Tuesday Toolbox: Parker Jones

XC2 Pro-Am's Parker Jones has only been racing for four years, but he's already brought home two championship titles. In 2007 he was the College B Champion and in 2008, he was the College A Champion. In his rookie debut in the XC2 Pro-Am class Jones, who also works full-time at a farm during race season, came in third in the points. In this week's Tuesday Toolbox, the 20 year old shares about his 2009 season and what he hopes for 2010.

Parker, what are you up to on your farm today? We are loading trucks today with corn because it's a rainy day and we can't do anything in the field.  Right now we are sweeping the corn out of the bins.

How long have you been working on the farm? I've been working here about three years.

So since you were about 17? Wait, did you say I looked like I was 17?

No! I promise I wouldn't say that, even if I thought it. I can pass as 13 so it doesn't matter, I guess. (laughs)

So you started working at the farm around the time you started GNCC. I ask almost everyone I interview this, but what are the challenges of working and racing like for you? Farming is pretty hard manual labor, so I guess that would help on the track at least. It does cut in on the training time. As soon as we're done with harvest that's when I start pretty hard on the training program. We start working on the farm at sunup to way after sundown. So I don't really have any time when we aren't harvesting.

Parker's Coworker: Now you could get up at 5 a.m. and train you know! (Laughter in the background)

Harvest starts the first dry day of spring and lasts about two months. So pretty much when we go to Florida in March to race is when we start tilling and getting planting ready. Pretty much while I'm racing, I'm farming too.

How do the guys you work with feel about you leaving every weekend to race? They say I take off way too much time! Actually, the people I work for are really lenient, so if I have to go, I have to go. If I have to get my four-wheeler ready I just go home and do it. They come to some of the races too. Ironman is a close one for us so they come to that.  They get into it and every Monday morning that's all they talk about it, if it's a race weekend.

When did you start racing ATVs? When I turned 16 I started racing, so I've only been racing about 4 years. The first year I didn't go to all of the GNCCs. The second year would have been when I was in B class, so I've been going to all of them since then.

What got you interested in riding in the beginning? My mom and dad first got me a battery powered 4-wheeler when I was less than a year old and they said that was a mistake.  When I was 3 or 4 I got a little 80 four-wheeler and they said that was a mistake too and it just kept going from there. My buddy was racing and I went to a couple of races with him and that's how I got into it. And now I'm really into it. I spend all my money doing it.

If your parents kept saying it was a mistake how did you convince them to let you keep going? I guess I'm not sure about that. But if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be racing. They help me out a lot.

So somewhere along the way must have thought it was a good idea. Yeah, somewhere.

You've been coming up through the ranks of GNCC Racing.  In 2007 you were the College B class champion, in 2008 the College A class champion, and ended up 3rd in XC2 Pro-Am points this year. Can you talk a little bit about what you had to go through to move up each year? Everybody always told me I was natural at riding. I started riding at recreational parks like the Badlands at first,  but once I started racing I went from 5^th in the C class, then I went up to B class. It got a little harder but I won that championship. In A class some of the top guys moved with me and kept competition stiff. I just stayed really consistent and I was a top finisher in a lot of the races. I ended up wrapping that championship in 5 races.  Then I moved up for the last four rounds of that year. When I did that I was finishing mid-pack and I thought "Oh man this is going to be hard." It was a battle every round and everybody was so consistent and right there together. Then I moved up to Pro-Am to give it everything I had. I went into the beginning of the season not doing so well. And then at the end of the season it started coming together. I was changing the set up and changing different stuff. I came into the last race of Ironman in fourth place and Eric Hoyland and I were tied in points and it was just luck of the draw. He had a bad race. I started in the pack of the pack and didn't think I'd get back to the top because of the mud. It's my hometown track so it's the terrain I'm used to. I ended up finishing seco

nd at the Ironman and third for the year.

Congratulations on that, too.  Like you said, this year you saw some ups and downs, with a rough first round but you started improving and made your way into the top riders and on the podium several times. You said you worked on your bike a good bit this year, what helped? The first of the year we changed the exit shock setup and we thought we had it set up pretty good but when we went to Florida, the sand just beat me to death in the whoops. We started changing stuff after that and it got better. The last 4 rounds were about perfect. This year I got a new bike and there just wasn't something the same as my old bike. I got holeshot after holeshot last year, and this year I didn't get as many as I would have liked. Next year we'll hopefully have that down.

What's your secret with these holeshots? You've gotten quite a few. It's just timing. You've just got to be ready. When that green flag flies you just have to give it all you've got.

What was it like for you this year, competing against factory rider Josh Kirkland and Brian Wolf? There were a lot of times you got up into the lead or got the holeshot. What were the battles like with them? There was no messing up. If you did, those guys were gone. It was fun riding with them if you could get up front riding with them. You just try not to lose them. They're fast and just good competition.

Wolf was a privateer too, working against Kirkland who was a factory rider. Did you two ever strategize or talk about what it was like to be up against a factory rider? Not really. I raced with Josh in A class a couple of times. When I raced the last four races in my second year we didn't know each other really well but we always talked at the races and Brian, too. We always had good conversations about past races.

Just not future races, apparently? My goal was always to look forward and think I was going to be the top finisher at the next round.

Things are already starting to gear up for 2010. Do you have your plans set in place yet? I'm not sure yet. I don't know what I'm riding or any of that stuff yet. I'll be back though.

What are you doing to get ready so far? Wolf unfortunately might not be back, but that could set you up against the defending champion Kirkland. I have a lot better training program than last year, I'll be practicing more and just stuff like that!

Alright, Parker, Thanks for talking to us. I'm sure you would like to thank a few people. My parents first of all, Moto Experts, Maxxis Tires, HMF Performance, Hyper Wheels, IMF, Fasst Company, Dryer Honda West, Dragon Racing Fuels, Bowman Racing, ASD Inventions, PowerMadd, Precision Racing, Quad Tech, Rath Racing, Rekluse, Spider Grips, TireBalls, WebCam, Zebra Racing.  And I've made a lot of friends over the past couple of years, and they're always ready to lend a hand and always there if I need them. And of course, the Good Lord.

That's even almost in alphabetical order! Well, I was prepared. I'm actually reading off of a list.

That's great. Have a good day, Parker!