NASCAR Cup

Buckshot Jones Talladega Preview

Buckshot Jones Returns To Talladega Superspeedway With Winston Cup Experience SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Unlike a lot of tracks that he will be competing on in 1999, Buckshot Jones has experience in a NASCAR Winston Cup car at Talladega Superspeedway.

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

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Buckshot Jones Returns To Talladega Superspeedway With Winston Cup Experience

SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Unlike a lot of tracks that he will be competing on in 1999, Buckshot Jones has experience in a NASCAR Winston Cup car at Talladega Superspeedway. In fact, he had an impressive run last year qualifying 11th and finishing 16th in the Winston 500 driving the No.00 Aquafresh Chevrolet owned by Stavola Brothers Racing. Jones is now ready for another strong race, only this time it will be with his family owned team and the No.00 Crown Fiber Communications Pontiac. “Last year was the first year I competed in a Winston Cup car at Talladega while I was filling in as driver for the Stavola Brothers,” said Jones. “They gave me a great car for qualifying and the race and I really wanted to finish even better than I did, but I couldn’t get any drafting help.” Jones has a successful track record on superspeedways in the NASCAR Busch Series and has a love for these tracks, but knows he still has a lot to learn. In 1998, Jones qualified in third position for the NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega, led over 30 laps and came home with a fourth place finish, as well as a fourth place finish at Daytona that same year. “I started my career running on nothing but short tracks,” said Jones. “I guess now that I have an opportunity to compete on these bigger tracks it’s really something different for me and I enjoy it.” Most tracks on the circuit are physically demanding on the drivers, but Jones feels that Talladega puts a combination of physical and mental demands on the driver. “I think timing plays a big part in a driver’s success at this track,” said Jones. “Because we use restrictor plates, the cars run extremely close to one another and one move could end up being the wrong move. Restrictor plate racing is tough. You’re going so fast that if a wreck happens in front of you, it’s hard to slow down quick enough to avoid getting caught up in it.” Jones knows that being in the draft is the most important thing when racing at Talladega, but having the yellow stripe of a rookie taped to his No.00 Crown Fiber Communications Pontiac will not help him during the race. -more- Page 2 Buckshot Jones . . . Talladega

“Rookies have to earn their respect when they come up to this series,” commented Jones. “These veteran drivers have been racing on these tracks for years and they want to make sure that you know what you are doing before they drive with you, so it’s a lot harder to get drafting help when you need it. “I don’t have a lot of drafting experience and I know if I’m left out of the draft I’ll lose positions very quickly. I think I earned some respect racing with these guys last year, but I know I just need to be smart and patient and hopefully I’ll get the drafting help I’ll need to get a strong finish.”

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