Conner Jones is back in the news again for a less-than-stellar reason. The part-time NASCAR Truck Series driver got into a scuffle during an appearance in the CARS Tour last weekend, and he’s been fined and placed on probation.
“Part-time NASCAR Truck Series driver Conner Jones has been penalized for a scuffle in the CARS Tour last weekend,” Toby Christie posted on X. “Jones has been fined $500 and placed on probation for the remainder of the season.”
Jones was racing at Langley Speedway last Saturday, and afterwards he threw a punch at fellow competitor Parker Eatmon. They exchanged blows until crew members broke up the altercation.
Both drivers didn’t speak much about the incident afterwards, but Jones is clearly paying the price. This comes after he made headlines for intentionally wrecking Matt Mills last season in the Truck Series, during a race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic tried to get comment from Jones at the time, but he declined. The journalist wasn’t happy, and delivers a soliloquy regarding why the wheelman’s actions were unprofessional: “So I don’t care about the age, I couldn’t care less. It never crossed my mind that he’s 18 years old in that setting,” Bianchi said, via a subsequent episode of The Teardown. “You’re 18 or 88 the situation demands that you be held accountable.
“When you intentionally wreck somebody at Homestead at the speeds you’re going and that driver, his truck ends up on fire, now that’s inexcusable. I am all for hard racing, I’m all for moving a guy on the last lap. I am not for intentionally wrecking somebody because you’re angry and putting him in the wall. Especially on a track like this. What Conner Jones did in the Truck Series race is inexcusable.
“He deserved the penalty and he should answer the bell when it comes to, why did you do that? So to decline comment once, or to say, ‘Hey, now is not the time.’ Okay, I’m going to give you a few minutes, that’s fine. But the second time after you’ve had 15, 20 minutes to go in your hauler and collect yourself, then you have every opportunity, you should be held accountable, you should answer for your actions.
“Especially in that moment when you know that driver got transferred to the hospital. So, to say no comment the second time, inexcusable. I know people are going to say, ‘Oh media, blah blah blah,’ I don’t care.”
As you can tell, Conner Jones might need someone in his ear to get his mind right moving forward in his NASCAR career. If he doesn’t have that, he runs the risk of alienating the field before his career can truly ever get started.
— On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.
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