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Wesley Jones Puts Joey Martin in
PX for Dallas
PITTSBORO, N.C. March 10, 2015: Wesley Jones jumped back into the Pro Mod scene
in 2014 after taking a three year hiatus from the driver’s seat. His return
showed great progress in his Pro Extreme program with a ninth place finish in
national points standings. He’s positioned for an even greater showing in 2015,
but will get a late start at the PDRA Pro Extreme Championship chase due to a
detached retina. Healing from surgery to fix the issue will prohibit Jones from
racing at the Texas Nationals next weekend. It won’t keep him from being
present, however, as Jones has made an agreement with famed PX racer Joey Martin
to drive in a one-race deal.
Since 2001 Joey Martin has been behind the wheel of a Pro Mod, making a name for
himself and his car owners. This year he had not planned to pilot a car, but
instead focus solely on his Joey Martin Race Cars business. When the opportunity
to drive for Jones at Dallas came up, however, he couldn’t turn it down. The ‘41
Willys Jones fields in PX is the same car in which Martin got his Pro Mod start.
“I started driving that car in 2004,” Martin explained. “I’ve made a quite a
history since then, but it’s cool to go back. It was my first endeavor into Pro
Mod stuff when I was racing for Tim Tindle.”
After Dallas it will be back to the chassis shop for Martin, who just finished
building a new C7 Corvette for Gene Hector, which Hector plans to debut at the
PDRA season opener.
Jones believes putting Martin in the car, especially one he is already familiar
with, will be the best way to start the season with some momentum while he
recovers. “The doctor would rather me hold off on driving
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for the
Ennis race,” Jones explained. “I want
to support the series and I can’t do
that sitting at home, so I’m glad it’s
working out for Joey to drive this
race. I plan to be back in the car for
Rockingham. I failed to qualify for
two races last year and I ended up
ninth in points overall. Despite not
driving this one race, we’ll still be
working with the car, getting more
experience and a tune up so hopefully
we’ll still be able to make a run for
the Championship. I’ll have to make up
some along the way, but I’m going to
do my best.”
The detached retina was an unfortunate
side effect of a previous cataract
surgery, Jones explains: “It developed
in December of last year after racing
season. I asked the doctor if racing
caused the detached retina, but he
said that 1 in 1000 people that have
cataract surgery results in a detached
retina. So I guess I need to go buy a
lottery ticket. They expect a full
recovery. There’s just a slow healing
process to it, 8 to 10 weeks. I think
I’m about 6 weeks into it.”
Missing the first PDRA event will
hopefully only be a minor setback in
what is proving to be quite an
impressive leap in performance for
Jones. Jones is often referred to as a
one-man-show and while he’s largely
been a self-made man in the industry,
he attributes a good deal of his
progress to spending time with some of
the sport’s biggest names.
“A combination of a friendship with
Jason Scruggs, purchasing a motor from
him, and just following the lead and
advice he’s given along the way has
really made a big difference in my
program,” Jones told. “He’s a good
friend, him and Bubba Stanton both. I
got to work with him for a year before
I got back into racing. I was able to
learn from him and make the deal on a
motor. The combination of these things
has really put me in a spot to be more
competitive in this car than I’ve ever
been.
“There’s some crew that comes with me
throughout the year, but everything at
my shop is pretty much a one man show.
I had a good bit of chassis work done
over the winter at Jerry Bickel’s.
After I picked it up, it was back to
my shop where I do pretty much all of
it.”
Tommy Mauney built Jones’ Willys back
in 2002. It’s not often that you find
a car that’s over a decade old being
competitive at the highest level of
professional eighth mile racing. “We
stressed it a lot last year,” Jones
said of the Willys. “That’s what
resulted in the chassis work over the
winter. It’s been updated with new
four link brackets and other things
that will help stiffen the car up. I
believe now it’s as good a car as a
brand new car.
“I love racing,” Jones added. “I love
the challenge of trying to make the
car go fast. I love going to hang out
with friends and fellow racers. But
when it’s all said and done, my vision
is way more important than driving
that race car. I think everybody would
agree with that. So I’m going to take
this time to heal and get back at it
in Rockingham. The competition is
going to be stiff this year. I hear we
have several new cars coming, but I’ll
be ready for it.”
ABOUT THE PDRA
Based in Pittsboro, North Carolina,
the Professional Drag Racers
Association is the top sanctioning
body in the United States for the
sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The
PDRA’s professional categories include
Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost,
and Pro Extreme Motorcycle along with
Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr.
Dragster, and Top Jr. Dragster. The
2015 PDRA schedule consists of ten
national events.
Follow the PDRA:
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
YouTube.
Photo: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com /
PDRA660.com
PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier
Professional Drag Racers Association
lisa@pdra660.com
704.692.4636 |
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