Erik Jones cleared to return by NASCAR but will sit out Kansas race after back injury at Talladega

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Erik Jones was cleared by doctors and approved to return by NASCAR on Thursday, but his Legacy Motor Club team will hold him out of this weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway to allow him more time to recover from his crash at Talladega.

Corey Heim will drive the No. 43 Toyota in Sunday’s race. Jones plans to be in attendance at Kansas and help crew chief Dave Elenz before returning to the driver’s seat at Darlington Raceway, where he has two Cup Series victories.

Late in the race at Talladega, John Hunter Nemechek appeared to bump the rear of Bubba Wallace, who then clipped Jones and sent him crashing hard into the outside wall. He was initially examined and released from the infield care center, but Jones’ team said after the race that he had been transported to UAB University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, for more testing.

Jones returned home to North Carolina that Sunday night and met with specialists in the Charlotte area. They determined that the 27-year-old driver had sustained a compression fracture in a lower vertebra.

Heim finished 25th in his Cup Series debut at Dover. The 21-year-old will also drive his regular Truck Series ride for Tricon Garage in Saturday night’s race at Kansas, where he finished second in the spring race a year ago.