‘The coolest thing ever’: Tucson Speedway champ Dylan Jones witnesses his name on Ryan Blaney’s car at Nashville

On June 22, Dylan Jones saw a post on the NASCAR Roots Facebook page announcing he was one of two NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track champions who would have their names written on Ryan Blaney’s Cup Series car at Nashville Superspeedway. Fewer than 24 hours after seeing the post, Jones was on a flight from Arizona to Nashville having purchased tickets for the Ally 400. Jones' name on a Cup Series car was something he had to see in person. “We had to pay astronomical prices for tickets because it was last minute, and I had to sneak myself into the pits because I couldn’t get anything,” Jones said. “And as soon as they all found out [who I was], they all let me go in the garage and take a picture, got Ryan over there to take a picture, and they were all about it, all the crew members.” Jones and his wife Carissa had never visited Nashville. Now it’s a trip they won’t forget. “It was, like, the coolest thing ever, actually,” he said. “It was surreal. ... Your name is on a Cup car on a Sunday. It’s like, holy cow.” Jones’ name was on the car to celebrate his track championship at Tucson Speedway last season. Advance Auto Parts has been spotlighting NASCAR track champions on Blaney’s car all season as part of its Home Track Highlights program, with the name of two 2022 champions written on his car every week. Last year's title marked Jones’ fourth at Tucson, a NASCAR-sanctioned, 0.375-mile paved oval located just south of Tucson, Arizona. It was his first championship in the track’s Super Late Model division. “The previous year, I met Brett Yackey and those guys out of Colorado,” Jones said. “He was the previous champion, and he helped us better our program, so I raced with those guys the last two years, and we just kind of progressed ourselves into a championship last year with their help.” [caption id="attachment_398930" align="aligncenter" width="2016"] (Photo courtesy of Dylan Jones)[/caption] Jones began racing at age 8 in a go-kart, following in the footsteps of his older brothers who were also in the sport. He began racing at Tucson about 15 years ago when he was 15. This year, he’s tried to learn a new style of racing, getting into a dirt modified and traveling around Arizona and Colorado. After finding success on pavement and in the super late model, Jones said he wanted to challenge himself in a car that has a lot of popularity in the southwest. “When you switch from pavement to dirt… you feel like you can be a little more successful right out of the gate,” he said. “When you race pavement you have tires and practice and all this other stuff leading up to racing, versus dirt you just line up and go. ... The preparations on the pavement car versus the preparation on dirt, you feel like the pavement car needs more time and preciseness and being correct. The dirt stuff is more like luck of the draw, I feel.” Jones isn’t the only one in his family getting used to new race tracks. His wife Carissa is in the shop with him during the week setting up the car and tires. She serves as his spotter on race day. “My wife is the No. 1,” he said. “She’s basically the crew chief of the program. She does the tires and puts the headset on and spots for us, too. She’s a very, very valuable asset to the team.” [caption id="attachment_398929" align="aligncenter" width="960"] (Photo courtesy of Dylan Jones)[/caption] Racing is big in the entire Jones household. His 5-year-old daughter is also getting into the sport, and she just started practicing in a quarter-midget. “It’s definitely way more exciting than driving a car for yourself is watching your kids drive,” Jones said. “My whole family does it with me, my kids and my wife. We just kind of look at it as a family night out versus a night into town. "Saturday night under the lights is kind of the thing we go for. It keeps our family together. A busy race family is a safe family.” Jones hopes to go to Colorado for an SRL Southwest Tour race later this summer, looking for better results than earlier this year when the tour came to Tucson and engine issued prevented him from qualifying. He’ll also return to Tucson for super late model races at least two more times before the year is done. “Hopefully we can go snag a win,” he said.