Jones falls in close first-round battle
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/r_jones.jpg" alt="r_jones" align="right"borders="0"/>
Memphis, TN (9/29/08): Team Quarter-Max faced off against fellow Mopar competitor, Allen Johnson, in the first round of eliminations today at the O'Reilly Mid-South NHRA Nationals. Unfortunately, that is also where their day came to an end as the close battle landed in Johnson's favor. Although driver Rickie Jones was slightly better in reaction time, he was unable to hold Johnson off at the finish line. Jones' 6.669 elapsed time gave way to Johnson's 6.654, with Johnson taking the win by a mere one hundredth of a second.
"It was a great race," comments Jones. "We both had great lights, but Johnson had more power, and I couldn't hold him off. He only had me at the end by a couple feet, though. Runs like that are what make Pro Stock so exciting. Win lights are often determined by only thousandths of a second. That's one reason why I love this class so much. The competition is amazing and continually gets tougher. I'd love for the win light to have fallen my way today, but either way that round was a win for RJ Race Cars. It's good to see Allen and some of our other customers go some rounds and move up in the Countdown today."
After running for three straight weekends on the NHRA tour, the Quarter-Max Mopar Dodge Stratus Team is looking forward to time to perform maintenance, test, and focus on some more important things.
"We think our motor might be hurt. It wasn't acting real happy and was down on power a bit," continues Jones. "We're sending it back to Larry Morgan's shop to have it freshened up. We want to make sure we have everything right for Richmond. Right now we're just really ready to get home to check on Joel - an employee of ours - and his family. He's battling this illness and he's our main concern at the moment."
The next stop on the NHRA tour is Richmond, Va. Jones and crew plan to test their newly freshened motor at nearby Maryland International Raceway before heading to Richmond's National Event.
"I'm looking forward to Richmond. After three races back-to-back a little break will be nice, but mostly just because we need to take some time for maintenance on the car. By the time Richmond gets here I'll be anxious to get back in the driver's seat."
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/r_jones.jpg" alt="r_jones" align="right"borders="0"/>
Memphis, TN (9/29/08): Team Quarter-Max faced off against fellow Mopar competitor, Allen Johnson, in the first round of eliminations today at the O'Reilly Mid-South NHRA Nationals. Unfortunately, that is also where their day came to an end as the close battle landed in Johnson's favor. Although driver Rickie Jones was slightly better in reaction time, he was unable to hold Johnson off at the finish line. Jones' 6.669 elapsed time gave way to Johnson's 6.654, with Johnson taking the win by a mere one hundredth of a second.
"It was a great race," comments Jones. "We both had great lights, but Johnson had more power, and I couldn't hold him off. He only had me at the end by a couple feet, though. Runs like that are what make Pro Stock so exciting. Win lights are often determined by only thousandths of a second. That's one reason why I love this class so much. The competition is amazing and continually gets tougher. I'd love for the win light to have fallen my way today, but either way that round was a win for RJ Race Cars. It's good to see Allen and some of our other customers go some rounds and move up in the Countdown today."
After running for three straight weekends on the NHRA tour, the Quarter-Max Mopar Dodge Stratus Team is looking forward to time to perform maintenance, test, and focus on some more important things.
"We think our motor might be hurt. It wasn't acting real happy and was down on power a bit," continues Jones. "We're sending it back to Larry Morgan's shop to have it freshened up. We want to make sure we have everything right for Richmond. Right now we're just really ready to get home to check on Joel - an employee of ours - and his family. He's battling this illness and he's our main concern at the moment."
The next stop on the NHRA tour is Richmond, Va. Jones and crew plan to test their newly freshened motor at nearby Maryland International Raceway before heading to Richmond's National Event.
"I'm looking forward to Richmond. After three races back-to-back a little break will be nice, but mostly just because we need to take some time for maintenance on the car. By the time Richmond gets here I'll be anxious to get back in the driver's seat."
