the biggest milestones of his NASCAR Cup Series career with his Coca-Cola 600 victory. But Kyle Busch was unfortunately no longer alive to witness it, having passed away just three days before the race.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason