Dirt
Bird’s the Word
‘B
y the time the cops showed up
they said it was probably already
chopped up. And it was only gone
two hours. I feel like the car is already destroyed. I figure the trailer will show up
because it’s a special order trailer. The truck is a
dime a dozen. It’s probably in Mexico.”
David “Bird” Jones was just 16 years old when
he earned his first $10,000 paycheck at a drag
race. And although he continued a fairly illustrious career in bracket racing, he’s only risen to
prominence in the last two years as he’s made
the switch to street and grudge racing. His name
spread like wildfire when he was called out by
a host of the Street Outlaws characters in 2015,
successfully beating them all. Unfortunately, his
name went viral again in May of 2016 when his
truck, trailer and ‘67 Chevrolet Camaro were stolen from a hotel parking lot in Forest Hill, Texas.
“I thought I was in the nice part of town, but I
was about five miles from there,” Jones told. He
pieced together details of the theft from hotel
cameras. “I got to the hotel at 12:30. It was gone
at 2:36. Mitch Clary from Overkill Motorsports
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Facetimed me at five o’clock in the morning. I
looked out the window and it was gone. I ran
to the front desk, thinking they had it towed. I
don’t think I know personally anybody smart
enough to steal a truck that quick. It’s somebody
that either followed me or was watching that
location. There was no glass on the ground so
they had to be able to get in the truck and get it
started within three minutes. Obviously it’s no
crack addict because nobody’s snitched. I figured
for 20 grand somebody would roll,” Jones said
with a few extra expletives.
The “Bird’s the Word” Camaro had already
had a rough go of it the last few months. Jones
had wrecked it testing at a bracket race earlier in
March. He and a team at TNT front halved the car
and put a new roof on it in three and half weeks,
just in time for American Outlaws Live. In test
runs there Bird had an intense nitrous backfire
that shot flames the length of the car. He did,
however, make a couple of good passes, beating
Monza from Street Outlaws in round one before
losing to eventual winner, Birdman, in round two.
It was just days later when the car was stolen.
“I made the best pass I’d ever made in the car.
I turned it all the way up. It was either gonna
backfire again or haul ass. And it hauled ass, but
Birdman - I mean, he’s on a whole different level.
But that’s who sold me the car I got now, so it all
worked out.”
With no car and little hope of finding it, Jones
sought every option to get ready for filming of
Street Outlaws: New Orleans in early June. He
has a Pro Mod style grudge car he’s building, but
Issue 110
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By Sadie Floyd