P. J. Jones

Parnell Velko "P. J." Jones is an American professional racing driver. He has contested in multiple disciplines, including NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA GT Championship, the American Le Mans Series, USAC, the Chili Bowl, and the Stadium Super Trucks.

Jones was runner-up at the GTP class of the IMSA GT Championship in 1993 and fourth in 1992. He also finished fourth at the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, and second at the 1999 CART race at Nazareth. His father is Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, his brother is Page Jones, a former racing driver, and one of his sons, Jagger Jones, currently races in the Mazda MX-5 Cup.

Racing career

Early career and 1980s Jones' preliminary efforts in racing were focused on go-karting. Upon graduation from his introductory-level competitions, Jones began to enter the oval races at Ascot Park, much as his father did decades prior. Accumulating experience and accolades, Jones would progress vertically to United States Auto Club-sanctioned events. From numerous choices within USAC's open-wheel divisions, Jones opted to participate in the West Coast Midget category in 1986, earning the rookie of the year title in that class.

As Jones continued to compete in USAC, he began to dabble in IMSA GT. At this stage, Jones was participating in the GTO and GTU classes with Clayton-Cunningham Racing and their stable of Mazda RX-7 vehicles. A partial season in both GTO and GTU left Jones just fourteenth and twenty-seventh in the respective standings. Despite low rankings, 1988 was highlighted by a podium finish in one of the GTU races, and a victory in a world championship sprint car race in Auckland.

Before the end of the decade, Jones switched to the American Racing Series with its turbocharged Buick formula cars. Jones triumphed on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as he scored a victory to crown the season, which would culminate in a sixth-place final classification. In the same year, Jones was suspended for thirty days from USAC competition after deliberately colliding with a competitor's vehicle.

1990s Jones returned to the American Racing Series in 1990. Though with the same team, and utilizing the same March/Buick package, Jones failed to score a single race victory. Jones also had an unsuccessful foray into what is now the ARCA Menards Series West and a handful of forgettable trials at the wheel of a Ford Ranger in SCCA's Racetruck Challenge.

Jones' 1991 season began in GTP, running the 24 Hours of Daytona for Dan Gurney and his All American Racers squad, which fielded a Toyota-powered Eagle HF90 in the race, but his focus remained on the American Racing Series. Jones scored two victories in twelve races, both on street circuits in Toronto and Denver, on route to a third place finish in the standings. Prior to the year's end, Jones participated in an ice race.

In 1992, Jones became a full-fledged professional racing driver, now joining Gurney's team for a full season's run in IMSA GTP piloting the brand-new Eagle MkIII. As a rookie in prototype racing, Jones finished fourth in points with two wins, although he was outclassed by his more experienced teammate, Juan Manuel Fangio II, who took the series title. All American Racers retained Jones for 1993 and swept the championship and vice-championship positions in IMSA's GTP category with Jones trailing Fangio. Jones capitalized on his second year of GTP experience by winning the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona along co-drivers Mark Dismore and Rocky Moran. Later in the season, Jones rewrote the track record of Lime Rock Park with a lap of 43.112 seconds, which stands as of 2024 as the fastest lap ever recorded at the track.

Always willing to broaden his résumé, Jones participated in NASCAR Winston Cup action when such events did not conflict with his sports car exploits. While limited in stock car experience, Jones was able to qualify for six of the eleven races he entered, collecting a top ten finish at historic Watkins Glen International in the No. 9 Ford for Melling Racing. Jones also contested the Chili Bowl in 1993 and many other midget races in 1994, often with his brother Page. In the USAC Silver Crown Series event on the IRP facility, P.J. would score a respectable second-place finish behind Mike Bliss, then the dominant driver on that particular circuit, after starting from the pole position.

At that point, Jones was at a crossroads between stock cars and his childhood dream of open wheel racing, having unofficially tested a CART engine for Toyota and Dan Gurney. After getting his first stock car win in a Winston West series event at Phoenix International Raceway, Jones joined the newly stablished NASCAR SuperTruck division, which was set to begin in 1995, contesting the exhibition races in 1994 and 1995. Racing seven times for Scoop Vessels, Jones picked up two victories (in Mesa Marin and again in Phoenix) which were underscored by a further pair of second-place finishes and another two third-place results. His seventh race ended outside of the top ten. After his good performances, Jones secured the ride for 1995, as the original driver (his brother, Page) was recovering from injuries sustained in a midget crash. In official Truck Series running, Jones was less successful, scoring just two top ten finishes in thirteenth starts. After being released from the team, Jones switched gears again.

With the Toyota engine now an official entrant in CART for 1996, Jones was hired as a driver for the All American Racers team and its Eagle MK-V Champ Car for an abbreviated season that would begin on the Milwaukee Mile. In his second CART race, Jones finished ninth at the Belle Isle street course, with the first points ever scored by a Toyota-powered car in CART competition. Jones continued with this program through 1998; success was largely nonexistent, and would only score points at three other races.

In 1999, Jones switched to the Patrick Racing team, abandoning one motorsport legend in Gurney to join another in Pat Patrick. With better equipment at his disposal, Jones had four consecutive points-scoring finishes from Long Beach to Gateway, including a career-best runner-up result on the Nazareth Speedway, in a year that saw two other top ten classifications in Toronto and Chicago's races.

2000s As with Scott Pruett and Robby Gordon, Jones decided to leave open-wheel racing and make a full-time switch to NASCAR. Unlike the other two former CART competitors, Jones would focus on the Busch Series rather than the premier Cup division, where he would enter just two races. One of those was a relief driver for Gordon, who was participating in the rain-delayed 2000 Indianapolis 500 while the Coca-Cola 600 commenced with Jones in the cockpit of the No. 13 Burger King Ford.

Jones' season started with BACE Motorsports, a team which had won three Busch Series titles from 1995 to 1997, in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It was not to be a championship effort, however; with no results better than the twenty-fourth spot by the end of seven races, Jones was relieved of his driving duties. David Ridling was impressed with Jones, and signed him right away to drive his No. 19, bettering his performances to include a seventeenth-place run on Loudon's Magic Mile and a top-ten in the Watkins Glen event, a race Jones believed he and the team "should have won". Jones would return to Watkins Glen in August for the second of his two Winston Cup races; he was quietly twenty-first for Felix Sabates and SABCO Racing as a substitute driver for Ted Musgrave, himself a replacement to the late Kenny Irwin Jr., against whom Jones had raced in USAC.

After rumors circulated about Jones joining a newly formed Galaxy Motorsports and Robert Yates Racing conglomerate for the next season, Jones remained in the Busch Series and signed with Phoenix Racing. Qualifying third for the season-starting Daytona race and scoring a best result of seventeenth on the Atlanta Motor Speedway's oval, Jones was ousted for Jimmy Spencer, significant in that Spencer would later succeed him at both Ultra Motorsports and the Arnold Development team.

After 2001's disappointment, Jones spent 2002 in a variety of series, including the USAC Silver Crown Series where he had found success earlier in his career. Jones parlayed this into a chance to run the Indianapolis 500-mile race with Team Menard; it was to be his Indy Racing League debut and return to top-level North American open-wheel racing in a competitive mount, but misfortune struck when he suffered a neck injury in a crash during May's practice runs and was ruled out for the rest of the month; his replacement, Raul Boesel, placed the car on the front row. The Menards chain would also sponsor him later in the year for a Busch Series race at Phoenix.

Between these events, A. J. Foyt selected Jones to drive the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac in NASCAR Winston Cup competition at the Brickyard 400, where he failed to qualify, and at the SIRIUS Satellite Radio at the Glen, where he earned his best ever result in the series with a fourth place finish. Jones would be invited to return to the Foyt team in 2003, this time for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 to be held on the Sonoma Raceway. For the second time in three attempts with Foyt, Jones failed to qualify for the race, frustrating Foyt to the point that Jones would not be welcomed back to defend his top five from 2002. Instead, Jones would race a Pontiac Grand Prix for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, finishing in an unremarkable 24th place.

Jones made his Craftsman Truck Series return at the 2003 season-closer at Homestead–Miami Speedway and scored a top ten finish for Jim Smith, who brought him back for the Fontana and Phoenix races in 2004, scoring another top ten in the latter. In May 2004, Jones was finally able to make his debut in the Indianapolis 500, a race his father won in 1963. The rain-shortened race was reduced in length for all competitors, but even more so for Jones, who crashed. During the year, Jones also drove five NASCAR Nextel Cup races in Don Arnold's Dodge; further starts came in 2005 for MACH 1 Motorsports, failing to qualify for ten races in fourteen attempts, and the Morgan-McClure ride for the road courses, where he struggled mightily.

Jones made his Craftsman Truck Series return at the 2003 season-closer at Homestead–Miami Speedway and scored a top-ten finish for Jim Smith, who brought him back for the Fontana and Phoenix races in 2004, scoring another top-ten in the latter. The next stop on the Jones racing calendar was Sonoma, now becoming a tradition with Jones characterized in NASCAR as a road course ringer. Jones did not see the race out to its completion in his Morgan-McClure Chevrolet due to rear end failure, and would not return to the NEXTEL Cup Series that season. Instead, he retreated to the Busch division, between Mike Curb's team and a single start for Johnny Davis Motorsports in Watkins Glen.

Jones' car prior to the 2007 Pocono race.As NASCAR Busch Series left the United States for the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2007, Richard Childress Racing brought Jones with their team for the road course event Later on, he failed to qualify for the 2007 Indianapolis 500. His No. 40 car had been painted to resemble the one his father used in the 1967 Indianapolis 500 forty years prior. That year, Jones drove the NASCAR road course races with Michael Waltrip Racing's Toyota for a twelfth place finish at Sonoma, and subbed in the Pennsylvania 500 for Robby Gordon Motorsports after the driver for which the team was named was suspended for actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Jones made his final Nationwide and Truck starts in 2008, and remained as a road course ringer in Sprint Cup competition, driving for Robby Gordon Motorsports in that capacity between 2009 and 2011 in a start-and-park entry.

2010s Jones' 2013 Stadium Super TruckHis focus in 2011 had not been the Cup side, though. Rocketsports Racing hired Jones to race with Rocky Moran Jr. in their factory Jaguar XKR GT program in the American Le Mans Series. The car's performance was woeful, and no points were scored, even in rounds where fewer than ten cars had entered, as the car often failed to complete 70% of the class winner's distance due to chronic mechanical issues. Despite Moran's indications that the two would be paired again in 2012, Rocketsports and Jaguar disbanded the team and moved to the LMPC class without either driver.

Jones joined the General Tire Trophylite Race Series off-road truck division for 2012, finding a place to utilize his Baja 1000 experience. In Henderson, Nevada, Jones was victorious.

The 2013 season began at the Chili Bowl midget car race for Jones. He won the seventh heat race on opening night in his RFMS Racing entry. By the week's end, he had been eliminated from contention, and did not feature in the main event. Later in the year, he finished fourth in the inaugural Stadium Super Trucks race at University of Phoenix Stadium. He continued to race in SST that season, resulting fourth in the standings with a win at Las Vegas.

Jones continued racing in the Stadium Super Trucks—albeit on a part-time basis—from 2014 to 2017. He scored race wins at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2014, the OC Fair & Event Center's Sand Sports Super Show in 2015, and Texas Motor Speedway in 2017.

In 2017, Jones returned to NASCAR, racing in the Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International in Chris Cockrum Racing's No. 25 car.

Personal life Jones was a proficient ice hockey player, scoring ninety-eight goals (coincidentally, Jones often wears this number when racing) in thirty games when he was just short of one decade old and playing peewee hockey in California. He and his team were state champions that year. Any ideas of a professional career in Jones' other sport were hindered by a surgery six years after the championship; following another two years of play, Jones ceased participation in ice hockey of all kinds.

In addition to being an auto racer, Jones also runs PJ’s Performance, a garage that caters to UTVs, because he no longer races professionally.

Married to Jolaina, Jones is the father of Jagger and Jace Jones. His residence has been established in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

American Racing Series/Indy Lights

CART

IRL IndyCar Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415 16 17 Rank Points Ref 2002 Team Menard 2 Dallara Chevrolet HOM PHX CAL NAZ INDY TEX PIK RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY GAT CHI TEX - 0 2004 CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports 98 ChevroletHMSPHXMOTINDY28TXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYPPINZRCHIFONTX2 35th 10 2006 Team Leader Motorsports Panoz HondaHMSSTPMOT INDYWGLTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYSNMCHI 33rd 12 2007 Team Leader/Dollander Racing 40 Dallara Honda HMS STP MOT KANINDYDNQ MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MOH MIS KTY SNM DET CHI - 0

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1993 Melling Racing 9 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MARDNQ TALDNQ SON25 CLT DOV34 POC MCH38 DAY30 NHA POC TAL GLN8 MCH26 BRIDNQ DAR RCH DOVDNQ MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATLDNQ 42nd 498 1994 Stroppe Motorsports 38 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL INDDNQ 59th 134 Jasper Motorsports 88 Ford GLN35 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR Ultra Motorsports 06 Ford PHO29 ATL 2000 Team Menard 13 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT35 DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND 58th 158 Team SABCO 01 Chevy GLN21 MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 2002 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 50 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC INDDNQ 60th 160 14 GLN4 MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 2003 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SONDNQ DAY CHI NHA POC IND 64th 91 Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Pontiac GLN24 MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM 2004 Arnold Motorsports 50 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC22 MCH25 SON39 DAY CHI39 NHA POC43 IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM 54th 316 2005 Mach 1 Motorsports 34 Chevy DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV POCDNQ MCHDNQ DAY CHIDNQ NHA POC41 INDDNQ MCHDNQ BRIDNQ CALDNQ RCH NHA DOV TAL 62nd 189 Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Chevy SON32 GLN42 Front Row Motorsports 92 Dodge KAN41 Chevy CLTDNQ MAR ATL TEXDNQ PHODNQ HOM 2006 Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Chevy DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON36 DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 70th 55 2007 Michael Waltrip Racing 00 Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON12 NHA DAY CHI IND GLN25 MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 55th 267 Robby Gordon Motorsports 7 Ford POC37 2008 Hall of Fame Racing 96 Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN37 MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 67th 52 2009 Robby Gordon Motorsports 04 Toyota DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON43 NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN41 MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 64th 40 2010 07 DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON41 NHA DAY CHI IND GLN41 56th 190 7 POC35 MCH37 BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 2011 77 Dodge DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT KAN POC MCH SON43 DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLNDNQ MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 80th 01

Xfinity Series NASCAR Xfinity Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2000 BACE Motorsports 74 Chevy DAY40 CAR35 LVS35 ATL24 DAR27 BRI39 TEX31 38th 1262 Ridling Motorsports 19 Chevy NSVDNQ TAL38 CAL42 RCHDNQ NHA17 CLTDNQ DOV40 SBO35 MYB41 GLN9 MLW38 NZH39 PPR40 GTY37 IRP26 MCHDNQ BRIDNQ DAR RCH DOVDNQ CLT CAR MEM PHO Phoenix Racing 1 Chevy HOM37 2001 DAY27 CAR37 LVS27 ATL17 DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 65th 328 2002 Tuttle Motorsports 97 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO35 HOM 115th 58 2006 Curb-Agajanian Motorsports 43 Dodge DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY13 CHI NHA MAR GTY IRP39 CAL22 RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO21 HOM 75th 376 Davis Motorsports 0 Chevy GLN43 MCH BRI 2007 Richard Childress Racing 21 Chevy DAY CAL MXC24 LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 131st 91 2008 MacDonald Motorsports 81 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO MXC TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP CGV GLN38 MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 141st 49 2017 Chris Cockrum Racing 25 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL CLT DOV POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLNDNQ MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 114th 0

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 1995 Vestar Motorsports 1 Chevy PHO16 TUS2 SGS16 MMR14 POR17 EVG6 I7020 LVL12 BRI16 MLW23 CNS11 HPT22 IRP31 FLM RCH MAR NWS SON MMR PHO 17th 1519 2003 Ultra Motorsports 27 Dodge DAY DAR MMR MAR CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA CAL LVS SBO TEX MAR PHO HOM9 92nd 138 2004 2 DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL14 TEX MAR PHO8 DAR HOM 58th 263 2008 MB Motorsports 63 Ford DAY35 CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV 72nd 152 Chevy TEX23 MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2017 RFMS Racing 27 Ford DAY NSH SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH MAD IOW IRP POC WIN ISF ROA3 DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN 76th 220

Stadium Super Trucks (key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.) Stadium Super Trucks results Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pts Ref 2013 PHO5 LBH5 LAN3 SDG5 SDG8 STL11 TOR5 TOR6 CRA9 CRA10 OCF9 OCF5 OCF3 CPL1* 4th 289 2014 STP7 STP1* LBH4 IMS IMS DET DET DET AUS TOR TOR OCF OCF4 CSS LVV LVV6 14th 88 2015 ADE ADE ADE STP STP LBH DET7† DET4† DET4† AUS TOR TOR OCF1* OCF4† OCF5† SRF SRF SRF SRF SYD LVV LVV 37th - 2016 ADE ADE ADE STP STP LBH LBH DET DET DET TOW TOW TOW TOR7 TOR8 CLT CLT OCF2 OCF4 SRF2 SRF8 SRF12 12th 129 2017 ADE ADE ADE STP4 STP5 LBH9 LBH PER PER PER DET DET TEX1* TEX6 HID HID HID BEI GLN GLN ELS ELS 13th 99 † – Replaced Sheldon Creed and Keegan Kincaid at Detroit and OC Fair, respectively, points went to them