Ed Jones making NASCAR debut in COTA Trucks

Ed Jones might be known for his open-wheel and sports car endeavours, but he is set to add stock cars to his résumé. On Saturday, he announced he will run the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas on 25 March, driving the #20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young’s Motorsports.

“Excited to be racing in my first @NASCAR_Trucks race at @COTA in two weeks time with @youngsmtrsports,” tweeted Jones. “[N]ew experience and ready for the challenge”.

The 2016 champion of what is now Indy NXT and an ex-European formula ladder prospect, Jones raced in the NTT IndyCar Series from 2017 to 2021 for multiple teams including Dale Coyne Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Ed Carpenter Racing. While he enjoyed some success with three podiums, one of which came in his first Indianapolis 500, he never finished higher than thirteenth in points.

Since 2022, Jones has focused his attention on sports car racing in IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2022, he finished eighth in the WEC LMP2 standings driving for Jota Sport, scoring a third in his 24 Hours of Le Mans début. He has also run the 24 Hours of Daytona since 2021 with a best class finish of fifth in 2022.

British in nationality but born in Dubai, Jones will be the first driver from the United Arab Emirates to compete in a NASCAR national series, and one of just three born there to race in NASCAR in general after Aliyyah and Yasmeen Koloc in the Whelen Euro Series.

Young’s #20 serves as a multi-driver truck alongside the #02 of Kris Wright and #12 of Spencer Boyd. Derek Kraus finished eighteenth in the #20 at Daytona while Matt Mills placed twenty-sixth at Las Vegas. The truck won the pole for the 2022 COTA race with Sheldon Creed, though he suffered an early retirement due to mechanical trouble.