Del Mar Pro Series Race Proves He Has Jones for Winning

Page Jones was taking a swig of champagne Sunday afternoon. And though he’s just 20, not even old enough to purchase the stuff, no one denied him his taste of victory.

Drinking responsibly, his driving for the day was over.

Jones, the son of racing legend Parnelli Jones, began a big day for the Jones family by winning his third Zerex Saab Pro Series race at the Vons Grand Prix of San Diego.

Jones piloted his American Racing Saab to victory despite starting sixth out of 17 on the grid in the 30-minute International Motor Sports Assn. season finale. He completed 24 laps and has won three of his nine series starts.

His victory preceded that of his older brother, P.J., in the Grand Touring Prototype race.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Parnelli Jones, who won the Indy 500 in 1963, almost won three others and was a consistent winner on the U.S. Auto Club circuit.

Page Jones, who won the fifth and sixth races of the season, in New Orleans and New Hampshire, gladly took the victory in race 12.

“I was just hoping for a podium finish,” he said, referring to third place or better.

Jones also raced Saturday night in Hanford in central California. He had engine trouble and finished fifth in a midget race.

It’s the second week in a row he’s tried to double. He won his ninth midget race of the year a week ago in El Cajon, but finished fifth in the Saab race at Phoenix.

The Rolling Hills driver got some breaks from the yellow flag. Pole-sitter Alex Padilla hit the wall in Turn 1 on the sixth lap and was out of the race, and fourth qualifier Diego Guzman left with a broken throttle at the same time; Jones was third.

A few minutes later, Divina Galica brought on a full-course caution flag and stacked the drivers behind leader Bill Adams.

Twenty-three minutes into the race, on lap 19, Jones passed Adams and held on for a .236-second victory over Robert Amren of Sweden.

Jones won $10,250, and the 38.400 miles he covered was a course record on the 10-turn, 1.62-mile layout on the Del Mar Fairgrounds. He averaged 75.927 m.p.h. in a stock Saab Turbo two-litre engine, the same found in Saab’s street cars.

Jones has been driving since he was 9, but even that seems short considering his father’s racing involvement.

“I would have loved to have started earlier,” Page said, “but Dad didn’t want us to because of all the dangers.”

The only reason Page started at 9 was because he was a pool hustler. He challenged his dad: if he could make a series of three difficult shots on the family billiard table, he and P.J. could accompany Parnelli to the Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

Page made the shots. Parnelli reneged, instead opting to buy each of the boys a go-kart they had their eye on. He figured it would be cheaper. In the long run, it wasn’t, but at least the dividends are showing up.

This is only the second time the two have doubled. They won a pair of midget races at Ascot Park on May 5, 1990.

Page is looking to race stock cars next year.

Bobby Jones Enterprises--no relation--built Trans-Am Mustangs for Parnelli Jones, and is discussing options for Page next year. Page hasn’t signed any contracts yet, but he thinks it will happen.

Page said having the Jones name has been both a help and a hindrance.

“It opened a lot of doors for me,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate with sponsorship, and I’ve gotten a lot of help from my father, but people expect a lot from me.

“You get a lot of publicity from it, but some places I go, the fans boo me. They figure everything I have was handed to me on a silver platter, that I don’t have to work for it. Little do they know that in my midget racing, I work five to seven days a week in my race shop until midnight or 3 in the morning, that I have outside guys who come in to help me who have regular jobs during the day. They see things the way they want to see things; they don’t see the whole picture.”

Race Notes

Parker Johnstone started on the pole for a record 14th consecutive time and finished second in the Camel Lights race with co-driver Dan Marvin. Their finish gave Acura Spice its second consecutive manufacturer’s title, 228-222, over Buick. . . . Andy Evans and Fermin Velez (Buick Kudzu DG-2) won the Lights race, completing 106 laps, eight fewer than GTP winner P.J. Jones.

During the GTP victory lap, the Nissan pickup carrying Jones and second-place Geoff Brabham, stopped to pick up third-place Davy Jones, whose clutch failed and was not running at race’s end. . . . Jaguar’s Davy Jones’ misfortune allowed Brabham to finish second and Nissan to finish second to Toyota for the manufacturer’s title. Jaguar finished third, five points back. . . . Tom Kendall (Chevrolet), who summers in Del Mar, finished fourth in the GTP race. . . . Juan Manuel Fangio II (Toyota), the two-time defending race champion, finished last in the 19-car field. He a good lead when he made his first pit stop because of a water leak. He pulled out after 17 laps. When he surrendered the lead to Jaguar’s Davy Jones, it ended a Toyota Motorsports leading streak in Camel GT races of 8 hours 52 minutes. . . . There were no caution flags during the race.

Page Jones was unable to fly into Palomar Airport last night because of fog. He instead flew to Long Beach and drove to Del Mar and arrived at 3:30 a.m. . . . There were a number of second generation drivers this weekend, but one of the lesser-known was David Pook, son of race promoter Chris Pook. David Pook made his first trip to the podium, placing third in the Zerex Saab race.

West Germany’s Hans Stuck took the checkered flag in the 30-minute Bridgestone Supercar Championship to give Porsche the manufacturer’s championship. Stuck (Porsche 911 Turbo), last year’s race winner, won for the third time in his career. He averaged 72.066 m.p.h. and held a 46.172-second margin of victory. He took his victory lap hanging out of his car, waving to the crowd. He’s 6 feet 5. . . . Doc Bundy (Lotus X180R), by finishing second, won the driver’s championship, worth $20,000.