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NASCAR BGN: Buckshot Jones Has Fresh Start To A New Season At Buckshot Racing

10 February 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Spartanburg, S.C. --- Heading to Daytona International Speedway for the season opener will serve as a breath of fresh air for Buckshot Jones and the entire Buckshot Racing team. They are ready to put the winter behind them and put rubber to asphalt in what Jones hopes is the most successful year of his career.

The Buckshot Racing team made some significant changes during the off-season, most notably being the addition of Sandy Jones as crew chief. The team spent considerable time testing the No. 00 Pontiacs and the results were positive for the six-year team. Buckshot will compete full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series for the 2000 season, and the plan is to make this the year of the double zero.

"Every year I say I'm excited about going to Daytona to kick off the season, but this year is different," Jones said. "I am ready to put last year behind me and focus on the 2000 season. Being back in the Busch Series is a smart move for this team. The series is extremely competitive and I've had a great deal of success in a short period of time.

"Running against the guys in the Busch Series again will only make me a better race car driver, and that is my goal in this sport. To be competitive and improve my driving skills each year. I have all the confidence in my team, my crew chief and myself."

Jones and the Buckshot Racing team have set some pretty high goals for 2000, but they consider each and every one of them extremely attainable and well within reach. Buckshot and Sandy Jones are proven winners, with seven trips to victory lane between them. Buckshot has two Busch Series wins including The Milwaukee Mile and New Hampshire International Speedway. Buckshot's goal for 2000 is to finish the season with no less than the series championship.

"I am very confident about what we can accomplish as a team," Jones said. "Ultimately we want to win the championship, but I know we can win races. We've spent a lot of time working on the cars over the off-season and Sandy has implemented some of his ideas, so it is going to be a fresh start for us this year.

"Sandy and I have spent a lot of time talking about race cars, but we've also spent a lot of time getting to know each other. It is so critical for a driver and crew chief to have good lines of communication and Sandy and I are working hard to form a solid relationship."

Having a new crew chief on the radio will be an adjustment for the team, but the transition seems to be going smoothly. Sandy Jones has spent countless hours in the Buckshot Racing shop over the winter and he is anxious to start racing again.

"Buckshot is a good race car driver who I've watched come up through the series," Sandy Jones said. "We have both won races in the Busch Series in the past few years. For a lot of competitors and teams, having the confidence to get to victory lane is an obstacle. We've got a lot of new faces on this team, with mine being one of them, but we are not lacking in confidence.

"We have a lot of talent on this team as well, from the driver right down to the guy who cleans the window on race day. We've got a clean slate ahead of us and I think we're going to be fine."

Daytona is always a high-pressure affair, but for the Buckshot Racing team, having two seasoned veterans in Buckshot and Sandy Jones to lead the way will make this a race to remember...hopefully with a view from victory lane.

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