MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 9, 2021) -- Conner Jones will take his No. 88 Jones Utilities Construction Chevrolet to Tri-County Speedway this weekend for the CARS Tour's Harrison's Workwear 225, hoping to build on the strength of three top-10 finishes in his last four races for JR Motorsports.
The 15-year-old from Virginia has been steady since coming to JRM back in June, finishing no worse than 11th, and he's currently 12th in CARS Tour points. In the rookie standings, Jones is third behind leader Kaden Honeycutt and Daniel Silvestri, 69 points off the top spot and just 22 behind Silvestri, with whom Jones has raced since he was 8 years old.
"I'm really looking for wins and top fives, to be honest," Jones said. "Those are the two things I really want. I need to stay focused in the race, hit my line every lap and I need some luck."
Jones, whose only visit to Tri-County came in a U.S. Legend Car, doesn't have a ton of experience there, but that doesn't mean he didn't take to the .400-mile oval. "I was doing fairly well there in the Legend car until the crankshaft broke," he said.
As a rookie in the CARS Tour, Jones likes how competitive the series is.
"The CARS Tour definitely has the competition I thought it would have," he said. "It's a lot closer racing, rather than having to get under someone and go straight to the bottom or straight to the top and not get near their door."
After Tri-County's race on Saturday, Jones has two more CARS Tour events this season on his schedule, Florence Motor Speedway in South Carolina (Oct. 2) and South Boston Speedway in Virginia (Oct. 16). He'll also compete in the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway later this month and the Florence 400 in November.
Since his goal is victories and top-five finishes, Jones is eager to attack the remaining races.
"I've only raced South Boston twice, and in the big race there, I qualified second out of 40-some cars," he said. "I feel pretty good about it. I want to pick up a win this week or in the next two CARS Tour races. At the Florence 400 (last year), I qualified 28th and finished sixth, so I'm feeling good about that. I love that track, and it's probably my favorite."
In his brief time with JRM, Jones has bonded with his team, led by Bryan Shaffer. "We all get along the same, all really like each other and it's a fun way to go racing."