Erik Jones Hopeful to Remain at Richard Petty Motorsports

Erik Jones is no stranger to the silly season roulette wheel, and as was the case last season, it was simply important to have any quality ride once the music stops.

The 25-year-old landed at Richard Petty Motorsports over the winter after Bubba Wallace departed for 23XI Racing but was only a free agent because he was replaced by Christopher Bell at Joe Gibbs Racing after the closure of Leavine Family Racing.

This came after he signed a one-year extension to remain at Gibbs for 2020. Again, this is a familiar position for the former Southern 500 and Firecracker 400 winner.

"I hope to return with Petty," Jones told Autoweek over the weekend. "We've talked about next season obviously with everything that has to be in place, but we haven't got too deep yet. I want to be in the Cup Series, and they want to continue being there too. With the Next Gen car, where I'm at now with Petty, it’s a good opportunity to improve our standing.

"I hope to get that done soon. Waiting to see where they're at and see what we can do for next year."

Richard Petty Motorsports has had conversations with other manufacturers to see if there is a better deal than what it stands to have with Chevrolet, but the general industry consensus is that it will retain the status quo for now.

Simultaneously, every team that currently holds an ownership charter is giving due diligence towards potential buyers and the Petty outfit is no different.