Levi Jones took home two trophies from Tri-State Speedway Saturday night.
In a storybook ending on his home track, the Olney native captured his third Indiana Sprint Week championship by just two points over Noblesville, Indiana’s, Bryan Clauson.
Jones also scored his first-career USAC National Sprint Car victory at Haubstadt in front of hundreds of avid supporters.
Jones’ third Indiana Sprint Week title tied him for second most with Lincoln, Indiana, veteran Dave Darland, who now trails Jones by 62 points in the USAC Sprint Car standings.
“To tie Dave and have a shot at maybe tying Kevin means a lot,” the 27-year-old Jones said. “Those guys are two of the best to ever strap in a non-wing sprint car. Hopefully, I can get number four next year.”
Jones and Clauson were tied for the top spot heading into Saturday’s showdown at Tommy and Loris Helfrich’s high-banked speedplant.
Clauson, the 2009 Indiana Midget Week champ, pulled even thanks to his win over Jones Friday night at Bloomington Speedway.
However, Jones returned the favor under the lights at Tri-State Speedway as he recorded his 15th-career USAC Sprint Car victory and third of the season.
“It was the perfect end to a week where we had no hiccups,” Jones said. “My crew guys were 100 percent all week and nothing broke on the car. To seal it with a win down here makes it so much better. People say winning isn’t everything, but it is.“The always-consistent Jones finished no worse than seventh (twice) during 2009 Indiana
Clauson, 20, posted one win and three-runner up finishes in the seat of his Parker Stone/Corey Tucker Racing #7 Maxim, but a 13th-place run Wednesday night at Terre Haute came back to haunt him.
“The biggest thing is to take car of your car and try not to push it past that limit,” Jones said. “You have to be there at the end. A big key for us this week is that we only had to run one B-main (at Terre Haute). We were able to pick up some valuable heat-race points.”
News and notes: Jones also won his first Indiana Sprint Week championship (in 2004) by only two points over Dickie Gaines.
Jones will return to Tri-State Speedway on Saturday for the $3,000-to-win Midwest Sprint Car Series event that was postponed from July 4. He will pilot the TSR #20 entry.
Jones has four-career MSCS victories to his credit, including a May 9 triumph at Haubstadt.
“Winning Sprint Week was huge,” said Jones, who currently resides in Brownsburg, Ind. “You want to come out on top and carry that momentum the rest of the year. I’m really excited about the remaining pavement races (Iowa, Salem and Winchester).”
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