INNISFIL, ON- In what could be argued was his best appearance under the OSCAAR banner, Super Late Model rookie Corey Jones turned in a 9th place finish at Sunset Speedway’s Velocity 250 event on Sunday, September 28th.
The former Canadian Vintage Modified standout won his first heat race, and was en route to complete a sweep of the two qualifying rounds when contact in his second heat resulted in heavy damage to his right front suspension.
“We unloaded fast”, explains Jones. “I mean, we were good right off the trailer. The guys have been working so hard in the shop, and it’s really started to pay off”
“The car was a bullet in our first heat, and there’s no doubt in my mind we could’ve doubled up and earned the top qualifier award”, continues the personable freshman. “But, we made contact racing for the win and got up into the wall. It destroyed the right front suspension, so we were too busy jumping into repair mode to even be mad about what happened”
After working throughout the day to put the front end of his car back into operating condition, Jones took his spot at the tail end of the grid for the 50-lap A Main.
“Picking up a DNF in our second heat really threw our qualifying points off, so we knew we had our work cut out for us”, says Jones. “The strategy was to try and clear some of the traffic as quick as we could. These races have a tendency to get out of hand in a hurry, and if you mire yourself back in the pack, you’re almost asking for something bad to happen to you”
Jones feverishly worked his way through the field, infiltrating the top-10 shortly before the halfway mark, and remained there until the race’s conclusion.
“I used my stuff up a little earlier than I would have liked to”, admits Jones. “But, we were in a tough spot. If you try and save your stuff up and ride in the back for half the race, you’re putting yourself at risk of destroying your equipment. On the other hand, if you’re aggressive to get to the front, you burn up your tires and brakes”
“It’s all part of the Catch-22 that comes with starting deep in the field”, continues ‘Twinkle Toes’. “At the end of the day, we drove from 22nd to 9th. I’m not sure there’s any way to be mad at that”
Following Jones’ hard-charging effort at Sunset, the J Star Motorsports team will spend the next week going through the chassis and making sure they’re ready for the final event of the 2014 season – the Peterborough Speedway Autumn Colours Classic on October 10th, 11th and 12th.
“Peterborough is a huge opportunity for anyone looking to make a name for themselves”, offers Jones. “Our tour races in front of more people at Peterborough than we do all season long. Everyone is there and everyone is watching”
“I want to be the surprise story of ‘the Classic’ this year”, affirms Jones. “We’re already thinking about what we have to do to make a splash in 2015. We’re dedicated to our program, and we want to show everyone just how serious we are. A strong run at Peterborough is the best way to do that”
Corey Jones’ and the J Star Motorsports team are proud to represent Castle Building Centres, RBC, Accountable Automotive, Dan Simpson – RBC Mortgage Specialist, Lafleche Roofing, Anmar Cleaning Services, Inno-Tech, Ken Robinson Refrigeration, Oktane Productions, Epic Racewear and Westmeadow Dental.
To learn more about Corey, visit the J Star Motorsports page on Facebook or follow on Twitter @CoreyJones82.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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