To those who may remember him. we lost Norman "Bubby" Jones this past Sat. He was 78....
He was one of the 1st "real" outlaw sprint car drivers...following the money races during most of the racing seasons, right along with Rick Ferkel....
First saw him run the Western World Open at Manzanita Raceway in Phoenix, AZ in 1973....IIRC he placed 2nd behind Pleasantville, IA driver Earl Wagner.
Then really got an eyeful of his driving talents the following weekend at Ascot when Bubby and Rick showed the CRA veterans that the wide RR humper tire would work as Ascot, as Bubby chased Ferkel to the checkered flag. Ferkel was in his #0 and Bubby drove a local CRA car with a Boss 302 Ford under the hood. Bubby set that car up the way he wanted it and it showed.
in the 1974 Western Open, Bubby placed 3rd behind Rick Ferkel and CRA's Rick Goudy.
Bubby replaced Jan Opperman in the Longhorn Racing after Jan was injured the summer of 1976 in Champ Dirt car.
Bubby also tried Indy one year...
After losing the USAC Sprint car title in 1979, he moved to SoCal and teamed up with the Kazarian Brothers for a few years. It is that car from 1980 that graced the cover of the Premier issue of Open Wheel..
