Xfinity Series driver Erik Jones honors father before Menards 250

— -- BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Xfinity Series driver Erik Jones is racing Saturday with a heavy heart, four days after his father died after a short battle with cancer.

Dave Jones, 53, died Tuesday.

Erik Jones, 20, placed his father's name above the door of his race car prior to the start the Menards 250 at Michigan International Speedway -- about 70 miles from Jones' hometown of Byron, Mich.

"You were the one I always knew I could call when I had a question with no answer, and you would have one," Jones wrote in a tribute to his father posted on social media. "You challenged me and pushed me to a level that I never imagined I could achieve, and showed me I could do things I never thought were possible.

"You taught me to be strong, you taught me to be confident, you taught me to be a lover, not a fighter, but most of all you showed me what it takes to be a man, and I hope I can be half the man you were someday.

"I'm going to miss you at the racetrack every weekend, always with a prerace pep talk," Jones wrote. "I'm going to miss seeing [you] every time I come home, I'm going to miss sharing jokes with you, but most of all I'm going to miss my best friend."

The 2015 Camping World Truck Series champion, Jones has two victories in the Xfinity Series this year. He is considered the top prospect of Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota Racing Development.

He finished fourth in Saturday's race, which was won by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez, and is now fourth in the Xfinity Series standings.

"I wish he could be here," Jones said about his father after the race. "It was a good day overall for us. I'm going to miss him a lot."