PRESS RELEASE 2009

JONES NINTH IN POINTS

Las Vegas. The Vegas stop on the NHRA tour is a fan and racer favorite of many. Rickie Jones, driver of the Quarter-Max Mopar Dodge Stratus, also enjoys the sights and sounds of fabulous Las Vegas, counting it as one of his favorite races. At the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals this weekend, Jones didn’t let the Vegas distractions keep him from a great outing for the Quarter-Max team. Jones took out veteran racer and fellow Mopar teammate Allen Johnson in a close first round battle. Jones had the advantage off the line with a .011 reaction time to Johnson’s .042. Although Jones posted a slightly slower elapsed time, 6.708 to Johnson’s 6.682, his starting line advantage was enough to give him the win. The margin of victory was a mere .0055 seconds, with Jones taking the win light. Jones faced off against Jason Line as the first pair out in round two. Both drivers posted good reaction times, but both cars also went into early tire shake. Line was able to recover, but Jones’ shake was more severe and he was forced to abort the run, giving Line the easy win. “We don’t have any complaints about today,” says Jones. “We struggled a bit during qualifying, but we figured things out and first round was our best run of the weekend. It was great to run against AJ. He’s a really good customer of ours, as well as a fellow Mopar teammate. It was cool to put on a good race with him with only thousandths of a second separating us at the finish line. Unfortunately, the track got a little tricky on us second round and we had to forfeit the run. Line was there for the taking, but tire shake cost me that round. All in all, though, it was a good day. It’s great to be out here running in Vegas. We have family out here, so it’s always good to see them, and the team worked hard and did a fantastic job all weekend. I really want to thank Larry Morgan and his crew for doing the great job that they always do. Bob Glidden and his team helped us out a lot this weekend and we appreciate all they did for us.” Jones stands ninth in points following this weekend’s race and is optimistic the Quarter-Max® Mopar Dodge Stratus team can retain that status for the remainder of the year. “We’re still in the top 10 leaving this race,” says Jones, “which is really cool. We’re going to work hard to stay there and have a shot at the Countdown. We’re a young team, but I think we’re continually proving that we have what it takes out here.”

JONES MOVES TO EIGHTH IN POINTS WITH SEMI- FINAL FINISH

March 15, 2009    GAINESVILLE, Fl.  Rickie Jones scored his career-best weekend at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, qualifying eighth and advancing to the semi-final round. This event marks the one year anniversary of Jones’ debut in NHRA Pro Stock, so the timing is rather fitting. Just one year ago Jones was learning the ropes of the Pro Stock battlefield, and now he’s taking out heavy hitters such as number one qualifier, Mike Edwards, and his own engine builder, Larry Morgan.   The Quarter-Max® Mopar Dodge Stratus team qualified eighth with a 6.626 at 207.94, laying down two very strong runs in Saturday’s qualifying sessions. They continued that pattern on race day until the track got the better of them in the semi final round and Jones bowed out to eventual winner, Jason Line. Jones faced Larry Morgan in round one, besting him with a 6.642 when Morgan’s tire shake caused him to forfeit the run. In round two, Jones was up against this weekend’s number one qualifier, Mike Edwards. Although Edwards laid down the faster elapsed time in the run, Jones was first to the stripe for the whole-shot win. Jones walks away from Gainesville in eighth place in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points standings. The talented young driver is thrilled with the weekend’s outcome:    “Wow, what a great weekend,” radiates Jones. “This is the best outing we’ve had so far, and I’m thrilled to do that here in Gainesville. It’s pretty cool to come back to the first race I ever entered in Pro Stock and come away with our best-ever finish. The weather and the fans down here were awesome, too. This Quarter-Max team did a phenomenal job all weekend. We were up against some tough competition today, but we had what it took to beat the number one qualifier and that’s pretty cool. We’re very happy with the weekend’s performance. It puts us eighth in points which is our first time being in the top 10. We’re really excited about that. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going.   “We had an ESPN in-car camera today, too, which was awesome. It’s neat that fans can see what we’re going through there in the car. Something that many people may not recognize about today’s eliminations is that both of the cars in the final round, and three of the four in the semi-finals, were R J Race Cars. We’re excited to have our cars running well and to see our customers take home the weekend’s honors. Congratulations to our guys!”   The focus for the Quarter-Max® Mopar Dodge Stratus team is clear. “We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing because it’s working,” says Jones. “We’ve come a long way in the year that we’ve been out here. We are continually learning and improving our game, and we’ll keep that movement going. It’s a great feeling to be in the top 10 in points, but that doesn’t mean we relax our efforts. If anything we’ll double them up for the next race!”   The Quarter-Max® Mopar Dodge Stratus team would like to thank Strange Engineering, Mopar Performance,  Autolite, Aurora Bearing, Browell Bellhousing, C&R Radiators, Computech, Davis Custom Carts, Drag Racing Online.com, Fram, Goodridge Hose & Fittings, Impact Racing, Inland Empire Driveline, Intercomp, Kirkman Composites, Larry Morgan Racing, Lucas Oil, Magna Fuel, Meziere, MSD Ignition, PAC Springs, Penske Racing Shocks, Pro Jack, Pro Stock Cars.com, Racing Junk.com Classified Ads, Ram Clutches, S&D Enterprises, Sticker Dude Designs, Suspension Spring Specialties, and XS Power.