TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 29, 2015) – – Quietly since the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, newly formed Rette Jones Racing (RJR) has been working hard towards Friday afternoon’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200.
While their second race of the season will come at the 2.66-mile superspeedway of Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the team led by championship and two-time winning Talladega crew chief Mark Rette isn’t just coming to play, they’re coming to win.
After all, “This is Talladega.”
“We’ve been working hard on our No. 30 J-AAR Excavating Toyota Camry since Daytona,” said Rette. “We’ve been working hard on bringing a product to the racetrack that not only we can be satisfied with, but prove that this team is able to compete no matter the challenges or the circumstances.”
After qualifying on-time in 28th in February at the “World Center of Racing,” driver and co-owner Terry Jones cleverly drafted his automobile towards the front, but found himself a victim of circumstance and tagged in a late race incident.
With the team’s resilient and relentless hard work, Jones was able to stay on the lead lap and bring his battered car home in 19th when the checkered flag flew.
With a full prepared notebook, the team feels more prepared and content on putting the Amherstburg, Ontario native in position to score his first career ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards win.
“Anyone that comes to a restrictor plate race, they come with one mission in mind. To Win. Our goal is no different than the others, but we’ve been meticulously working on our No. 30 J-AAR Excavating Toyota Camry, hoping that we have all the components to put Terry (Jones) in the right position These plate races come down to luck, but if we’re lucky to stay out of trouble, our chances are as good as anybody.”
Of course, Rette says that the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team has also been thrashing hard to build a solid foundation for later in the year.
“We’re ready to go,” offered Rette. “We have a fleet of cars, ready to compete and ready to win. The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has a healthy and competitive crop of drivers right now and we want our Rette Jones Racing team to be a part of the action. No doubt a good finish on Friday will help with that.”
For Jones, a successful Canadian entrepreneur, he’s poised to make his eighth career start and better on a career-best finish of fifth at Talladega in 2013.
“Talladega’s important for anyone, because after all – it’s Talladega,” said Jones. “But for me, it’s a special place because of our fifth place run two years ago. It was a great experience for us to be near the front and contending for the win, we just couldn’t get the right help when push came to shove. We hope to change that on Friday afternoon.”
With a tight one-day schedule on the line for the competitor of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Jones knows that getting off on the right footing will be important to making sure the team’s 10-hour day is successful.
“We’ll practice in the morning, qualify later and race before the sun sets, that’s a busy day,” sounded Jones. “Not a bad thing though. We have a great group of guys ready to do work and we’re focused on putting our No. 30 J-AAR Excavating Toyota Camry in a good group for qualifying and let the rest unfold in the race. We have a lot of people who support this team, so we definitely want to have a good showing in our second time out.”
For Rette, a former winner at Talladega as a crew chief, he nearly mimics what his partner said.
“It’s a busy day, but that’s the way we like it,” Rette mentioned. “We’re not running for points, so it’s all or nothing mentality for us and we feel we’ll give Terry that opportunity to chase victory.”
In addition to J-AAR Excavating, Rette Jones Racing welcomes Jones Group International, Russo’s Tinting and Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems as associate marketing partners for the fifth of 20 races this season.
The International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200 (76 Laps / 202 Miles) is the fifth of 20 races on the 2015 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins for the one-day show on Friday, May 1 from 8:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Later, Menards pole group qualifying presented by Ansell takes place later in the day at 2:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, the event will take the green flag just after 5:00 p.m. The event will be televised live on FOX Sports 1. ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring throughout the entire weekend festivities. All times are local (Central).
