‘Buckshot’ Jones Drives Busch Race
This past weekend’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Nashville Superspeedway marked the return to the track of a local favorite.
Monticello native Buckshot Jones finished in 29th place as the driver of the Yellow Transportation Dodge.
The start of the Federated Auto Parts 300 was delayed for almost three hours by lightning, with the disappointing finish somewhat appropriately caused by electrical problems that sent the car to the pits for 14 laps of repair.
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On lap 137 of the 225-lap event, Jones was running 14th when all the power on the car went dead. The crew eventually had to replace the entire steering box, including the steering wheel, to fix the problem. The repairs ended the team’s high hopes for a top-10 finish.
Crew chief Jon Wolfe said he thought there was a short in the wiring to the kill switch on the steering wheel that caused the electrical problem.
Both Jones and Wolfe felt by the end of the long evening that “we had a top-10 car.
“Our times were as quick, if not quicker, than the guys that finished in the top 10,” added Wolfe.
After qualifying the car ninth, Jones was upbeat about his first Busch Series start in more than two years.
“The car was too loose at the start, but the guys kept making changes to the car, both before the rain and afterwards, and we ended up with a pretty good car,” said Jones. “I know we passed a lot of cars.”
“I want to thank James Finch (car owner) and Yellow Transportation for giving me this opportunity,” Jones added. “You can’t ask for anything more than to be given the chance to drive for a team that can win the race.”
The next race for the Yellow Transportation team is the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway this Saturday, June 19.
At press time, no announcement had been made about who would drive the car this weekend. Jones was the fourth driver for the team this season, with Johnny Benson, Jeff Purvis, and Jamie McMurray all previously appearing at least once this season.
During his 145-race Busch Series career, Jones has scored two wins, 13 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes.