choke city tamed by the tom jones

On the third stop of the tour the truck made their way to Charlotte Motor Speedway on the legends course to see just how chaotic a race possibly could be and well, lets just say the trends continued and Tom Jones knows how to be patient. On the opening lap on the outside Douglas (21) immediately lost the back end while Hughes (7) took off on the low side. Connor (29) and Thomas (6) went bumper to bumper early in the race as well.

Handling issues plagued the drivers on the near 0 degree banking track as Ryujin Industries 6 truck was fighting rear end lock ups with his aggressive corner entries trying to stay with the Chunks 29. Ben ultimately ended up retiring early from the race with handling woes.

             As the sun began to set and the field marched on a competition caution was enacted at the races halfway mark. Brad had led every lap up to this point. Tom Jones in the 46 was on the move through the field and after his lap 1 spin to last, Douglas in the Trade Authority 21 was up to 3rd. What followed was probably one of the most entertaining restarts we've had to date.

Immediately the field gunned it for track position leaving Jones (46) vulnerable on the single restart. The 29 of Mire saw what the 21 was doing and moved up on the outside in preparation to capitalize on a pass. On the drop of the green Brad headed into turn 1 seeing 3 trucks go to toe to toe on entry. Fighting cold tires and with the preferred line the 21 shot down to the inside!

Aaron Douglas got the lead on the side off the 7, passing two trucks in one corner for the lead, which he would then maintain for 27 laps (we'll get to that in a moment). Connor fighting the dirty outside lane found himself side by side with Pritchard (44) heading into the next corner. This is where the issues began and the man of Jones was the only one who took it seriously.

Brett spun on the inside of Connor after cooking the corners a bit too much, fighting the rear end of his ebay Motors Chevy. This just a mere omen to what was to come with the rest of the field. Tom Jones got by Hughes and went door to door with Aaron making a mistake in 3/4 only for Aaron to use his cross skills and out brake the 46 to resume his lead until the end portion of the race.

    Choke City!! The 21 truck of Douglas spins from the lead and hands it over to the 7 of Hughes who then ALSO loses the lead from missing the corner and over driving the exit of 2, handing the lead to.. DA DA DA DA... TOM JONES! Who sailed away from 7, 21 & 29 truck to cruise to his first FARCA win, in just 3 starts. A feat no driver has accomplished that soon into their career in this sport. Connor fell back after tire issues and Brett retired the 44 machine. Brad with late race penalty handed 2nd over to Douglas and Jones W'd.

Thus ends the 3rd race of season and it delivered with the 3rd different winner, no repeats to start off the 2023 season. Next week we head to Concord Speedway for a 77 lap race on the short track. The points lead for Brad has shrunk with the late race penalty down to just 3 points over Aaron Douglas. With the win to his name, Jones is now 4th in points just behind Connor Mire.

Race Results

Points Standings