SIEVERVILLE, TN :: Blake Jones has a fast car entering Sunday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.  He also has a lot of confidence.  Now, the Tennessee native is hoping to put together $25,000 drive as he plans to stand alone in Victory Lane when the grandfather clock strikes 12.

Jones enters the race with Fat Head Racing, a team headed up by Jamie Yelton.  His car was fast in last week’s open test session at Martinsville Speedway and he’s confident he’ll be the one taking home the grandfather clock on Sunday.

“I really believe we were happy with the car in testing,” Jones said.  “We never really made a mock run in practice.  I feel like our car was good enough on old tires that we’ll be good on new tires.  Our testing will transfer over.  We stopped trying to improve it around lunch time and we tried some new things would help us late in the race and then the rain came.  I think we’ll be good when we unload off the trailer on Saturday.”

Jones is one driver who won’t back down.  The teenager says he’s not in the race to make friends and his only goal is to win.

“It’s a big race,” Jones explained.  “I’m not there to make enemies but I’m not there to make friends either.  There’s nobody at that track who wants to win more than I do when I unload.  I feel like we have a good chance to win.  It’s a really good field.  My crew chief (Billy Smith) and the caliber of team we have, we’re better than a fifth place team.  I’m a mature enough driver that I’m good enough to run with Lee Pulliam and Philip Morris.  I think we have a shot at bringing home the win.  I won’t be happy with a fifth place finish.  I want to win every time I get on the racetrack.”

Jones has competed at several tracks and in multiple racing divisions this season.  He has starts in the PASS South tour as well as in a Late Model at Hickory Motor Speedway, Kingsport Speedway and Newport Speedway.  Jones has one win on the season at Newport.

“Everything we ran in this year, we’ve been in contention to win,” Jones remarked.  “We didn’t bring home as much as I’d like to but we ran well.  It says a lot about our race team to move around cars and still have good runs.”

Jones has not finalized any plans for next season but once he does, he will release them.  He’d like to climb up the ladder in to the ranks of NASCAR.

“Racing is so expensive these days,” he stated.  “We’ve been lucky there with Airport Auto Auction, Blake Jones Racing Center and Fast Cash Pawn and Baker’s Wrecker Service.  Without them, this year wouldn’t have been possible.  It’s not a corporate sponsor but it wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

Jones, who began racing when his father bought him a go-kart, is now hoping to bring home a win in Late Model Stock Car racing’s Super Bowl.

RACE22.com will have Five Star RaceCar Bodies Live Coverage of the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 presented by JRi Shocks all weekend as well as pre-race coverage leading up to the big race all week.