2nd Foyt car enters the Brickyard 400: A.J. Foyt has hired P.J. Jones, son of 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, to drive the #50 Conseco Pontiac in the Brickyard 400. Foyt contacted Jones, who was in town to drive in tonight’s USAC Silver Crown feature at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and reached an agreement earlier today. Foyt will file the second entry tomorrow at the track. Mike Wallace is slated to drive the No. #Conseco Pontiac in his second race for Foyt. “Originally, I had planned to run two cars at Indy, which was why Mike Wallace tested here a couple weeks ago in the #50 Conseco car,” Foyt said. “After Stacy Compton was released, I decided to run just one car but that became an issue for NASCAR. They told me yesterday that they were going to penalize my team quite heavily because they thought I was trying to get around the limited testing issue. Well, that was the last thing on my mind, but I told Mike Hillman [crew chief] to enter the second car. I called P.J. about driving it and he said he’d love to. “I considered hiring his dad Parnelli but I couldn’t get him off the golf course,” Foyt joked about his longtime rival and good friend who retired from driving race cars in the 70’s. “I am excited about this opportunity to run at the Brickyard, even if it came at the last minute,” Jones, from Torrance, Calif., said. “We’d like to be more prepared but we’ll just do the best we can. It’ll be fun to drive for A.J. at Indy.” Jones, 33, did run a stock car here at the first open test in 1994, but did not compete in the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 (although Foyt did for what turned out to be his last Winston Cup race). Jones started racing midgets and sprint cars in California in the late 1980s. Dan Gurney hired Jones to race in the IMSA GTP series in 1992, and Jones won five races in two seasons, including an overall victory in the Rolex 24 in 1993 at Daytona. He also ran six races for the Melling Racing team that year, with a best finish of 9th at Watkins Glen. Jones concentrated on NASCAR racing in 1994, winning twice in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He returned to Gurney’s All-American Racers team in 1996 to drive in CART, staying there until 1999. Jones joined Patrick Racing in 1999, earning a career-best second-place finish at Nazareth Speedway. Since 1999, he has raced in the NASCAR Busch Series and in selected USAC Silver Crown Series events. He finished fourth in the Silver Crown feature at the Copper World Indy 200 in March at Phoenix International Raceway. Jones will race at IRP tonight and strap into the #50 Conseco Pontiac tomorrow afternoon when the Winston Cup teams practice for Saturday’s qualifying session.(A.J. Foyt Racing PR)(8-1-2002)
