IndyCar: Ed Jones breaks bone in hand in St. Petersburg crash

Ed Jones broke a bone in his hand as a result of a wreck that took place in the 2019 IndyCar season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Compared to last year when there were a total of eight caution flag periods for a total of 25 laps in the IndyCar season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, this year’s race at the track was somewhat tame.

This race featured only two caution flag periods for 11 laps, and the final 77 of the race’s 110 laps were run under green flag conditions. In addition, one of these two caution flag periods took place as a result of a blown engine as opposed to a crash.

But the one caution flag period that did take place as a result of a crash took place as a result of a fairly heavy crash involving Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Jones and A.J. Foyt Enterprises Matheus Leist.

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On lap 26 of the 110-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jones clipped the inside of the turn nine concrete wall in his #20 Chevrolet, sending him nearly straight into the turn’s outside concrete wall and ending his race.

Several drivers, most notably Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach, took evasive action to avoid Jones’s stationary car, but Leist simply could not react in time. The back of his #4 Chevrolet made contact with the back of Jones’s car, ending his race as well.

Here is a video of this wreck.

Here is what Jones had to say about the wreck after getting out of his car, according to Motorsport.

"“We had to take risks to get forward quickly. I made it from 16th to ninth, then I just tried to get a run on [James] Hinchcliffe and unfortunately I clipped the inside wall in Turn 9 and that was it. I’m sorry for the team, they did great work and they deserved a better result.”"

After the race ended, it was confirmed by IndyCar medical director Dr. Geoffrey Billows that Jones suffered a “small non-displaced fracture of his distal 4th metacarpal”.

Jones is Ed Carpenter Racing’s full-time driver in the road and street course races for the 2019 season, so he is set to compete in the next race on the schedule, the IndyCar Classic, at Circuit of the Americas, a 20-turn, 3.41-mile (5.488-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Austin, Texas.

This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 24. Jones is expected to be able to compete in this race with proper splinting assuming that his recovery goes as planned, which we hope and pray ends up being the case.

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The IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas, which is the second of 17 races on the 2019 schedule, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 24, so be sure not to miss it.