C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.), 2023 Bubby Jones Racing Master of Goin’ Faster
presented by Spire Sports + Entertainment champion. (Dave Dellinger Photo)
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (February 6, 2024)………The 2024 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season will contain a 10-race “series within a series” held in memory of one of the series’ all-time greats.
The third edition of the Bubby Jones Racing Master of Goin’ Faster presented by Spire Sports + Entertainment series will encompass 10 events on the USAC National Sprint Car schedule this season, all of which will take place at some of the most legendary tracks on the schedule, including half-miles and some of Ol Bub’s favorite places.
The driver accumulating the most total points throughout the 2024 Bubby Jones Racing Master of Goin’ Faster series will be rewarded with a $10,000 prize. Furthermore, the championship winning crew chief will collect a $2,500 bonus. Jones was a master on two sides of the sport throughout his career – behind the wheel as a driver and behind the wrench as a crew chief.
C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.), the 2023 series champion, enters 2024 as the defending “Bubby Jones” titlist, which begins on February 13 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. during Winter Dirt Games XV. Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) captured the inaugural championship in 2022.
After Volusia, May brings the Bubby Jones series to Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway for the second night of #LetsRaceTwo on May 4 while Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track welcomes the series for the 54th annual Tony Hulman Classic on May 21.
Three more legendary dirt half-miles are on the scene for the Bubby Jones series in the month of June, beginning with June 1 at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the Corn Belt Clash. Two Eastern Storm dates in Pennsylvania follow as part of the series in June at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway on June 14 and Port Royal Speedway on June 15.
July is highlighted by Kokomo Speedway on July 27, which takes place during the 37th annual edition of Indiana Sprint Week.
September’s $20,000-to-win Haubstadt Hustler takes the Master of Goin’ Faster series to Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway on the 14th. Eldora Speedway gets a second Bubby Jones series date for the $15,000-to-win 4-Crown Nationals on September 21. The championship decider for the mini-series concludes at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway during the $20,000-to-win Fall Nationals on October 12.
The Bubby Jones series champion driver will also receive a custom trophy provided by Potter Metal Art and a year-end acknowledgement at USAC’s Night of Champions in December.
Norman “Bubby“ Jones was a 27-time winner in USAC National competition during his National Sprint Car Hall of Fame career. Among his 27 wins are seven each at Eldora and Terre Haute, two tracks featured prominently on the schedule.
Nicknamed Ol’ Bub, the racing barber who originally hailed from Danville, Illinois, established himself as an “outlaw” racer, winning from coast-to-coast until notching high-profile victories with USAC, including the CBS-televised Du Quoin Silver Crown in 1976, as well as the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ascot Park in 1976 and the Hut 100 at Terre Haute in 1977.
Bubby reigned victorious at the Western World Championships in 1976 and, one year later, Jones made his one and only start in the Indianapolis 500 in 1977, starting 33rd and finishing 21st for car owner, Bobby Hillin.
Jones made his biggest impact with USAC on the National Sprint Car trail during the late 1970s, winning 22 total feature events. 1979 proved to be his breakout year with the series, winning on 11 occasions in one of the prolific seasons in the history of the division at places like Terre Haute, New Bremen, Eldora and the Indiana State Fairgrounds for car owner Don Siebert, and during one stretch, won four in a row before finishing as the championship runner-up.
At the dawn of the 1980s, Bubby moved west to begin the next chapter of his racing career. Competing with the California Racing Association, Jones piloted the Kazarian’s Gas Chem Products entry. In their first year together, Jones and Kazarian earned nine victories, including his first of four at the season-ending Don Peabody Classic.
By the time he hung up his helmet for good in 1991, Bubby had claimed 80 CRA feature wins (2nd overall), including a record 18 triumphs in 1983 and was a multi-time winner of the Firecracker 50, the Pacific Coast Nationals and the Don Peabody Classic. Bubby remained active in racing as a crew chief and team manager. He continued to innovate in chassis designs and the development of Surelock shifter. In 1996, Bubby played a part in the construction of Perris Auto Speedway.
Spire Sports + Entertainment will serve as the presenting sponsor of the series. SS+E has been involved in numerous race promotion and marketing efforts for tracks and events on the USAC schedule in recent years.
Founded in 2010, Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) has blossomed into a multi-tiered entity. Since then, SS+E has become a subsidiary of parent organization Spire Holdings, which includes a a diverse sports portfolio, including Spire Motorsports, SS+E, ECHL hockey teams the Rapid City (S.D.) Rush and the Greenville (S.C.) Swamp Rabbits and short track promotions company Track Enterprises.
2024 BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOING FASTER SCHEDULE:
Feb 13: Volusia Speedway Park | Barberville, FL
May 4: Eldora Speedway | Rossburg, OH
May 21: Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, IN
Jun 1: Knoxville Raceway | Knoxville, IA
Jun 14: Williams Grove Speedway | Mechanicsburg, PA
Jun 15: Port Royal Speedway | Port Royal, PA
Jul 27: Kokomo Speedway | Kokomo, IN
Sep 14: Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, IN
Sep 21: Eldora Speedway | Rossburg, OH
Oct 12: Lawrenceburg Speedway | Lawrenceburg, IN
