Ralph Jones (born January 20, 1944) is a former American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver from

Upton, Kentucky Upton is a home rule-class city in Hardin and LaRue counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 683 at the 2010 census. Its entire area is included in the Elizabethtown–Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Upton w ...

. Jones competed in 20 career

NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

races between 1977 and 1988. During the 1977 Southern 500 at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...

, Jones was a lapped car getting passed by the leaders when he and

Lennie Pond Lennie Wayne Pond (August 11, 1940 – February 10, 2016) was an American NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier. Pond ...

made contact off of turn 4 and crashed into the outside wall. Jones' throttle stuck and he could not steer the car and his car crashed hard into the inside wall nearly head on with the left side of the car and caught on fire. The impact broke the inside wall and knocked Jones unconscious as multiple crew members came to his aid trying to get him out of his burning race car. Jones regained consciousness and was carried on a stretcher and was carried to the infield care center. Jones was not seriously injured in the crash. Jones also competed in 16 ARCA events between 1985 and 1988, achieving 1 win, 8 top ten finishes, and 3 pole positions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ralph 1944 births Living people NASCAR drivers Racing drivers from Kentucky People from Hardin County, Kentucky People from LaRue County, Kentucky