Cautious Optimism Is the Word on Slow Recoveries of Jones, Fox

Page Jones, one of the United States’ most promising young drivers, will be 23 next Thursday. Stan Fox, a veteran of eight Indianapolis 500s and hundreds of midget races, will be 43 on July 7.

Both are hospitalized with head injuries, the result of violent racing accidents. Both are showing steady but slow improvement.

The diagnosis for both Jones and Fox--from family, friends and doctors alike--is one of cautious optimism.

“If you’re with Page every day, it’s hard to see much progress, but if you’re gone for a couple of weeks, like I was for the Indianapolis 500, you can see a big improvement when you get back,” said Parnelli Jones, Page’s father.

“He can speak, but only in a hoarse whisper, but he understands what’s said to him. He talks to his brother [P.J.] after races and they talk about how P.J. did. He walks a little, with assistance. His balance is kind of out of whack, but the most important thing is that his mind seems to be getting sharper.”

Page’s mother, Judy, asked him one day last week what he would like to do, if he could do anything he wanted.

“Win the Indianapolis 500,” he said without hesitation.

His father won the 500 in 1963 and Page seemed headed in the same direction when a sprint car he was driving tumbled to a stop on its side in the middle of Eldora Raceway in Ohio last Sept. 25. As he lay helpless, the car was hit broadside by a trailing car. Jones suffered a broken shoulder and collarbone, in addition to the head injuries.

“I don’t care if he ever races again, or even wants to, as long as he improves to where he can live a normal life,” Parnelli said.

The younger Jones is a patient at the Casa Colinas Peninsula Rehabilitation Center in Lomita, about three miles from the family home in Rolling Hills. He undergoes daily speech and physical therapy, and goes home for the day on Sundays.

Fox, recovering from a first-turn, first-lap accident in the Indianapolis 500 on May 28, is still in the critical care unit of Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. In the middle of the turn, his car veered across the track and hit the outside wall nearly head-on at about 200 m.p.h. Miraculously, he had no injuries other than to his head.

“Every day Stanley seems to show improvement,” said Steve Lewis, who owned the midget racers that Fox drove to victories in Turkey Night races at Ascot Park and Saugus Speedway. “Sunday, he was sitting up in a chair. He can’t walk yet, but he follows commands from the doctors and he opens his eyes for a minute or two at a time.”

Bob and Janice East, whose company built the midgets for Lewis, live in Indianapolis and visit Fox twice a day.

“He loves to watch races on TV, and he seems to know what’s going on, so we look on that as a big plus,” Janice said. “Bob took some cars to Winchester [a track in Indiana where Fox often raced] to test last week, and Stan wanted to know what was going on over there.

“He can’t speak very well yet because he still has all those tubes in his throat, but he looks great and everybody seems quite positive about his recovery.”

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Winston Racing Series late models, Grand American modifieds and street stocks will be followed by a destruction derby Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. . . . Grand Americans will also be at Cajon Speedway on Saturday night.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--For the first time since 1969, when Harry Oxley and Jack Milne made speedway motorcycle racing a Friday night happening at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, there will be a second Friday night speedway program in Southern California. Jim Fishback, promoter of racing at San Bernardino’s Glen Helen Speedway, has changed his weekly racing schedule for bikes and sidecars from Wednesday to Friday nights. “Wednesday night racing just wouldn’t pay the bills and I believe there are enough riders available to present our races on the same night as Costa Mesa,” said Fishback, a former rider. When races were rained out last Friday night at Costa Mesa, it was only the second cancellation in 12 years.

SPRINT CARS--The Sprint Car Racing Assn. will take wingless cars to Santa Maria Speedway for the third time Saturday night in hopes of getting in a main event. Two earlier attempts were rained out. After 11 races, Rip Williams leads defending champion Ron Shuman, 609-582. . . . Winged sprinters will run a Budweiser Golden State Challenge event Saturday night at Kings Speedway in Hanford.

SPORTS CARS--The California Sports Car Club will hold a full slate of regional championship races this weekend at Willow Springs Raceway. Included will be American City Racing League action for Sports 2000 cars. . . . Jimmy Chianis of Escondido and David Pook of Long Beach finished 1-2 in the Formula Ford 2000 national championship race last Sunday in Richmond, Va. MISCELLANY--Ventura Raceway will showcase antique flat track motorcycles Saturday night. . . . Jet dragsters will face alcohol funny cars in a shootout Saturday night at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix. . . . U.S. Auto Club western regional midgets and TQs will be at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale on Saturday night.