October 19, 1965
John Jones
In 1982 John won the fiercely competitive Mid-Canada Series, then switched to a F2000 car. In 1983 he started racing in the Canadian Formula Ford 2000 series for 2 litre cars and left his mark that year, convincingly capturing the Walter Wolf and Canadian Tire championships in both '83 and '84.
In 1985 Jones would move to the International Motor Sports Association, driving a Mustang for legendary car owner Jack Roush, partially sponsored by Ford. Jones captured the GTO class in 1985, and became the youngest champion in North America road racing history. A highlight of that season, driving with Wally Dallenbach Jr and Doc Bundy, Jones won the GTO class at the 24 Hours of Daytona, in Florida. In recognition of his season in 1985 John Jones was named to the, American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association’s “All American Team” that included, team mate Wally Dallenbach, and racing legends Al Unser, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Steve Kinser.
In 1986 Jones would compete in the F-3000 series in Europe in 1986, improving through the season to become one of the main contenders in the series. Jones had top finishes of 6th & 7th place and finished 21st in points in the eleven race series, as a rookie driving a Ford/Cosworth powered March for Onyx Racing.
John returned to F-3000 again in 1987 driving a Ford/Cosworth powered Lola for Lola Motorsports. He posted a season high second place finish in June at Pau in France and with his consistently high qualifying positions drew the attention from several Formula One teams. Jones finished the 1987 season 11th in points finishing in the top ten in all but three of the eleven races.
In 1988 John would move on to the CART Indy Car series in the Frank Arciero owned March 88-C. John would have eleven top 10 finishes, 4 times finishing in seventh place to take him to a season ending 11th position in the points and CART Indy Car Series "Rookie of the Year".
Jones would switch to the Protofab team in 1989 with major sponsorship coming from Labatts and he would qualify for the Indy 500, finishing 11th after a 25th place start.
In 1990 Jones returned to F-3000 driving the Mugen/Honda powered Lola for Paul Stewart Racing. John started the season with 3rd & 4th place finishes, but with mechanical failures in five of the eleven races Jones finished twelfth for the season, beating future Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill.
John raced in the Indy cars for parts of the 1991 & 92 seasons, and raced six races in the PPG / Firestone Indy Lights in 1997. Through the early 1990’s Jones also raced in Sports cars and Prototypes through out North America and the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1995.
John now lives in Denver, Colorado. Spends a lot of time as a racing driver instructor. John's brother Hunter Jones was also an active driver in the CART Indy Lights championship.
(Photo; sprintacular.blogspot.com)
Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The 1988 CART Champ Car "Rookie of the Year", John started ice racing at home in Thunder Bay, along side his Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame dad Tom in the early 1980's. In 1982 John won the fiercely competitive Mid-Canada Series, then switched to a F2000 car. In 1983 he started racing in the Canadian Formula Ford 2000 series for 2 litre cars and left his mark that year, convincingly capturing the Walter Wolf and Canadian Tire championships in both '83 and '84.
In 1985 Jones would move to the International Motor Sports Association, driving a Mustang for legendary car owner Jack Roush, partially sponsored by Ford. Jones captured the GTO class in 1985, and became the youngest champion in North America road racing history. A highlight of that season, driving with Wally Dallenbach Jr and Doc Bundy, Jones won the GTO class at the 24 Hours of Daytona, in Florida. In recognition of his season in 1985 John Jones was named to the, American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association’s “All American Team” that included, team mate Wally Dallenbach, and racing legends Al Unser, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Steve Kinser.
In 1986 Jones would compete in the F-3000 series in Europe in 1986, improving through the season to become one of the main contenders in the series. Jones had top finishes of 6th & 7th place and finished 21st in points in the eleven race series, as a rookie driving a Ford/Cosworth powered March for Onyx Racing.
John returned to F-3000 again in 1987 driving a Ford/Cosworth powered Lola for Lola Motorsports. He posted a season high second place finish in June at Pau in France and with his consistently high qualifying positions drew the attention from several Formula One teams. Jones finished the 1987 season 11th in points finishing in the top ten in all but three of the eleven races.
In 1988 John would move on to the CART Indy Car series in the Frank Arciero owned March 88-C. John would have eleven top 10 finishes, 4 times finishing in seventh place to take him to a season ending 11th position in the points and CART Indy Car Series "Rookie of the Year".
Jones would switch to the Protofab team in 1989 with major sponsorship coming from Labatts and he would qualify for the Indy 500, finishing 11th after a 25th place start.
In 1990 Jones returned to F-3000 driving the Mugen/Honda powered Lola for Paul Stewart Racing. John started the season with 3rd & 4th place finishes, but with mechanical failures in five of the eleven races Jones finished twelfth for the season, beating future Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill.
John raced in the Indy cars for parts of the 1991 & 92 seasons, and raced six races in the PPG / Firestone Indy Lights in 1997. Through the early 1990’s Jones also raced in Sports cars and Prototypes through out North America and the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1995.
John now lives in Denver, Colorado. Spends a lot of time as a racing driver instructor. John's brother Hunter Jones was also an active driver in the CART Indy Lights championship.
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