IndyCar: Ed Jones to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2018

By Asher Fair | Oct 25, 2017

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Ed Jones, driver of the #19 Boy Scouts of America Honda, prepares for practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

Ed Jones is headed to Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2018 IndyCar season after a solid rookie season driving for Dale Coyne Racing.

Ed Jones, 22, is set to replace Tony Kanaan at Chip Ganassi Racing in the #10 Honda in the 2018 IndyCar after driving for Dale Coyne Racing in the #19 Honda in the 2017 season, his rookie season.

Jones began driving in IndyCar this past season full-time for Dale Coyne Racing after winning the 2016 Indy Lights championship driving for Carlin. In the 2017 season, he recorded five top 10 finishes in 17 races en route to a 14th place finish in the drivers standings. His best finish was a 3rd place effort in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.

Here is what the 22-year-old had to say about the opportunity to team up with four-time IndyCar champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon driving for the team that has won six of the last 10 IndyCar championships.

Extremely honored to be joining @CGRTeams for 2018 driving the #10 @NTTDATAServices car. Can't wait to get going @GanassiChip ! #IndyCar
— Ed Jones (@Edjonesracing) October 25, 2017

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Dale Coyne, the owner of Dale Coyne Racing, the team for which Jones drove in his rookie season, was rather surprised at the fact that Jones would not be returning to the team for his second season in the sport, as he figured that Jones and the team had a “handshake deal” for him to be back in the cockpit of the #19 Honda in the 2018 season.

Here is what Coyne had to say about Jones’ new deal with Chip Ganassi Racing as Tony Kanaan’s replacement in the #10 Honda, according to RACER.

"“We don’t know who our new driver is going to be because we thought [Ed] was returning here, and I think most people did, so the phone has been pretty quiet. We left Sonoma with a handshake deal and just needed to finish out the contract, so this caught me by surprise. It’s a great opportunity for Ed. But it’s not how we left Sonoma. Time to start the [search] process over again.”"

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As Dale Coyne stated, it is not yet known who will replace Ed Jones in the #19 Honda in the 2018 IndyCar because not many people thought he would leave the team. What we do know, however, is that the ride will be highly coveted, as the team had great speed all of last season, and teaming up with four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais is something plenty of drivers would like to do to gain experience within the series.