Devin Jones Racing completed Rounds 5 and 6 of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National presented by Mazda at Lime Rock Park with two days of solid lead-pack racing. The Memorial Day Weekend event, held in conjunction with the Grand Am race, was Jones’ first time to race at the 1.53 mile, seven turn track in Connecticut.
“Lime Rock was an interesting track, it kind of reminds me of an oval track,” said Jones. “It has very quick lap times and you are always up on the wheel.”
Jones qualified for the Saturday race in the sixth spot. While running in the top-five lead pack, Jones moved into fourth for what looked like it would be a very strong finish. A rock went through the radiator, ending his day early.
On the Monday race, Jones qualified in 8th. He moved up to fourth on the start. With damp conditions on the track, Jones dropped a wheel and fell back to ninth, losing the lead draft. He finished the race in sixth.
“I think I was driving the first couple laps too conservatively because of the wet conditions and I actually think that’s what caused me to drop a wheel,” said Jones. “Sometimes when you drive too conservatively, it throws your rhythm off. Once I regrouped, I worked my way back to the lead draft. At the end, third through sixth were all right there.”
“We knew going into this national series it was going to be a very steep learning curve. Unlike everyone else in the series who have over 40 races in these cars, we have just 12. Since we’ve hired Steve Welk, owner of Linear Sport, a top three finish is just around the corner for us,” added Jones. “This weekend at Lime Rock we have shown that we have the speed to make it on the podium.”
Team DJR will be racing rounds 7 and 8 of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National presented by Mazda on July 1 through 3 at Road America. In the meantime, Jones making his Late Model Stock debut on June 28 at Hickory Motor Speedway, the “Birthplace of NASCAR Stars,” as he continues to build on his diverse racing skill set.
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Devin Jones Races Rounds 5 & 6 of BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National presented by Mazda at Lime Rock
Jones Completes Two Days of Solid Lead-Pack Racing
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Photo credit, Skip Barber Racing School.
