KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES’S

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Being in and around tractor pulling from an early age, it was almost inevitable that David would find his way into the sport: David’s family were heavily involved both in competing and growing the sport along with John Bowen-Jones, a family friend and tractor dealer at the time. Wherever the Jones team went David followed, earning the nickname ‘Little Smoky’, which, as far as some are concerned, is a name that’s never left him.

“I must have been around 5 or 6 when we first started racing. As I got older, I became very interested in the engineering side of things. I’d get back from school and after tea would be found in the workshop, generally asking the same question: ‘Why are you doing that?’. As soon as I was legally able to drive a tractor I was helping out on the farm. I must have been 17 when I first competed in a tractor pulling event. It was in Bristol and if I remember correctly, I won my class on the day driving ‘Smoky Jones II’.”

Dream becomes reality
Between the late 1970’s to the mid 1990’s, the name of Jones was synonymous with UK and European tractor pulling events. However, expansion of the family’s farming business meant that for over ten years the sport had to do without the Jones’s. A trip to the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam during 2003 as a spectator was to prove the catalyst in propelling David back into the sport…

“I’d reached a point where my role on the farm had become more managerial. I started to think about the pulling tractor that I would like to build. A team from America had been invited to Rotterdam, they raced their ‘Slow Ride’ tractor, a methanol component machine. I was blown away by it! Built by Terry Blackbourn, one of America’s best-known drivers, it had three turbo-chargers, around 3,000 horsepower and was built like a freight train.

“In the 10 years since we’d last raced, the rules had changed allowing for larger, more powerful machines. Willem Veldhuizen from Holland built the first methanol-fueled tractor in Europe, then everyone wanted one, myself included. I got in touch with a fellow competitor Peter Clarke of Red Alert who put me in touch with Ron Bultemeier. Ron was a big name in the sport Stateside, we got on well from the outset and before I knew it, I was in Ron’s workshop in Indiana planning a tractor build.

“It was a big step for us. We were used to working with standard tractor components and diesel engines. All of a sudden, we’re building a tractor with five times the horsepower and burning around 25 litres of methanol in an 8 second pass. There’s no margin for error, safety is paramount. We were supplied with a rule book written in America and developed for European racing. If we didn’t follow this to the letter, we wouldn’t be considered.

“I bought the chassis rails, rear axle and the major components from Bultemeier Motorsports. The tractor hood was supplied by Case IH and support was received from Vaderstad. In total, the build took around two years. There were 2 of us on the build, plus a CNC machinist and a local blacksmith, all working under the close guidance of Ron Bultemeier, who was only a phone call away. I wanted the very best tractor which would last for years.

“This created all manner of challenges; we were making components that none of us had prior experience of producing. We found ourselves making an oil sump in stainless steel and building three turbo chargers which we then had to somehow join together. We were fitting the same type of fuel pumps found on American drag racing cars. It was scary stuff, but I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.

“The first event we took the tractor to was a guest invitation at Vitesse Arnhem’s Football Stadium in Holland. That was pretty nerve-wracking because we’d only got it running a couple of weeks beforehand. However, we needn’t have worried, ‘Just Smoky’ performed really well.”

On the podium
Beneath David’s modest, quietly spoken demeanour lies a fiercely competitive streak, allied to a pathological eye for detail. These are the traits of winners. The collection of silverware and accolades garnered by David at the wheel of ‘Just Smoky’ is testament to his drive for excellence at every turn. Typically, David likes to downplay his successes to date…

“Well, our success started with Dad and Uncle Bill. They did really well with ‘Smoky Joe’ in Britain and across Europe. Their continued success and my first wins with ‘Smoky Jones II’ still mean a lot to me. I think I’ve won 10 British Super Stock Championships with ‘Just Smoky’. The Eurocup wins were very special, when I got amongst the best in Europe in the Super Stock category. Then you’re knocking on the door of the Eurocup Series, on the podium most weeks and mixing with the top guys. That was very special.

“If I had to choose one win it would be my victory at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam in 2007. I was invited to compete against the best of Europe. We were two years into running ‘Just Smoky’ and in a good place competitively. It just so happened to be my 20th year of attending the event. News got around and suddenly 40 people were travelling to watch me, including my mentor, Ron Bultemeier. So, no pressure then.

“I really wanted to win and the tractor was running like a dream. My first qualifying pass was smooth and I booked my place in the final with ease. We all got pretty excited. However, I had to reproduce the same standards in the final. We came back out for the final run; I took a deep breath and in front of 40 British followers and a packed stadium took first place and the trophy. I think we sank a ‘few’ that night.”