Where is ... Buckshot? (cont'd)

"I wish that sure as hell wouldn't have happened," Jones began. "I don't need no s***, no feud started back between us. If I was in his shoes, hell, I'd probably be a little angry right now. The same thing's happened before with me and him, and I think he knows I don't want to start no s***. I don't want to get no s*** started."

These days, Jones says that he's past anything that might've happened between himself and LaJoie.

"You look back at it now, and it's just something that happened in racing," Jones said. "I think those things wouldn't happen today. Safety is the most important thing, and after seeing some of those guys get hurt bad and even killed, you think twice about things you do.

"We ended it. We settled it. I called him on the phone, and we just agreed if we raced against each other, we'd give each other a lot of room. This was getting to be stupid, tearing up these racecars."

Jones' one and only full-time Cup ride with Petty Enterprises was a disappointment to be sure, with two 16th-place finishes his best efforts. The team also failed to qualify for six events. After just a handful of Cup and Busch events between 2002-2004, Jones left the sport due to "a family matter."

Most of Jones' NASCAR starts came with teams fielded by his father, Billy, a successful Atlanta businessman. His relationship with Billy and the rest of his family has always been a close one, so while establishing himself in the business world has been crucial to Jones the last few years, his bond with Kolton and Levin is even more important.

"Words really can't describe [being a father]," Jones began. "I'm not one that can stomach things like watching surgery stuff on TV, but watching my son being born is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life. Everything you do is revolved around them. Watching them grow up, watching them see things for the first time, do things for the first time, I'm having just as good a time as they are.

"I've seen another side of life besides racing. My family, we're just all so close. I can make a good living doing what I'm doing right now. I'm able to watch my boys play sports, and spend every day and the weekends with them. That's something I wouldn't trade."