Some people just seem to be born into certain professions.

That's definitely the case for Rickie Jones.

Jones grew up watching his father Rick Jones race Pro Stock cars and trucks. Rick Jones also owns RJ Race Cars Inc. and Quarter-Max Chassis & Racing Components in Galesburg, Ill. RJ Race Cars has been building doorslammers since 1987 and he was named the Car Craft Chassis Builder of the Year in 1998 and 2002.

"Racing is in my blood," Rickie said. "I've lived it my entire life. It's all I have known."

Some people just seem to be born into certain professions.

That's definitely the case for Rickie Jones.

Jones grew up watching his father Rick Jones race Pro Stock cars and trucks. Rick Jones also owns RJ Race Cars Inc. and Quarter-Max Chassis & Racing Components in Galesburg, Ill. RJ Race Cars has been building doorslammers since 1987 and he was named the Car Craft Chassis Builder of the Year in 1998 and 2002.

"Racing is in my blood," Rickie said. "I've lived it my entire life. It's all I have known."

Rickie's time eating and breathing the sport paid dividends when he got behind the wheel of a Pro Stock car full-time for the 2008 National Hot Rod Association season.

Jones proved he could get the job done as he drove his 2006 Dodge Stratus to a 16th-place finish in the season's final points standings.

"That was my dream come true," the 22-year-old Jones said.

Halfway through this season, Jones has shown even more progress as he's 10th in the points chase.

"It has been a real good year for us," Rickie said. "We've qualified for every race and we're just trying to keep up with the competition."

The elder Jones, however, knows his team has room for improvement.

"Rickie has done a good job of driving the car," said Rick, who is the car owner and crew chief for his son. "But, if I had to give our team a grade, I would give us a C-plus. We qualified eighth at couple of races, but at all the other races, we've qualified between 10th-12th. Rickie's beat some of the faster drivers with holeshots, but you can't get a holeshot every time. You also have to beat the faster guys with horsepower. It's hard to beat the faster guys and that's why we need to qualify better."

Up next for Rickie and his father is the 30th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals July 10-12 at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.

"Last year was the first time we ever raced up there (at Bandimere)," the elder Jones said. "Everything is different up there in terms of our set-up because of the high altitude."

A year at Bandimere, Rickie qualified 12th with a 7.044 elapsed-second time. He then lost to Kurt Johnson in the first round.

"That qualifying run was a good run for us," Rickie said. "A lot of teams go to Bandimere and test, but we didn't test there last year and we aren't testing there this year. I know it's a lot harder to make horsepower at Bandimere, but I also think the high-altitude levels the playing field for everybody."

Although the younger Jones is clearly a rising star in the Pro Stock ranks, his future beyond this season is a little bit up in the air right now.

Fellow Dodge Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan, who builds the engines for the Joneses, is moving to Ford next season.

"Larry can still maintenance our Dodge even though he will be with Ford," the elder Jones said. "I know we wouldn't be where we are at, if it wasn't for what Larry has done for us. We just do not know what we're going to do next season. We will just have to wait and see what happens."
 

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