Henry C. "Dusty" Jones Jr., retired NASCAR official, dies at 90
Stock Car Racing History
Henry C. "Dusty" Jones Jr., retired NASCAR official, dies at 90
By ELLEN ROBERTSON Richmond Times-Dispatch posted 2 days ago January 10th, 2015
Henry Clay Dusty Jones Jr., who died Wednesday at 90 in a local hospital, was a NASCAR man and Richmonds sand man.
After returning from World War II Navy service in the South Pacific, he and Wesley C. Junie Donlavey Jr. teamed up to build Modified Stock Cars in Donlaveys Midlothian shop and raced them all over Virginia.
Mr. Jones car, a 1939 Ford Coupe that he ran until 1952, was car number 91, and Donlaveys car was number 90.
One of his main claims to fame was that when he built the number 91 car, he beat Junie the first five times they raced, said Joe Kelly, radio co-host with his wife, Ruth, of Lets Talk Racing.
Junie said, Maybe were doing too much work on your car, and Dusty said, No, were just out-driving you.
Some of Mr. Jones drivers included Emanuel The Greek Zervakis and Ernest L. Sonny Hutchins.
When racing began to license racing car owners, Mr. Jones received License #1, according to a short history that Mr. Jones wrote.
In 1949, he became a founding member of the Richmond Stock Car Racing Association.
Mr. Jones left racing as an owner-driver in the early 1950s to take over the trucking business of his father, who had died, and to take care of his mother. He converted the business into H.C. Jones Sand & Gravel, which sold sandbox sand to Richmond schools and day cares, as well as to individuals.
He became Richmonds sand man because no one else was doing it, according to Jean Green Jones, his wife since 1953. You could buy a cup, or you could buy a bag of sand, she remembered.
However, the racing bug never left him. He began a secondary career with NASCAR in 1952 as a flagman starter and worked races from Daytona, Fla., on up the East Coast.
Mr. Jones served as chief steward the ranking NASCAR representative at local speedways for 25 years, Kelly said. He was chief steward at Southside Speedway from 1974 until the end of the 1985 season, as well as for one year at Beltsville Speedway in Beltsville, Md., and at South Boston Speedway in South Boston.
In 1975, he also became a Winston Cup technical inspector. He inspected engines in cars before and after races to make sure they were legal, Kelly said.
He had officiated at venues including Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas and Langley Speedway in Hampton and was an official at all racing events in Richmond until the late 1980s, Kelly said.
In those days, NASCAR hired people from a lot of the racing places so an official didnt have to go all over the country. Now thats all changed. Dusty went all over because he was really good, Kelly noted.
He was a stickler for the rules, right down the line. That was one of the reasons tracks around here were held in such high esteem because of guys like Dusty. He made sure you followed the book.
Mr. Jones retired in 2000 when he was diagnosed with cancer and his health began to decline.
A graveside service for Mr. Jones will be at 1:30 p.m. today, Sunday, in Forest Lawn Cemetery, 4000 Pilots Lane.
In addition to his wife, survivors include four sons, Timothy S. Jones of Amelia, Bruce W. Jones of Mechanicsville and Christopher S. Jones and Russell C. Jones, both of Richmond; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
http://www.richmond.com/obituaries/featured/article_84c086df-3ccb-5697-920d-8a5c0ee30b12.html
Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va.USA
updated by @dennis-garrett: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
