Austin's Jones remains positive about TSRS racing

[NickHolt]

For release: April 24, 2003

Contact: Chuck Licata, (512) 736-8230

 

 

Austin's Jones remains positive about TSRS racing season

 

As a driver in the inaugural season of the Texas Super Racing Series

(TSRS), Michael Jones' hopes reflected those of TSRS officials - open the

season on a strong note and improve from there.

But while TSRS had a good opening night back at Houston Speedway back on

March 22nd, Jones had an up-and-down night (mostly down) in the series'

first-ever race.

Jones and his crew (Mike Brown, Matthew Mitchell, Tim Sowell, Joe

Williams) performed well enough in the pit-crew competition to give the #27

team the fifth starting spot in that night's feature race.

"But," Jones revealed, "I made the choice (before the feature race) to

start at the back of the pack, because I didn't want the cars to have to

pass me because of the problems we were having with car falling apart.We had

ordered spindles for front of car, but we didn't get them in time. The car

was starting to fall apart after 15 practice laps."

Jones continued, "The car wouldn't handle very well and it was all over

the track. I would have been an accident waiting to happen if I had started

up front. Thus, I wanted to start in the back and I would try and work my

way up through the field."

Unfortunately for Jones and his crew, they never got the opportunity, as

he got involved in a first-lap accident with Allen Alexander of San Antonio.

"The 99 car (Alexander) bounced off the wall after someone got into him,"

Jones recalled. "He got hit from behind, so he had no where to go when he

bounced off the wall. He got into me and we suffered some major damage. The

accident pulled the lower ball joint from the "A" arm. At that point, we

couldn't drive the car; in fact, we had a hard time loading the car on the

trailer later that night."

Despite its troubles on the track, Jones' crew still came away from

Houston that night with a trophy, as the #27 team was voted by the fans as

the winner of the Best Looking Crew contest.

"That meant a lot to us, because we worked very hard on our paint scheme

(for the car), and our uniforms are very similar," Jones stated. "Our goal

was to look like a professional race team. It was a complement to our

hard-working crew to win the fans' vote for best-looking crew."

Things looked better for Jones and his race team for the next TSRS race,

which took place April 5th at Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle.

"We got the right spindles for the car, so we were confident going into

the race," Jones said. "Unfortunately, we broke a brake line so we started

the feature (race from the) 23rd (position). We didn't have a repair part,

But Ronnie New loaned us the part so we could start the feature. We ran well

and finished ninth."

Jones, who is in his fourth year of racing overall, sits 10th in the TSRS

points standings - not far from where he thinks the #27 team should be.

"I see us finishing in the top seven in points this year," remarked the

Austin resident. "I guarantee we're going to win at least one race in the

TSRS series. As long as we keep doing what we're doing, we'll be fine. Our

goal is to win at least one race this year. I honestly think that's a

reachable goal."

As happens a lot on the local racing scene, Jones receives a lot of help

from his fellow drivers (like Ronnie New, who loaned him a car part at the

Kyle race) and even Heath Stewart. Jones bought his car from Stewart, who

races in the ROMCO Late Model Series.

"Heath has been very helpful with the setup on the car," Jones remarked.

"I can't tell you how 'golden' his help has been for our racing team. He's

taken us to the point where we're confident we can win at least one race

this year."

Jones lists his 10-year-old son, Kramer, as his top priority. He said the

TSRS schedule of racing just about twice a month allows him quality time

with Kramer, his girlfriend (Gretchen Smith) and other friends and family.

"I'm really excited about this series because, with my schedule, it makes

it very difficult to run every weekend," Jones stated. "The TSRS schedule

lends itself to fitting my schedule, plus we can spend valuable time with

family and friends at the lake."

Jones added, "This type of series will feed other series, because there

are drivers who will move up quicker (in the racing hierarchy scheme).

Racing series like TSRS will help drivers improve and move up to the next

level. We're not tied down every weekend and we're not spending every

Thursday, Friday and Saturday working on our cars."

"Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the TSRS officials, too," Jones

concluded. "With only two races under their belt, the TSRS officials have

looked very impressive! That will help the series grow as much as it helps

the drivers. It's obvious to us they've done their homework and did a lot of

preseason planning."

The next TSRS race will take place May 3 at San Antonio Speedway.

Information on the series can be found at www.manracingpromotions.com.