Jones will be paying homage to his father

PJ Jones has been named the driver of the Team Leader Racing car #97 entry for the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

Jones, the 38-year old son of 1963 Indy winner Parnelli Jones, will drive a bright orange car painted to pay homage to his father's 1967 STP entry which was nicknamed 'Silent Sam.'

Powered by a Pratt and Whitney turbine engine, the revolutionary 1967 entry nearly won the 500 before a bearing failed with just four laps remaining. The elder Jones was credited with just a sixth place finish after leading 171 laps in the 200 lap event.

His son's 2007 Team Leader entry is owned by Indianapolis 500 veteran Kent Baker, with Chris Paulsen of C&R Racing managing the team.

Team Leader has hired Bruce Ashmore to engineer their Dallara chassis. Ashmore has worked in various open wheel series for years, and has designed cars for Lola and Reynard, along with development work for teams including Forsythe Racing. At the 2006 Indy 500, Ashmore was brought in at the last minute to serve as an advisor to AJ Foyt Racing.

This should be Jones strongest Indy 500 ride since 2002 when he was called on to fill in for the injured Jaques Lazier at Team Menard. Unfortunately, he crashed in practice and fractured a vertebra – keeping him from qualifying for the event.

In 2004 and 2006, Jones drove last-minute entries for the Curb Records team, finishing 28th and 19th, respectively.

ORS / CAPSIS International