BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — When it comes to experienced drivers on the eastern Pennsylvania short track asphalt circuit, Bobby Jones stands out as one of the elites, and he proved that once again on Sunday afternoon at Evergreen Raceway winning the 602 Crate Modified feature.
And for Jones, winning is something he’s been doing for 35 years as the victory marked his 65th career win.
By luck of the draw, Jones started from the pole for the 30-lap main. Once the race got underway, he faced constant pressure from several challengers. Steve Shultz, Jayden Harman, and Brian Sones each took repeated shots at him, especially on restarts, but Jones never wavered. His experience showed in the way he adapted to every challenge and stayed in control throughout the race.
“These cars without the big motor in them it makes everyone so close on the restarts so I do a little bit of protecting and make sure they just can’t get me from underneath or the outside, so I slow down then and then pick up my rhythm from there,” said Jones.
Jones races for car owner Paul French and his victory wrapped up a fruitful weekend for the team. On Friday Jake Crum won the SMART Tour race at Virginia’s Franklin County Speedway and Saturday evening at Evergreen Bryce Bailey finished a solid second in the Tour Type Modified feature.
“We were tweaking all day, and I made some phone calls. I called Bryce and got information from last night and that really helped us today,” related Jones.
“And those guys set the bar for me this weekend with Jake winning on Friday and Bryce coming in second yesterday with the (Tour Type) Modifieds, so I had to win and this one was special too because it came on my grandson Luke’s birthday, so this goes out to him.”
Making his first appearance in a 602 Crate Modified, Brian Sones gave Jones a close chase to the finish and made a great impression with his runner-up tally. Harman, Micah Adams and Shultz completed the top five.
Nick Ross won the late model feature, while Scott Adams topped the street stock main event.
Johnny Bennett came home first in the four-cylinder race and Riley O’Keefe claimed Legend car honors.
