IndyCar: Will Ed Jones drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in 2019?

By Asher Fair | Oct 17, 2018

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 15: Ed Jones, driver of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

With Jordan King not returning to Ed Carpenter Racing in the 2019 IndyCar season, will Ed Jones drive for the team in what would be his third season in the sport?

Former Formula E driver Felix Rosenqvist is set to replace Ed Jones behind the wheel of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in the 2019 IndyCar season, leaving the 2017 IndyCar Rookie of the Year without a ride for the time being.

There had been rumors that the 23-year-old Briton could end up driving for Carlin, which entered IndyCar for the first time this past season with two cars and are aiming to become a three-car team in the 2019 season.

However, with Carlin having confirmed that Max Chilton will be returning to the team next year and Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson having been rumored to drive alongside the 27-year-old Briton, it may be challenging for Jones to land a ride with the British team even if they field three cars, as Charlie Kimball could still return for his second season with the team.

But Jordan King, who made his IndyCar debut this past season driving the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet in the road and street course races (11 of the 17 races on the schedule), is not returning to Ed Carpenter Racing in the 2019 season like many people expected that he would.

Does this mean that there is chance that Jones will end up driving for Ed Carpenter Racing as the replacement for the 24-year-old Briton?

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Scuderia Corsa, the IMSA SportsCar Championship team that made their IndyCar debut in this year’s Indianapolis 500 via a partnership with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with veteran Oriol Servia driving the #64 Honda, have already committed to returning to the 2019 Indy 500, and their goal is to enter IndyCar as a full-time team.

According to RACER, there are rumors that Scuderia Corsa will form a partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing and that this partnership will be a part of Jones’s deal to replace King behind the wheel of the #20 Chevrolet in the road and street course races (12 of the 17 races on the 2019 schedule) and in a third Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet in the Indy 500 next year.

Ed Carpenter Racing team owner Ed Carpenter is set to drive the #20 Chevrolet in the oval races for the sixth consecutive season next year and Spencer Pigot is set to drive the #21 Chevrolet full-time for the second consecutive season next year.

Jones has spent two seasons competing in IndyCar after spending two seasons competing in Indy Lights driving for Carlin. The 2016 Indy Lights champion spent his rookie IndyCar season driving the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. He earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award with a 14th place finish in the championship standings that came after he racked up five top 10 finishes, including a third place finish in the Indy 500, in the season’s 17 races.

Jones ended up replacing 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan behind the wheel of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda this past season. In the season’s 17 races, he racked up eight top 10 finishes, including two more third place finishes, one in the race on the streets of Long Beach, California and another one in the second of two races on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. He finished in 13th in the championship standings.

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Will Ed Jones drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in the 2019 IndyCar season via a partnership with Scuderia Corsa? If not, who will Ed Carpenter Racing end up signing to replace Jordan King behind the wheel of the #20 Chevrolet for the road and street course races, and how will a partnership with Scuderia Corsa factor into the mix, if at all?