NASCAR driver penalized in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s CARS Tours at Langley Speedway

NASCAR driver Conner Jones was penalized for a post-race scuffle in the zMAX CARS Tour, a stock racing series co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jones was fined $500 and placed on probation for the rest of the 2025 season.

Jones is a part-time Craftsman Truck Series driver for Niece Motorsports. He also made headlines in the NASCAR community last year for deliberately wrecking Matt Mills, which resulted in a one-race suspension. Mills, meanwhile, had to be hospitalized due to his crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

This time, the 19-year-old is under fire for starting a scuffle with Parker Eatmon at Langley Speedway. He violated the CARS Tour General Rules and Procedure Rule Book, including 6.7.1 (performing actions detrimental to the series) and 6.7.13 (endangering other competitors).

NASCAR Insider Toby Christie shared the series' update on the post-race incident during the Visit Hampton 125 last Saturday (May 31).

“Part-time NASCAR Truck Series driver Conner Jones has been penalized for a scuffle in the @CARSTour last weekend. Jones has been fined $500 and placed on probation for the remainder of the season,” Christie wrote.

While Conner Jones is facing a probation in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s racing series, the youngster is scheduled to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Niece Motorsports. He kicked off his part-time campaign this year at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he finished 27th in the #44 Chevrolet Silverado.

However, Jones' full schedule has yet to be revealed. He was a substitute after the originally announced full-time driver, Christian Rose, had sponsorship issues.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s reunion with iconic sponsor was tainted by Conner Jones' brawl

In November 2024, Dale Earnhardt Jr. reunited with Budweiser, his NASCAR sponsor in the 2000s, in the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motors Speedway. However, Conner Jones stole the show after getting into a physical altercation with Mason Diaz under a red flag.

Speaking about the incident, Mason Diaz said he unintentionally moved Conner Jones on the racetrack. As a sign that it wasn't intentional, Diaz didn't pass him, but Jones retaliated and eventually caused a multi-car crash.

That wasn't the only issue Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to deal with, as his #8 Budweiser Chevrolet later encountered a fuel pump failure. The 26-time NASCAR Cup race winner plowed through the field from last to second before exiting the race early.

Nevertheless, the 50-year-old Kannapolis native had fun in what was supposed to be an iconic reunion with his sponsor.

“To be able to drive through the field like that was probably a lot of fun for folks to watch. And, you know, when you put something like this together, it's a ton of pressure... When you get here and you're at the racetrack, you're like, holy shit, there's a lot of people here that are really excited about this, and now we've got to go out there and do something cool,” he said via Frontstretch Grassroots. [07:56]

Budweiser was Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsor during his racing days at his late father's team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI). The sponsorship ended after he moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. He drove the #88 Chevrolet before retiring from full-time competition in 2017.