Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan PR

Ed Jones Qualifying Report for Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

Ed Jones Qualifying Summary:

  • Ed Jones qualified the No. 18 SealMaster – Dale Coyne w/ Vasser Sullivan Honda 14th for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on the 2.258-mile, 11-turn, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca permanent road course in Monterey, CA.
     
  • Jones went out in Group 2 in Round 1 of qualifying and was solidly in the top-six of the 14 drivers in his group until the last lap of the 10-minute session when three drivers posted their fast lap.
     
  • Jones’ fast time of 1:11.4692 put him seventh on the speed charts just missing the top-six and advancing to Round 2 of qualifying by a little over a 10th of a second.

Ed Jones Qualifying Quote:
“The SealMaster Honda has a lot more potential. We were expecting the conditions to be similar to yesterday, but it changed quite a bit and we struggled. A lot of the guys who had a fast practice lost some competitiveness in qualifying and we were in that boat. We can still move forward from where we qualified and we have an extra set of red tires for the race.”

Ed Jones Fast Facts:
This is Jones’ best starting position in two qualifying attempts at Laguna Seca, his previous high was 18th in 2019. In his Laguna Seca debut he finished 23rd.

The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey will be Jones’ 62nd career NTT INDYCAR SERIES start.

Jones is contesting his fourth NTT INDYCAR season and first with Dale Coyne w/ Vasser Sullivan.

In 61 career INDYCAR SERIES starts, Jones has earned 16 top-10 finishes including three podium performances, third at Indy in 2017, and third at Long Beach and Detroit Race 2 in 2018. Jones’ best qualifying position is fourth, Detroit Race 1 this year, the Indianapolis 500 in 2019 and the Detroit Race 2 in 2018.

Jones was the 2017 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year and was the top-rookie finisher in the 2017 Indianapolis 500, placing third.

Jones, 26, was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (of British citizenship) and currently resides in Miami, Florida.

Race Broadcast:
Round 15 of the 16-race 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will be the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. The race will be broadcast live, September 19, on NBC Network at 3:00 p.m. ET.