Mr. Versatile

Defending USAC Mopar® Midget National champion and Team Mopar driver Jerry Coons Jr. is threatening to double up in 2008 with titles in both the USAC Mopar Midget National Championship and USAC National Sprint Car Series.

Words: Darren Jacobs

Fresh off his second straight USAC Mopar® Midget National championship, Mopar-powered driver Jerry Coons Jr. has his eyes on the title prize once again. The versatile USAC veteran sat a close second in the USAC National Sprint Car standings following the conclusion of the USAC “Indiana Sprint Week” in July and still remained a threat to three-peat as the Mopar Midget National champ.

Coons jumped to second in the USAC Sprint standings at press time on the strength of two back-to-back wins, at Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind., on July 17 and the following night with a nail-biter win at Bloomington Speedway. The Bloomington visit to the winner’s circle was the third USAC Sprint car victory of the season for the Tucson, Ariz. native.

It’s been a long, hard road for Coons on his path to two full-time berths in USAC’s most sought after rides: The No. 11 Wilke-Pak Racing USAC Midget car fielded by the renowned Wilke family (with a Mopar power plant supplied by Gary Stanton Racing), and the No. 69 Sprint car gridded by Hoffman Auto Racing (with a Gaerte Engines Mopar power plant), one of the most successful dynasties in USAC history.

The first obstacle Coons overcame was geographic. It wasn’t easy for young Jerry, as a racer from out West in Arizona, to break into the ranks of circle track racers, as opposed to aspiring drivers raised in the usual USAC breeding grounds of the Midwest.

“It was a battle, but I stuck with it,” said Coons of his early struggles to break into the sport. “It was a matter of making some contacts. I had to stick it out for a couple of years until it got better, which it did.”

Coons then began to make a name for himself. He struck for his first USAC National feature victory back in 1996 at the Belleville High Banks in Kansas, but soon stumbled upon another barrier common to many up-and-coming racers: the fight to find a full-time ride.

Aside from one or two years in the late 1990s, Coons never experienced the luxury of a full-time ride in which to make a charge at a USAC National title. His most frustrating season came in 2005, when Coons filled in part-time for USAC Midget Wilke-Pak driver Tracy Hines when Hines was away competing in other racing series. The Wilke-Pak team won the USAC Midget car owner’s championship, but Coons, lacking a pavement midget ride, was unable to compete in critical pavement races, dashing his hopes for a breakout championship.

“I was so disappointed that year,” recalled Coons. “I finished second to Josh Wise [a Team Mopar driver at the time], but I missed four races. To be that close to a title and to come up short because you didn’t have a ride, it just eats at you.”

Coons’ disappointment soon turned to delight. Impressed by his 2005 performance, Wilke-Pak signed him to assume the seat of the team’s Mopar-fueled No. 11 Midget car in 2006. The hungry driver, with the sting of the previous year still fresh, powered his way to three USAC Midget wins and, most importantly, the 2006 USAC Midget championship—his first career USAC National title.

“It was something I really never dreamed of,” said Coons. “Growing up racing on the West Coast, I never dreamed that I would be a USAC Midget champion. To finally be able to do it in 2006, and get that full-time ride, was such a relief.”

Success didn’t dull Coons’ edge. He repeated as USAC Midget champion in 2007, capturing five USAC Midget wins on the season, including a sweep of the prestigious Mopar Belleville Midget Nationals. Although he has yet to notch a 2008 USAC Midget win, at press time the defending champ was sixth in the USAC Mopar Midget National Championship, within striking distance of a third title.

Perhaps most significant is Coons’ current second place USAC Sprint standing. It’s a milestone in the career of a man who once searched fruitlessly for a full-time ride—now, he has not one but two full-time Mopar-powered berths, and a realistic shot at both USAC Midget and Sprint titles in the same year.

“It’s amazing. Just three years ago, I was worrying about whether or not I was going to even have a ride,” said Coons. “Now, I’m driving full-time with two of the most respected teams in USAC, Wilke-Pak Racing and Hoffman Auto Racing. It’s a privilege to be a part of these two teams. They have the hard part. They put so much time into getting these cars ready to go.

“I think going through what I had to go through to get to this point makes me appreciate where I’m at even more,” added Coons. “Nothing really came easy for me. The struggles I had to go through made me more focused as a driver. My goals haven’t changed. All I want to do is win championships.”