Conner Jones Bio
Conner Jones, born February 22, 2006, is an American professional stock car racing driver from Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has built his career through a steady climb from youth go-karts to regional late model titles, and most recently competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving the Nos. 41 and 44 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs for Niece Motorsports. In addition to his national series work, Jones races full-time in the zMAX CARS Tour, where he pilots the No. 44 for Carroll Speedshop. He is also known for winning the 2023 World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model championship and the 2024 Battle of the Stars.
Early Life and Background
Conner Jones was born on February 22, 2006, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and raised in a region with a strong tradition of grassroots short-track racing. He is the son of Robert Jones, who founded Jones Utilities Construction Inc. in 1997, a full-service underground utility and fiber optic construction contractor that has sponsored much of his racing. Growing up around construction work and engines gave Jones an early appreciation for machines and competition, and he spent much of his childhood around the family business.
Jones began his motorsport journey at five years old, climbing into a go-kart and racing on local circuits. By 2017, his talent had moved him into Bandolero competition, where he captured the Bandolero Bandit Virginia state championship. The following year, he made his debut in Legends car racing and earned his first career victory at Dominion Raceway, a result that signaled his potential to graduate to bigger cars.
Path to NASCAR
In 2019, Jones stepped into the INEX Virginia State Young Lions division full-time, winning the championship behind six wins, twelve runner-up finishes, and two third-place results. He also made his first late model start that season, finishing third at Hickory Motor Speedway in his debut. Those results pushed him toward national touring series, and in 2020 he split his time between the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series at Hickory and Dominion Raceway, building a résumé that caught the attention of bigger teams.
The next season, Jones ran the full CARS Late Model Stock Tour schedule, racing for GMS Racing at Caraway Speedway and for JR Motorsports in four events. He ended the year eleventh in points with three top-ten finishes, then returned in 2022 to win at Hudson and climb to tenth in the standings. He signed with GMS Racing in 2021 to enter the ARCA Menards Series East, and over the next two seasons added ARCA Menards and ARCA Menards Series West starts with Venturini Motorsports and Cook-Finley Racing.
Conner Jones Career
Early Career (2017-2020)
Jones opened his late teens with a 2017 Bandolero Bandit Virginia state championship, then added a Legends car victory at Dominion Raceway in 2018. He backed that up with a 2019 INEX Virginia State Young Lions title, where his six wins showed a knack for consistency at the front of the field. His transition to late models began that same year with a third-place debut at Hickory Motor Speedway, and a 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series campaign sharpened his short-track craft.
ARCA Menards Series Breakthrough (2021-2023)
Jones made his ARCA Menards Series debut in 2021 at the Shore Lunch 150 at Iowa Speedway, racing for Cook-Finley Racing. He also entered the ARCA Menards Series East opener at the Nashville Fairgrounds with GMS Racing, where he started eighth and finished fourth. In 2022, he joined Venturini Motorsports for a partial ARCA Menards and ARCA East schedule, recording a best result of third at Dover in the East Series. Across his three-year ARCA run, he posted 11 top-ten finishes in the main series and nine in the East series.
Craftsman Truck Series (2023-2025)
On February 13, 2023, ThorSport Racing announced that Jones would drive nine races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that season, piloting the No. 66 Chevrolet. He earned four top-20 finishes and ended the year 33rd in the championship standings. He returned to ThorSport in 2024 on a part-time basis, adding six more top-20s in thirteen starts and climbing to 31st in points, though a retaliatory wreck of Matt Mills at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the resulting fire in the Mills truck led NASCAR to park Jones and suspend him for the Martinsville race the following week.
On January 13, 2025, it was reported that Jones would not return to ThorSport Racing for the 2025 season. He joined Niece Motorsports to drive the Nos. 41 and 44 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs on a part-time Truck schedule, with his most recent Truck start listed at the 2026 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte. Through his Truck Series career, his best championship result is 31st in 2024.
CARS Tour (2021-Present)
Jones has run the CARS Late Model Stock Tour since 2021, finishing eleventh in 2021 with GMS Racing and JR Motorsports, tenth in 2022, and then claiming the 2023 World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model championship. In 2024, he added the Battle of the Stars crown and continued racing on the zMAX CARS Tour, where he drives the No. 44 for Carroll Speedshop. He also gained national attention during the 2024 South Carolina 400 when an on-track incident with Mason Diaz led to an altercation between the two drivers.
Driving Style and Strengths
Jones is best known for his short-track instincts and willingness to lean on the bumper. His years on tight Virginia ovals shaped a strong feel for late model race craft, and his ARCA results showed the patience needed to grind out top-ten finishes on larger tracks. He has paired that aggression with an improving ability to avoid trouble, though his 2024 Homestead incident and 2024 South Carolina 400 altercation show the fine line he sometimes walks between hard racing and overstepping.
Notable Races and Milestones
Standout moments in Jones’s career include his 2021 ARCA East debut finish of fourth at the Nashville Fairgrounds, his 2023 World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model title, his 2024 Battle of the Stars win, and his 2023 Truck Series debut with ThorSport Racing. His 2024 Martinsville suspension marked one of the toughest weeks of his young career and a clear learning moment as he moved toward the 2025 Truck season.
Conner Jones Career Wins
Jones does not have national NASCAR wins to his name, with zero victories listed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, and the ARCA Menards Series West. His win column is filled by grassroots and regional success, including the 2023 World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model championship and the 2024 Battle of the Stars title.
CARS Tour and Late Model Highlights
His first CARS Tour victory came at Hudson in 2022, a breakthrough that helped him climb to tenth in series standings. The 2023 World Series of Asphalt Pro Late Model championship cemented his reputation as one of the top young late model talents in the country, and the 2024 Battle of the Stars win kept that momentum going as he split time between the CARS Tour and NASCAR national events.
Other Wins and Performances
Earlier in his career, Jones captured the 2017 Bandolero Bandit Virginia state championship and the 2019 INEX Virginia State Young Lions championship. He also scored his first Legends car win at Dominion Raceway in 2018, and he posted a best ARCA East result of third at Dover in 2022, underscoring the steady ladder of results that moved him toward the Truck Series.
| Series | Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ARCA Menards Series | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| ARCA Menards Series East | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| ARCA Menards Series West | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Conner Jones Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Jones comes from a Fredericksburg, Virginia, family with strong ties to the construction industry and a growing presence in motorsports. His father, Robert Jones, founded Jones Utilities Construction Inc. in 1997, a full-service underground utility and fiber optic construction contractor that has sponsored much of Conner’s racing. The family’s support has been a key part of his ability to move from local tracks to national NASCAR competition.
Personal Life
Conner Jones was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and continues to be based there as he balances his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series duties with the zMAX CARS Tour. His racing is closely tied to the family business, with Jones Utilities Construction Inc. serving as a primary sponsor across many of his teams and car numbers.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season marked a new chapter for Conner Jones, who parted ways with ThorSport Racing in January 2025 and moved to Niece Motorsports for a part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule in the Nos. 41 and 44 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs. He continued to balance that program with a full-time run in the zMAX CARS Tour driving the No. 44 for Carroll Speedshop, where he remained a championship contender after his 2023 Pro Late Model title and 2024 Battle of the Stars crown.
On the Truck side, Jones remained focused on gaining experience and moving up the leaderboard as a development driver. His prior 2023 and 2024 Truck campaigns with ThorSport gave him thirteen combined starts, six top-20 finishes, and a best points result of 31st in 2024, a baseline he aimed to improve with Niece Motorsports. While the 2025 Truck season did not deliver national series wins, it offered a fresh team environment and additional seat time at a higher competitive level.
Looking ahead, Jones’s 2025 outlook centered on stacking strong CARS Tour results, pursuing more Truck Series starts, and rebuilding his reputation after a turbulent 2024. With the support of Niece Motorsports in the Truck Series and Carroll Speedshop in the CARS Tour, he positioned himself as a young driver working toward his first national NASCAR victory.