Possum Jones (January 16, 1934 – December 27, 1997) was a NASCAR Grand National driver.

Career

From

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, Jones managed to lead 28 out of the 8234 laps that he committed in his career.Racing Reference - Driver Information
/ref> The 29th lap of the

1957 Rebel 300 The ''1957 Rebel 300'' was a NASCAR Convertible Series race in Darlington, South Carolina on May 12, 1957. While the Rebel 300 was originally a convertible race, it eventually became absorbed into what is now known as the NASCAR Cup Series. Fro ...

would become infamous for the nine-car wreck that become a harbinger of doom in the days prior to the "modern" NASCAR Cup Series. Jones would be involved in this wreck; sharing a photo opportunity with Art Binkey and Dick Beaty in their wrecked vehicles.Pit 3 - Pre-Cup Days: 1957 Rebel 300
at Race Place Jones practically cut his professional racing career "teeth" on racing convertibles in NASCAR. He was one of the original drivers who partook in the 1956 Convertible season. In 1957, Jones won two convertible races, at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

and Fayetteville. This experiment in "stock car racing" would last throughout the rest of the 1950s and into the year

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

before the regular stock cars became more cost efficient. It became too expensive to cut the tops off the vehicles; causing the demise of the NASCAR Convertible Division. This would add up to raced in total. Total earnings for Possum Jones was $13,680 ($ when adjusted for inflation). On average, Jones started in 21st place and finished in 20th place. Possum Jones was also a NASCAR owner during the 1963 and 1964 seasons. He managed to arrange rides for himself in addition to Jim McGuirk, Joe Weatherly, and Joe Penland.Racing Reference - Owner Information
/ref>

References

External links

* 1934 births 1997 deaths NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners Sportspeople from Hillsborough County, Florida Racing drivers from Tampa, Florida {{NASCAR-stub