Foyt signs P.J. Jones to drive at the Glen.

A.J. Foyt has hired P.J. Jones to drive the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac in the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen NASCAR Winston Cup race this weekend at Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Jones, the son of 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones, has raced at the 2.45-mile road course in upstate New York in both the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series and holds the overall track record in the IMSA GTP sports cars.

"Mike Wallace had told me he wasn't comfortable on the road courses and suggested we look for someone who has more experience on road courses" Foyt said. "P.J. has run there in sports cars, Busch and Winston Cup cars so I hired him for that race. I am hoping that we can get some momentum going with a good finish there."

"It's a one-off for A.J.'s team," Jones said. "I was at the Glen last year as a driver coach for Jimmie Johnson in the Busch Series and I ran for Chip Ganassi the year before that in Winston Cup. It is much easier for a driver like myself to fill-in for a road course event than to try to run like we did at the Brickyard last weekend. The NASCAR drivers only run two roadcourse races a year so it's not as difficult to stay current on the set-ups. I believe we'll have a good weekend in the Conseco Pontiac at Watkins Glen."

Jones has three starts at Watkins Glen in Winston Cup cars with his best finish of ninth with the Melling team in 1993. His last Winston Cup start at the Glen was in 2000 driving for Chip Ganassi in the No. 01 BellSouth Chevrolet; Jones started 29th and finished 21st.

Jones had tried to qualify a second A.J. Foyt Racing entry in the Brickyard 400 last weekend but Foyt admitted his last minute decision to enter the second car with Jones as the driver was necessary to avoid a heavy fine and reduction in practice time for his primary entry, the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac. NASCAR officials threatened Foyt with the penalties because he did not enter the second car after testing with it in late July.

"At the time we tested with Mike Wallace, I fully intended to run Mike in a second car at Indy but with Stacy Compton's release, it wasn't necessary," Foyt explained. "Then NASCAR called the race shop last Wednesday to tell us they were going to fine us and cut our practice time in half. We couldn't afford to lose the practice time so I had to enter the No. 50 car and P.J. was in town, so he helped me out. Overall, it was a very frustrating weekend for the whole team."

Jones, whose wife Jolaina gave birth to the couple's first son Parnell Jagger on July 29th, will test the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac at Virginia International Raceway's road course today [Tuesday] in preparation for this weekend's event.