JONES INTENT ON KEEPING DREAM SEASON ALIVE
Eventually Rickie started working in his dad’s shop and then he was bit by the racing bug himself. He started with his own Junior Dragster and now as he’s on the verge of making the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s playoffs, in a 200-mph Pro Stock car. Every now and then, the younger Jones has to take a step back and make sure this is all real.
“This is a dream come true,” the 22-year-old Jones said. “At the beginning of the season we set our goals and they were to try and qualify for every race and make it into the top 10.”
Rickie
Jones can’t remember a time when he wasn’t at the race track. The son
of noted race car builder Rick Jones, Rickie always tagged along with
his dad as he would visit drag strips across the country to make sure
the Pro Stock and Pro Mod cars that he built were meeting the racers’
expectations.
Eventually Rickie started working in his dad’s shop and then he was bit
by the racing bug himself. He started with his own Junior Dragster and
now as he’s on the verge of making the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s playoffs,
in a 200-mph Pro Stock car. Every now and then, the younger Jones has
to take a step back and make sure this is all real.
“This is a dream come true,” the 22-year-old Jones said. “At the
beginning of the season we set our goals and they were to try and
qualify for every race and make it into the top 10.”
His mission is nearly accomplished.
In his second season of competition in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series, Jones is ninth in the Pro Stock points order and he has
qualified for every race so far. He is 27 points ahead of legendary
Warren Johnson in the standings and 36 in front of 11th-place Johnny
Gray, who posted a runner-up finish two weeks ago in Reading, Pa.
“I am really excited, but a little nervous at the same time going to
Indy,” Jones said. “I want to hold on to the position we’re in. We’ve
been in the top 10 the whole year and I don’t want to lose it now.”
Jones will make his final stand for a berth in the NHRA playoffs in his
Quarter-Max/RJ Race Cars Dodge Stratus at the 55th annual Mac Tools
U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, Sept. 2-7 at historic O’Reilly
Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The tradition-rich race will be showcased
during more than 10 hours of coverage on ESPN2 HD and it is the final
regular season race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series before
the top 10 fields in each pro category are set for NHRA’s six-race
championship playoff, the Countdown to 1.
Jones has been praised by his peers for his tenacity at the starting
line with a stellar reaction time average of .024. He says that
statistic is no accident.
“We don’t have a top-half car,” said Jones, who has averaged an 11th
place qualifying position, yet earned semifinal round appearances at
Gainesville, Denver and Sonoma this season. “You know when you go up
there to race that you are going to have to try and put a holeshot on
your opponent and try to beat them that way. I put a lot of pressure on
myself to do that and I spend a lot of time working on my reaction
times with a simulator.”
The one thing the simulator doesn’t emulate is the talent in the other
lane. NHRA Pro Stock racing is one of the most competitive forms of
racing in all of motorsports. With talented drivers like series points
leader Jeg Coughlin, three-time world champ Greg Anderson and six-time
champ Johnson in the field – all three multiple-time U.S. Nationals
winners – Jones knows that he has his work cut out for him. He says as
a rookie he would get big eyes when he pulled into the staging lanes
and knew he was going to race against Johnson, widely known as the
“Professor of Pro Stock.” Now he says the only thing that makes him
wide-eyed is seeing his win-light come on.
“I think I am over the holy cow feeling,” Jones said. “I wasn’t afraid
my first year, but maybe just a little in awe that I was actually
racing door to door with some of my heroes of the sport. Now I don’t
have as much of the wow factor when I go to the starting line. I am
just focused on cutting a great light and trying to beat these guys.”
And he’ll need to beat at least two of his heroes at Indy if he’s going
to make it into the playoffs. But he has a good feeling. Last year at
Indy Jones had the best moment of his rookie season at the Big Go. He
qualified 11th out of 28 cars and won his first round meeting over
veteran Ron Krisher.
Yep, you guessed it – he won that round on a holeshot.
“Last year just to qualify was special because there are so many cars
trying to make that race and you know everyone brings the best they’ve
got there,” Jones said. “After we qualified on Sunday, I spent about
three hours signing autographs and thanking the fans for their support.
It was crazy. After we won that first round there was so much
excitement in the air. It was really awesome. I love Indy and I am
really looking forward to getting back there.”
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