Series PR Report by Kassie Hughes
Photo by: Drew Hierwarter
Hendersonville, NC(December 10, 2012) — 15 year-old rookie Brandon Jones often played the ‘patience approach’ during each race, which paid off for his fifth place Championship Points position. He and his Rheem teammates unloaded their car every event and utilized practice to get the car into composition mode.
Unless Jones was involved in a pile up or had mechanical failure, he always spent the first half of the race getting familiar with the track and learning how to handle his car. While other drivers drove hard from the drop of the green flag, Jones had some experienced crew members who taught him that patience pays.
“In the beginning of the year, we struggled a lot,” says the Georgian rookie. “Then we got Lee McCall on board and ever since then, things started to pick up.”
McCall jumped on board during the second half of the season and brought momentum that played into positive results on the racetrack. During the August visit to Concord, Jones became one of three rookies who picked up their first career UARA win this season.
“Concord is a tough track, which we picked up on really quick,” says the City Chevrolet 150 winner. “We were good right off the trailer. We had a good qualifying run, which we haven’t been good at all year. Even if we wouldn’t of won, it would still be my favorite track because it’s so different from what we usually race on.”
The different Jones is referring to is the dog-leg on the back stretch. When drivers are not careful, the unusual dip in the dog-leg will put them into the wall. Not only did Jones win his first UARA career win, but Circle Wheel and Xtreme Trophy Rookie of the race, Five Star Bodies 1st place award, JRI Shock top finisher, and Ford 1st Award.
The win at Concord definitely brought some confidence to the team. Jones finished 12th place or better after the win. Having these consistent top finishes is what really bumped Jones up to the top five in the Championship Points. Jones won many contingency awards with these top finishes, such as Circle Wheel’s 4th place at Newport, Tilton’s Awards at Lonesome Pine, Anderson and Rockingham, Safety Kleen’s 12th place at Tri-County, Pigwire Electrifying Move of the Race at Lonesome Pine, ARbodies Hard Luck at Kingsport, JRI Shocks at Newport and the WP Racing Shock award at Kingsport.
Jones is scheduled to run a full season with the UARA-STARS for a shot at the 2013 Championship. He also plans on running some other sanctioned raced in between the UARA events, such as the K&N races.
To keep up with our STARS during the off season and holidays by following them on Twitter, @uarastars, and “like” them on Facebook under the United Auto Racing Association.
