Racing runs through the bloodline of the Jones family. They have a long history of competition dating back to the shores of Daytona Beach. Like her name, Vivian Jones is an attractive, vivacious, charming twenty-year-old who has raced a 305 and 410 Sprint this season. Besides working at her father, Rod’s business, she is a junior at Youngstown State University where she is majoring in Human Resources.

Her great grandfather was Hap Jones, who raced NASCAR stock cars on the Daytona Beach shores in 1940 and once won a 100-lap race at Sharon Speedway. Later in his life, he was the Lernerville Pit Steward. Most people didn’t know that Hap’s real name was Vivian. He died four days before his great granddaughter was born. She was named for him and she races his number 20.

Hap’s son, Dave, raced Modifieds in the 1980s before moving to 270 Micros. Vivian’s dad, Rod, started racing 270 Micro Sprints in the 1990s. Later he switched to 410 Sprints. After a bad wreck at Sharon Speedway, her mom, Glori, wanted him to move back down to micros. Vivian was a few years old and brother Roman was a few months old! Her mother’s father, Wilber Juillerat, also raced stock cars.

Vivian started racing Junior Sprints in 2010 when she was eight-years-old. A Jr. Sprint is a Micro with a lawn mower engine minus a wing.

“I struggled bad when I first started racing. I didn’t win for three years,” she said.

Then she moved into Dwarf cars and raced for a few years where she met with accomplishment. Eventually she moved into a Mod Lite and traveled with Mod Lite Star Series to Florida, Canada and North Carolina and had success. Last year, her third night out at Mercer, she won a 305-Sprint feature event.

Vivian has been racing for 12 years now. Besides driving a 305 and 410 Sprint, she raced a Crate Modified for Jerry Shaffer four or five times.

“It helped me a lot. The Crate Mod was a bigger car. It was so much of a different feel because the Mod Lites are so small and twitchy,” Vivian said. “You really have to change your whole driving style in the bigger race car. A Sprint car is so complicated and it reacts so much differently to set ups. You have two big tires on the back and a giant wing on top.

“Throttle control is everything. It definitely was a learning curve. The Crate Mod had more horse power than the Mod lite. Basically, I went from 200 horsepower to 350 and then 500 horsepower. So, I had an even step. It helped me driving a little by getting used to the increased speed.”

She added, “So, when I got into the 900-powered 410 Sprint-car, I was a little used to the speed and wasn’t afraid of how fast it was. It took my brother a little bit longer to get comfortable in the car because he went from a dwarf car at Mercer straight to a Sprint car. Roman wasn’t quite ready to move up. He is very talented, but a different driver than me.”

Vivian also drove an E-mod three years ago. Her total victories in all divisions are 36. Roman is a seventeen-year-old senior at West Middlesex High School.

Last year their father got back into racing, driving the Barris #32 410-Sprint car.

“My dad has not owned a car since my brother and I got into racing. He drives for other people when they need him,” Vivian said. “He puts his money into our cars.”

Vivian won the recent Lernerville Western PA Speed Week consolation event. The only other woman to win a Sprint consolation there was Sarah Fischer, who went on to race at Indianapolis.

The driver Vivian most likes in racing is Kyle Larson.

“I like the way he drives. I also admire my dad, Bob Felmlee, AJ Flick and Adam Kekich. They all give me good advice and steer me in the right direction.”

Vivian is a strong woman, persistent, tenacious and sparkling. She treats obstacles as stepping stones on her way to success. She learns from setbacks, and never stops until she achieves her goal.

Modified driver Brian Swartzlander’s son, who has the same name, is called BJ. Not only is he the crew chief on his dad’s car, but is the principal of Kiski Upper Elementary School. BJ is slated to be inducted into the Kiski Sports Hall of Fame, September 3rd. In 1999, BJ was a rare Quad East All-Conference selection at quarterback and defensive back. As a senior, he captained both the football and baseball teams. BJ was selected as the “Male Athlete of the Year.” He went to Washington and Jefferson College where he again excelled in football and baseball with all-conference selections. His father was an outstanding basketball and baseball player. Brian and BJ, along with the crew, have won 99 V-8 Modified races at Lernerville. They are looking forward to reaching the century mark with their next Modified feature victory.

Late Model driver Tony Burke has been missing from action at local speedways. Recently, he was in his eighteen-wheeler truck going south on Route 79 when his front steering tire blew out. A terrible accident ensued in which his truck and trailer were totaled. Tony was not injured during this ordeal. He said, “I must have had an angel on my shoulder.”

NASCAR champion Kyle Larson and three-time World of Outlaws title-holder Brad Sweet are starting a new dirt series they hope will elevate sprint car racing as a whole. The High Limit Sprint Car Series will have a 12-race schedule of midweek races in 2023, all with large purses. They expect it will attract the world’s top sprint car racers. Larson and Sweet will be among them.

Many top circuits typically hold their big-money shows on weekends. High Limit is designed not to conflict with these events. They will offer $23,000 for the winner at 10 events and $50,000 to win at two other marquee races. There will also be an end-of-year points fund worth $120,000. Larson and Sweet will be infusing approximately a total of $1.2 million into sprint car racing.

Twenty-year-old Logan Zarin drove the race of his life to defeat Matt Lux and garner a career-first Super Late Model win at Lernerville. His 94-year-old grandfather, grandmother, father and mother, who had a recent amputation, were all at the track.

“I didn’t think I was going to get it, but here I am. It means everything, you know,” Logan said as emotions hit him. “My mom has been going through a lot and this is her first night back so, I got it for my mom. I’m pretty ecstatic right now!”

Curtis J. Bish charged from 26th to win the $10,000 "Steel Valley Pro Stock Nationals" at Sharon Speedway defeating Chris Schneider.

Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle.