Buckshot deciding, has a sponsor: The next month could determine if Buckshot Jones ever races again. The Georgia native, released in April by Petty Enterprises, says he has a sponsor and has talked with seven or eight teams about driving. But if those teams arent willing to take the money his unspecified backer will pay, hell go into land development and put his racing career on hold, possibly permanently. If there’ no ride out there, Ive gotta do something, Jones said. I do not want to quit racing by no means. … (But) Im not gonna jump back into racing if I think that the team doesnt have everything they need. There’ a lot of teams out there that are good teams, but they dont have that little bit extra that they need. If I think it’ somewhere where the team’ got the potential to get there, man, Im willing to do that. But if I think theyre not gonna be able to get to that potential, then I probably wouldnt do it. I just want to have a little more say-so on things than what Ive been able to do. Time is also a big a factor in determining Jones racing fate. His pending land development deal has a deadline as well, so whatever happens has to happen quickly. The sponsor definitely wants to do something within a month, Jones said. Let’ just say if every person weve talked to wants more than what the sponsor’ willing to pay, then Id go into land development. Ive gotta start earning a paycheck. I dont receive a paycheck any more, so Ive got a lot of bills to be paid. That would probably be one of the hardest things for me to do, to get out of racing. If I dont have a choice, I dont have a choice. If you get out of racing, and youve been out of it, most of the top people are not gonna try and hire you. Theyre gonna pick somebody else. It’ bad sitting out of a race car … but there’ something else (land development) that I can get involved in within the next two to three months, or it’ gonna pass by. (Winston Cup Scene – need sub to read)(5-23-2002)
