NASCAR star talks retirement and grueling Cup Series schedule

NASCAR star Erik Jones has offered an insight into his future plans and how he copes with the grueling Cup Series schedule.

There are currently a total of 36 points-scoring races in a Cup Series campaign, with additional exhibitions such as The Clash and the All-Star Race taking the total race tally to 38.

This means travel and competition for NASCAR drivers is utterly relentless, with stars having had just one rest weekend throughout the entire 2025 season.

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Erik Jones reveals retirement plan

Piloting the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota, Jones featured at every single one of those weekends, and now, speaking to Racing Electronics, he reflected on just how hectic the schedule can get.

It's all good, though. Jones says he is front-loading his working life so that he can retire much earlier than people generally do.

"Yeah. It's uh, it's pretty busy,” Jones told Racing Electronics on his calendar. “I was talking with somebody yesterday and we were kind of laughing about my schedule at times and how busy it gets.

“I told him, ‘Look man, I’m just front-loading my whole life and career right now’, I hope to retire sooner than people normally get to retire, so I’m just gonna front-load all my work for that time.

“So I don’t mind it. It's all fun stuff, getting to race cars for a living is a pretty cool job and a pretty big blessing, so doing that along with the charity work, and the super late model stuff, it's all stuff I love.”

Fatherhood even busier

Fatherhood has also added another busy element to Jones' schedule, with he and wife Holly having welcomed their son, David Wayne Jones, to the world in November 2024.

Jones, though, credits Holly with making life much easier in this regard.

“With the young one now it’s gotten even busier,” Jones continued.

“But it’s fun to kind of balance all that time and get to figure out how to make it all work.

“A lot of great people around me help out. My wife Holly helps a bunch with it and we make it all make sense.”