Fifteen-year-old Erik Jones ready for ARCA Racing Series debut

Fifteen-year-old Erik Jones ready for ARCA Racing Series debut


Wednesday, March 07, 2012
By Mark Inabinett al.com

MOBILE, Alabama --The ARCA Racing Series has become a proving ground for young drivers on their way to NASCAR, providing the opportunity for regional hotshots to handle a vehicle heavier than a late model on a track bigger than their local bullring.

Some learn their lessons well. For example, six of the top 11 finishers at this year's Daytona 500 had ARCA experience.

Now into the series' high-speed classroom for the automotively gifted comes its youngest student ever: Erik Jones, a 15-year-old from Byron, Mich., is entered in the Mobile ARCA 200, which rolls off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mobile International Speedway, a Rick Crawford Performance Track.

Jones can become the first 15-year-old driver in ARCA's 60 years because of a recent rule change. The series amended its 16-year-old minimum driver age to allow approved 15-year-olds to compete on tracks of 1 mile or shorter.

Driving the No. 55 Paragon Corvette Reproductions Chevrolet, Jones will add another "youngest" to his list of achievements. For instance, he's the youngest winner in the history of the ASA Late Model Northern Series.

But making history isn't why Jones entered his first ARCA event. It just felt like time to move up the racing ladder, he said, and because of the rule change, Mobile became his first opportunity.

"We had a lot of success last year," said the 2011 champion of the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour for pro late models. "We figured if we had that much success at this level, we'd see how we do at the next one."

Part of last year's success was what Jones calls his biggest racing highlight: Leading every lap of the 46th annual Florida Governor's Cup race at New Smyrna Speedway in November in only his second super late model outing. Competing on a national touring series might eclipse that, he said.

"You try to look at everything as just another race," Jones said of Saturday's event. "But this one is kind of in a category of its own that makes it more than just another race. You want to be in the spotlight and you want to perform, so you put a little bit more pressure on yourself."

Jones' journey to ARCA started in karts at age 7.

"I always liked cars even when I was really, really young," he said. "So finally we decided we'd try some go-karts. And I didn't win my first race, but I came close. And when I did win, well, that just makes you want to win more."

And he hopes to keep on winning.

"I'd love to make it to the higher levels of racing. I'd love to make it to the Sprint Cup Series one day," Jones said. "You don't race for the money, but it'd be nice to make a living doing something that you love."

Jones isn't the only driver at Mobile hoping to make his first ARCA start on Saturday, and he's barely the youngest.

The list of first-time teens includes Tyler Reddick, a 16-year-old who's been racing since he was 4. He's the youngest driver to start a World of Outlaws feature and the youngest winner of a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature.

Not only is he transitioning to heavier stock cars this week, he's also moving onto pavement in the No. 18 Broken Bow Records/Stoney Creek Records Chevrolet. Almost all of his racing has been on dirt tracks. Still, while the Corning, Calif., driver said it's a "privilege" to join the ARCA lineup in Mobile, he believes "racing's racing," and the fundamentals don't change from track to track, car to car, or surface to surface.

"A lot of it comes down to having a good car, put down a good qualifying lap, start up front, avoid trouble and when you get down to the end, be there," Reddick said. "Put yourself in a spot to advance at the end of the race. The main thing is to make sure that you take care of your car for the first 150 laps. Have your car in one piece and not all beat up."

Neither Jones nor Reddick was presumptuous enough to think he would win on Saturday.

"We'd definitely love to win, but I definitely want to finish and hope I can get a top 10," Jones said.

But since both are so accustomed to winning, it's hard to temper expectations.

"If we qualify good, start up front and do what we're supposed to do, it could happen. You never know," Reddick said. "It's just one of those deals. If you're in the right spot at the right time, you could get a win here."