What happened to Erik Jones? How Carson Hocever, Ricky Stenhouse ruined 43 car's day at Talledega originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There were just seven laps to go at Talladega on Sunday.
Erik Jones was running in third, the second car on the inside line, at the Jack Link's 500.
And then he wasn't. He was spinning out. He got stuck on the infield. His day was ruined.
It wasn't his fault at all, either.
What happened to Erik Jones?
The immediate problem was that Carson Hocever slide from the outside down toward the inside line and crushed Jones from the side.
It sent Jones spiraling out of control.
Hocevar didn't actually cause it, though.
Hocevar's 77 car was being trailed by the 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and that was the problem.
The 47 car trickled a bit too close to Hocevar and nicked his back bumper.
That caused Hocevar to lose control just a bit much, and so his 77 drifted hard inside and slammed into the 43.
That is what sent Jones out of control, and it sent the race into a caution and a potentially dramatic finish.
Jones couldn't have a great idea of what exactly happened, but he had to know what was shaping up to be a great day was instead a late heartbreak.
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