Jones finishes in 13th position at the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500

Ed Jones and the No. 63 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet entry closed the month of May by taking thirteen place at the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. 

Starting with a sixth-place finish at the IndyCar Grand Prix followed by a fourth-place starting position in the Indianapolis 500, May has proven to be a strong month for Scuderia Corsa and Ed Carpenter Racing.

For Jones, he is most thankful for the team support he had throughout May. “First of all, thank you to the team Scuderia Corsa and Ed Carpenter Racing,” Jones said. “It was great working with everyone this month. Fortunately, we had the good weather, so that was nice, up to today we weren’t sure about that. We struggled a bit with some issues at the start and restarts. That really hurts you a lot when those are really the biggest times to overtake. When you’re unable to do anything at that point, it sets you back, and it’s hard to recover. “But we were still running inside the top 10 or top eight. Then we had a problem at the second pit stop and that put us back. Once you get further back in the pack, it gets harder and harder to move forward. It’s a bit of a disappointing day from where we started. All and all, it was a good starting point for Scuderia and me. Hopefully, we will be back next year and be a little stronger.”

For Team Owner Giacomo Mattioli, Jones performance shined throughout May. “I am really proud of Ed Jones performance this month. He proved once again to be quick and consistent Today's race was a positive ending of an exciting month. I like to thank Ed Carpenter Racing for their professionalism, we are very pleased with our partnership and looking forward to the next race.”

The next race for Jones and Scuderia Corsa is at the Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit. The Dual in Detroit weekend features two races for the NTT IndyCar series Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2. Both Race One and Race Two will be broadcasted on NBC.

Jones Qualifies P4 For 2019 Indy 500

After qualifying for Sundays fast 9 shootout No. 63 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet driver Ed Jones achieved his best Indy 500 qualifying position to date. Jones will start the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 from position 4. 

Jones has matched his career-best NTT IndyCar Series starting position with today’s effort. He burst onto the scene with a third-place finish in his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2017. In addition to being the highest finishing rookie in the field, he went on to win the NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year title. Last year, Jones collected two more podium finishes with Chip Ganassi Racing before joining Ed Carpenter Racing with Scuderia Corsa. The 24-year-old is also coming off of his best finish of the year as he took the checkered flag 6th in last weekend’s INDYCAR Grand Prix.

The 2019 Fast Nine Shootout was delayed nearly four hours as rains moved through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway area. Instead of starting at 1:15 p.m. ET, the first Fast Nine challenger rolled out at 5:01 p.m. Drivers in the Fast Nine had to make one four-lap attempt, in order based on slowest to fastest from yesterday’s qualifying times.

Ed's four laps boasted speeds of 230.196, 229.505, 229.486 and 229.400 for a four-lap average of 229.646 mph. For his third Indianapolis 500, Jones will start from the inside of Row 2.

Ed commented: "It was a good day. I qualified 4th for the Indianapolis 500! It’s great for myself, Scuderia Corsa and Ed Carpenter Racing. Having three cars at the front is really positive. Of course, you always want to be on pole, but regardless it’s great to be up front. It will give us a great chance for the win next Sunday and that's what it’s all about!”

Jones Named as Road and Street Course Driver of No. 20, Will Compete in 2019 Indianapolis 500 in No. 64 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet

Ed Carpenter Racing and Scuderia Corsa will combine their efforts to field Ed Jones in 13 of 17 events on the 2019 IndyCar Series schedule, team officials announced today. The 2019 season will see Jones compete in all road and street course events in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet. Additionally, ECR and Scuderia Corsa will field the No. 64 for Jones in the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. Jones will race alongside team owner Ed Carpenter, oval driver of the No. 20, and Spencer Pigot, full-time driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet. 

“Joining Ed Carpenter Racing and Scuderia Corsa for the 2019 IndyCar Series is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of!” remarked Jones. “Both ECR and Scuderia Corsa have been successful in their respective series and I feel the combination of forces will be greatly beneficial. I’m extremely excited to get underway!”

Born of English descent in Dubai, Jones began his racing career in local karting competitions at age 9. He moved to single seaters in 2011, climbing up the European ranks. In 2015, Jones shifted his focus to North America and transitioned to Indy Lights. The next year, he won the championship and secured himself a place in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series field. His first two Indy car races resulted in Top 10 finishes, but it was May when he burst onto the scene with a third-place finish in his Indianapolis 500 debut. His year-long performance with Dale Coyne Racing earned him 2017 Rookie of the Year honors. Driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2018, Jones scored eight Top 10 finishes in the 13 races in which he was running at the finish. His sophomore season also featured two more podium celebrations with third place results at Long Beach and Detroit. The races which will make up the 23-year-old’s third season of Indy car competition will include the 12 road and street course events and the 2019 Indianapolis 500.

The No. 20 and the No. 64 entries for Jones are the result of a relationship between Ed Carpenter Racing and Scuderia Corsa. Scuderia Corsa’s partnership with ECR will be the next step in the Las Vegas-based team’s expansion into open-wheel racing. Scuderia Corsa was founded by Giacomo Mattioli and Art Zafiropoulo in 2012 with the primary purpose of supporting racing needs of Ferrari clients. The team entered GT competition in 2013 and tasted success immediately, winning the championship in their first season. Numerous championships followed across multiple North American series, as have podium finishes in sport car racing’s most prestigious events and achieving more than 100 sportscar victories in only six years - including wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 12 Hours of Sebring, 10 Hours of Petit Le Mans and 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. Scuderia Corsa made their initial foray into open-wheel racing at the 2018 Indianapolis 500, aligning with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to field Oriol Servià in the No 64. A bold strategy vaulted Servià to the front of the field, where he held the lead of the 500-mile race until only eight laps remained.

“As we expand our racing efforts in the IndyCar Series I couldn’t think of anyone better than Ed Jones and Ed Carpenter Racing. We are thrilled to join them!” stated Giacomo Mattioli, Scudeira Corsa Team Principal.

With his team’s newest driver solidified, Carpenter is more eager than ever to begin the 2019 season. “I am very excited to welcome Ed Jones to the ECR family, as well as Scuderia Corsa and Giacomo,” commented Carpenter. “I was very surprised when Ed became available at the end of the season. I look forward to working together to get ECR back in Victory Lane!"

Ed Carpenter Racing now retains two of the four most recent Indy Lights champions. Pigot’s 2015 Indy Lights championship was the precursor to Jones winning the same title in 2016. Pigot, from Orlando, Fla., has spent the majority of his Indy car career with Ed Carpenter Racing with only four of his 39 starts occurring outside of ECR. The 2019 season will be the 25-year-old’s fourth with ECR and second full-time in the No. 21. Team owner and Indianapolis native Carpenter, 37, will remain the oval driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet for his 17th year of Indy car competition. ECR will enter Carpenter, Pigot and Jones in the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 with Jones moving to the No. 64 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet.

Jones is looking forward to joining ECR as the Indianapolis-based team makes another run at their hometown race. “Ed Carpenter Racing has shown amazing speed the last few years at the Indianapolis 500. You can always expect the ECR cars to be at the front,” said Jones. “I am really grateful for this chance and will do everything I can to make sure we, as a team, make the most of it!”

Formed in late 2011, ECR entered the Verizon IndyCar Series full-time in 2012. The team has shown versatility by earning seven wins on each style of track the series competes on – street and road courses, short ovals and speedways. The team currently boasts 25 Top 5 finishes, 19 of which have been podiums. When Carpenter earned the coveted first starting spot for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, the only owner/driver in the Verizon IndyCar Series became just the 10th driver in the 102-year history of the race to earn three or more pole positions. ECR Chevrolets have started on the front row of the Indy 500 in five of the past six events. In the previous three years, ECR has two Top 3 results in the 500-mile race, including Carpenter’s runner-up finish this year.

Jones will be trackside at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today as Carpenter tests the No. 20 Chevrolet at the 2.5-mile oval. Ed Carpenter Racing is in the process of finalizing the remainder their off-season testing program, which will include Jones’s first time in the No. 20. The 2019 IndyCar Series season will open March 10 in the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida The 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 26, 2019.

• Chip Ganassi Racing ace enjoys strong end to second IndyCar campaign
• Dubai-born Brit races to eighth top ten finish of 2018 in California
• 23-year-old pulls off eye-catching overtakes in distinctive NTT DATA car

Ed Jones took the fight to some of the Verizon IndyCar Series’ biggest names in the 2018 finale at Sonoma Raceway last weekend (14-16 September), speeding to an eighth top ten finish of his sophomore season at the pinnacle of US open-wheel competition to cap a campaign that he describes as encouraging and frustrating in equal measure.
 
From the moment his No.10 NTT DATA car rolled off the truck and onto the track at Sonoma, the talented young Dubai, UAE-born ace was in the mix. He duly lapped inside the top seven amongst the 25 high-calibre contenders in both of Friday’s practice sessions – not far adrift of Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon, a previous pole-sitter and three-time winner around the 2.385-mile California road course, and the third-most successful driver in IndyCar history.
 
Qualifying, unfortunately, did not reward that potential, as a strategic gamble left Jones a disappointed and unrepresentative 14th on the starting grid for Sunday’s fiercely-disputed Grand Prix of Sonoma – a double points-paying contest to conclude the campaign.
 
Undeterred, an impressively assertive opening lap saw the 2016 Indy Lights Champion and 2017 IndyCar ‘Rookie of the Year’ immediately gain three spots to 11th, and courtesy of a strong and consistent turn-of-speed, Jones was up to eighth by the time the first round of pit-stops had shaken out – sandwiched in-between former title-winners Sébastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden.
 
After pulling off eye-catching overtaking moves on Graham Rahal and Newgarden – the latter the qualifying lap record-holder at the track – Jones rose as high as second behind the wheel of his 720bhp Dallara-Honda single-seater before making his final pit-stop with 20 laps remaining, following which he continued to push hard to take the chequered flag in tenth position. That secured the 23-year-old Brit 13th spot in the overall standings – an improvement on 2017.
 
As he reflects upon the race and the season as a whole, Jones can look back at a year of highs and lows, podiums and punctures – but above all, plenty learned and tremendous promise for the future.
 
“I really wanted to end 2018 on a high,” acknowledged the 2013 European F3 Open Champion, who is being coached by multiple IndyCar Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. “P6 in first practice was an encouraging way to begin, but qualifying was super frustrating. We had a car that was quick enough to progress – potentially even as far as the Firestone Fast Six – but instead of being up at the sharp end of the grid, we wound up well outside the top ten at a circuit where passing is notoriously tricky.
 
“The race itself went reasonably well. I got a good start and was able to make a few satisfying overtakes, and whilst we perhaps struggled a bit more with tyre degradation than some of our rivals, I feel we got the maximum out of the situation and it was good to sign off the season with another top ten.
 
“It’s been a difficult year on the whole. We’ve had some very good runs but we’ve also been extremely unlucky, with several things that didn’t go our way and six races where we haemorrhaged points due to reasons ranging from punctures to mechanical issues and a couple of crashes – one of them while I was running second close to the end. Without that, I’m fairly confident we would have finished inside the top eight in the drivers’ table, and when you consider that six of the top seven overall are former champions, that would have been a pretty decent outcome.
 
“On the positive side, I’ve learned so much from working alongside both Scott and Dario and the opportunity to draw upon their wealth of combined experience – and I’m a stronger driver for that. At the end of the day, Scott is the benchmark in IndyCar racing – as he has proven again this year – so to have out-qualified him five times in the same car and beaten him in a straight fight in Detroit was extremely rewarding, because not many people get the better of him.
 
“It takes time to adapt when you move to a new team, but I’m more comfortable at Ganassi now than I’ve ever been and really feel at home, and all-told, I’m happy with my performance – when I’ve had a trouble-free weekend, I think I’ve shown what I can do.
 
“Congratulations to Scott on winning the championship for a fifth time – that’s some achievement and thoroughly well-deserved after all the hard work that has gone into it. Thanks, finally, to NTT DATA for all the support this year. I’m very fortunate to have such a great brand and group of people behind-the-scenes that make it all feel like a family – not to mention, of course, the best-looking car in the field...”