{"id":89781,"date":"2023-09-27T21:18:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T21:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/jay-cox-to-step-back-from-pro-nitrous-driving-after-pdra-world-finals\/"},"modified":"2023-09-27T21:18:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T21:18:25","slug":"jay-cox-to-step-back-from-pro-nitrous-driving-after-pdra-world-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/jay-cox-to-step-back-from-pro-nitrous-driving-after-pdra-world-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Cox to Step Back From Pro Nitrous Driving After PDRA World Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since making the move up to PDRA\u2019s co-headlining Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous category in 2015, Jay Cox has been a perennial championship contender with his line of bright orange \u201969 Camaros known as \u201cthe Pumpkin.\u201d With 10 PDRA national event wins, he\u2019s tied for third on the PDRA Pro Nitrous all-time win list. He also recently tied the class E.T. record<\/a> on his way to a runner-up finish at the PDRA Red Line Oil Carolina Nationals at Darlington Dragway.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s also the father of two young children, son Levi and daughter Avery, and in an effort to spend more time with them, the Smithfield, North Carolina-based driver and tuner has decided to step away from driving at the end of the 2023 PDRA season. His car, engines, transmissions, and other equipment will be available after the Proline Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger, Oct. 19-22, at Virginia Motorsports Park. He\u2019ll remain involved in the class, though, as the tuner for teammate and sponsor Marcus Butner, who earned his first Pro Nitrous win earlier this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to call it quitting, man, because I\u2019ve never quit nothing in my life, but I guess you could say stepping away,\u201d said Cox, a former professional baseball player. \u201cI got to see the other side of it, the tuning side of it, and I really enjoy that. I really enjoy the racing. I love racing. I love racing like I love baseball, but God gave me two really good youngins and I love spending time with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cox is taking a step back to spend more time with his family, including wife Megan, son Levi, and daughter Avery. (Tara Bowker photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Over the past several seasons, Cox has ramped up his program to keep up with the Pro Nitrous class. He works a time-intensive job running the family towing company, then spends his weeknights in the race car shop. It\u2019s not uncommon to find him at nearby GALOT Motorsports Park testing on a random Tuesday or on off weekends or during the offseason. Pro Nitrous is a max-effort class, and that doesn\u2019t align with Cox\u2019s goals as a father.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough because I love it so much, but at the end of the day, I love my kids more,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI only get one shot at this thing called being a father. I had the best father ever growing up, my dad [Lloyd], and I want to be like him. He was always there for me. Never missed a ball game. Never missed nothing. And I don\u2019t want to miss nothing, man. I love racing, I love what it\u2019s done, I love the people, the fans, the support, but man, I just really want to have more time with my kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne\u2019s about to be seven, one\u2019s about to be nine, and the way I look at it, I\u2019ve already spent half the time I\u2019m going to truly, genuinely get with them at my house,\u201d Cox continued. \u201cWhen they turn 18, they go to college, they come home from college, they get a job and they start a family, then I don\u2019t see them every day. That time\u2019s just flown by, man. I just want more time with them. If I had to choose being a great race car driver or being a great dad, I\u2019d choose dad every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Luke Nieuwhof photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cox asserts that he\u2019s not taking this step back due to a lack of funding or support. To the contrary, the Butner family has pledged whatever Cox needs to continue racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re probably the best people I\u2019ve ever known when it comes to racing and someone standing behind you financially,\u201d Cox said. \u201cThey stood behind me at my worst. They stood behind me at my best. They\u2019ve never questioned nothing. They don\u2019t go out and run their mouth and brag and boast. They just say, \u2018Hey man, just tell me what you need and we\u2019ll make it happen.\u2019 If I had to choose somebody to say, \u2018These are the last people I\u2019m going to race with and I\u2019m done,\u2019 I couldn\u2019t pick better people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox and Butner have raced as teammates for the past couple seasons, though Butner\u2019s team houses and maintains their car while Cox tunes it. That arrangement will continue in 2024, and Cox said there\u2019s likely an opportunity to continue operating as a two-car team if someone bought his car and wanted to team up with Butner.<\/p>\n

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Tara Bowker photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI would like to have a two-car deal,\u201d said Cox, who tuned Butner to his first Pro Nitrous win<\/a> at the PDRA North vs. South Shootout at Maryland in June. \u201cI think it\u2019s very beneficial in the class we run at and where we run at now. You can make one car run, no problem, but if you have a problem with one, it\u2019s easy to find the problem when you\u2019re running two cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Marcus I\u2019d do a two-car deal with him, but I\u2019m not going to leave him no matter what,\u201d Cox added. \u201cI\u2019d be with him to the end, man, on whatever he wants to do. So I don\u2019t know how else to put it, but if somebody wants to run Pro Nitrous and they want to run at the top, I\u2019m sure Marcus would do a two-car deal with them. I don\u2019t have the time to maintain it, service it, keep it up, and handle all that side of it. But going to the racetrack for eight weekends out of the year, ain\u2019t nothing to that for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the Butners, Cox noted the support he\u2019s received over the years from partners like his current engine builder, Pat Musi, who Cox has been working with this year on Lizzy Musi\u2019s Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings<\/em> entry as a tuner.<\/p>\n

\u201cPat knew where I was headed, and Pat stuck with me,\u201d Cox said. \u201cAnything I\u2019ve needed, he\u2019s made sure I got it. I\u2019d really like to thank Pat for giving me some badass engines.\u201d<\/p>\n

A constant in Cox\u2019s operation has been RJ Race Cars, who\u2019ve built multiple iterations of \u201cthe Pumpkin\u201d for Cox.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to thank Rickie and Rick Jones for sticking with me,\u201d Cox said. \u201cThey have been with me and gave me, in my opinion, one of the best race cars for 15 years. Anything they\u2019ve built has been great. I\u2019d really like to thank them for all they\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox has also received support from Smithfield Collision, a local body shop, for the last several seasons. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVance Wade, a longtime friend and longtime sponsor, has always had my back and said if I wanted to come back, he would always be there,\u201d Cox said. \u201cHe really loves racing, and I can\u2019t thank him enough for the last six years he\u2019s been with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox\u2019s biggest partner in racing, though, has been his father, Lloyd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of good people behind me, but it\u2019s probably number one, my dad,\u201d Cox said. \u201cMy dad has sacrificed a lot. He loves racing, but my dad sacrificed a lot for us to be able to go racing, and I couldn\u2019t have done it without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Luke Nieuwhof photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Before the season-ending World Finals, Cox will have one more chance to get another win at his home track, GALOT Motorsports Park, at DragWars presented by ProFab on Oct. 5-7. He\u2019s on the cusp of his first win of the season after qualifying No. 1 and reaching the final round two weeks ago at Darlington.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll probably be pretty emotional,\u201d Cox said of his last hometown appearance as a driver. \u201cThe very last race that was ever raced at Benson when it was still called Dunn-Benson Drag Strip, I won that race. Then the very first race that was ever raced there when they called it GALOT, I won that race. That racetrack has always been really, really good to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I have had a very, very, very fast car all year. I just hadn\u2019t been able to figure out how to get a win,\u201d Cox continued. \u201cIt would be very, very special to me if I could go out with a win at GALOT. In all seriousness, it\u2019ll probably be the last race that I\u2019ll ever run at GALOT. I ran really good in Darlington and I hope I can go down there and run really good in front of my home people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Jay Cox to Step Back From Pro Nitrous Driving After PDRA World Finals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since making the move up to PDRA\u2019s co-headlining Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous category in 2015, Jay Cox has been a perennial championship contender with his line of bright orange \u201969 Camaros known as \u201cthe Pumpkin.\u201d With 10 PDRA national event wins, he\u2019s tied for third on the PDRA Pro Nitrous all-time win list. He also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}