Rickie Jones, driver of the Elite Performance Pontiac GXP, sees only positives when assessing the 2010 season.

“The sun is shining, so we are already ahead of where we were last season,” said Rickie Jones, who finished in the top ten of NHRA Pro Stock point earners last year.

“We went to Vegas and did some testing,” said Jones. “It was cold and rainy so, it was kind of hard to tell where we were at. We still have a lot of learning to do for this season.”

Jones has switched engine builders and auto manufacturers, going from Morgan to Elite Performance, and Mopar to GM.  

“We have turned out a lot of cars this season and ours was actually the last one we finished before this race,” Jones explained. “There’s a lot of excitement in kicking off our new engine program with Elite Performance and Jimmy Oliver.”

Rickie Jones, driver of the Elite Performance Pontiac GXP, sees only positives when assessing the 2010 season.

“The sun is shining, so we are already ahead of where we were last season,” said Rickie Jones, who finished in the top ten of NHRA Pro Stock point earners last year.

“We went to Vegas and did some testing,” said Jones. “It was cold and rainy so, it was kind of hard to tell where we were at. We still have a lot of learning to do for this season.”

Jones has switched engine builders and auto manufacturers, going from Morgan to Elite Performance, and Mopar to GM.  

“We have turned out a lot of cars this season and ours was actually the last one we finished before this race,” Jones explained. “There’s a lot of excitement in kicking off our new engine program with Elite Performance and Jimmy Oliver.”

Jones admitted that he had clearly defined goals last season and reaching the Countdown to 1, exceeded his personal list of objectives.

“Our primary goal was just to qualify at every event, and anything after that was just a bonus,” said Jones, beaming a smile.

Jones earned his way into the top ten after the third race of the season and never relinquished his place amongst the ten championship contenders.

“That was huge for us and it was all about consistency,” said Jones. “We wanted to try and win some rounds and that put us under a lot of pressure. We were just a small team just trying to make it out there.”

The small team status caught up with the Joneses after the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, the first race of the Countdown to 1. They were forced to withdraw from the tour with a trailer full of wounded engines and no time to repair them in the midst of four consecutive championship-determining events.

“There was just no way that we could have rebounded from that to come back out and race,” Jones said. “It was tough sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone out there race.”

Jones was able to race the final two events of 2009 thanks to sponsorship assistance from Elite Performance. In his first race back since the Carolinas Nationals, Jones drove his way to a runner-up finish.

“It was good to finish the season on a strong note, and when you look at it, maybe the time off did us some good,” Jones said. “We’ve been real busy this off-season. I wish we could have tested more this offseason. The bottom line is I believe we’ll do well with what has been dealt to us.”