Jagger Jones – Syndication Server

Jones nabs sixth VP Challenge win of the year at VIR

Jagger Jones carried his torrid form in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) class of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge to VIRginia International Raceway. The 22-year-old grandson of motorsports legend Parnelli Jones claimed his sixth win in seven starts in …

Jones’ No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 emerged unscathed from a mid-race bump that sent two Grand Sport X (GSX) competitors spinning. That near miss allowed P3 championship leader Steve Aghakhani (No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320) to briefly challenge Jones for the lead as they continued to navigate through lapped GSX traffic.

But Jones recovered from the scare and rebuilt the 1.5s buffer over Aghakhani that he enjoyed through the event’s first 20 minutes. Mindful of his comfortable championship lead, Aghakhani eased off in the closing laps and finished 4.55s behind Jones. Miguel Villagomez claimed third place and Bronze Cup driver honors in the No. 23 Escuderia ABRO Ligier.

“With the track temps, it was super-hot and super-slick and there were a lot of marbles,” Jones said. “I think we were all kind of sliding around a bit and that’s what made the race so exciting there.

“It’s a bit tricky with the traffic. Between Turn 3 and all the way up through the Esses, it’s really difficult to get by the GT4s. I was held up there, and then Steven and I almost went side-by-side for the lead through the Esses. It was hectic, but I’m just happy to bring the car home clean and get another win.”

Aghakhani leads the P3 standings by 560 points over Brian Thienes (No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier), who finished fifth on Saturday. Jones is 570 points off the lead, his deficit due to not competing in the opening two races of the championship at Daytona International Speedway.

Mars blasts off to GSX win in No. 59 KohR Ford Mustang

Luca Mars could have been disappointed when a brief full-course caution negated the 9s GSX lead he earned in the first 10 minutes of Saturday’s race.

Instead, Mars went back to work. He pushed the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 to a 45s margin over the GSX field, with the timing of the finish scoring him a full lap ahead of Mark Brummond (No. 25 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4), who earned GSX Bronze Cup driver honors.

Mars entered the weekend leading Jesse Lazare by 190 points in the GSX standings. The victory nearly tripled the 18-year-old Pennsylvanian’s points advantage, after Lazare crashed the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 in practice on Friday and did not start Saturday’s race.

Mars now has a 520-point advantage over Patrick Wilmot, who finished third Saturday in the No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW. Lazare is 540 points back.

“Today really helped us pull away in the championship lead,” Mars said. “The car was really fast. The KohR Motorsports guys had this Ford Mustang on rails. It was pretty loose out there with the sun, and the track got kind of greasy.

“So, I had to hold on there. But I was able to get that big lead from the beginning and just work on pulling away to try to get the win.”

Mars admitted that having a huge lead can in some ways be more difficult than being embroiled in a tight battle.

“I was kind of moseying off and I had to get my attention back,” he said. “Usually, you have people all around you and you have to focus in on getting by the person in front of you. When there’s nobody in front of you, you don’t slack off, but you don’t have the same kind of concentration.”

Sunday’s race starts at 8:40 a.m. ET with a livestream on Peacock in the U.S. as well as IMSA.tv and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.

RESULTS

Jagger Jones completes VP Challenge sweep at Mid-Ohio

For Jagger Jones, it appeared like a leisurely Sunday drive to the overall and LMP3 class victory in the back half of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. For Jesse Lazare in the GSX class, it was anything …

Jones (pictured above) started from the pole position in the 45-minute race, pulled away at the start and cruised to his second win in as many days, this time by 7.405 seconds. It was nearly identical to the 7.567-second margin of victory he had Saturday in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08.

Lazare (pictured below) pushed off from pole in his class as well Sunday, but the driver of the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 lost the GSX lead to Josh Green (No. 78 Thaze Competition Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) on the opening lap. Lazare proceeded to hound Green throughout the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course until leveraging lapped traffic and making the decisive pass to retake the lead with just under 13 minutes remaining. Green tried his best to overtake Lazare until the finish but fell 0.491s short.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

“I started on pole but I lost it right at the start, so I had to work out of everything I’ve got in my tools to figure out how to get around him,” Lazare said. “I realized I can get to his bumper but Josh isn’t making any mistakes. Without a mistake it would be really hard to get by, so finally – it wasn’t even his fault – but it was the lapped traffic that caused him to make a mistake. Took advantage of that, got the slingshot and I got it done.”

Luca Mars, winner of Saturday’s GSX race, finished third on Sunday in the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4. He leaves the weekend with the same points lead – 120 over Lazare – that he brought to Mid-Ohio as the VP Racing Challenge reached its midpoint.

“We’re halfway through the championship now,” Lazare said. “We’re a little bit back but we have a whole half to get it done, so I’m excited.”

Jones, meanwhile, completed the perfect race weekend, leading every lap in the pair of P3 races that both ran under green-flag conditions throughout. It marked the second consecutive weekend sweep for the grandson of Parnelli Jones and son of PJ Jones, following his pair of wins at St. Petersburg in March.

But since he missed the opening 2024 round at Daytona International Speedway, Jones sits fourth in the P3 standings, 510 points behind leader Steven Aghakhani, who finished second in both Mid-Ohio races in the No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320.

“It’s awesome to get two wins for the team and for myself, and yeah, make it four-for-four on the year,” Jones said. “All the boys worked so hard. They were here until about midnight last night, (back at) 6:30 this morning just making sure everything’s perfect, and I think that’s the difference. They give me such a good car and then it’s up to me to just stay smooth, navigate through traffic – which seemed to be a lot trickier today for whatever reason. I was getting a little unlucky when I was catching them but I just kept calm.”

Seth Lucas, making his VP Racing Challenge debut this weekend, rounded out the P3 podium by finishing third in the No. 61 Ave Motorsports Ligier.

The series returns to action July 12-14 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Jagger Jones honors legendary grandfather with VP Racing Challenge victory

Jagger Jones knew that there was only one way to honor his legendary grandfather. He did so by winning Saturday’s IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race in dominant fashion, much the way the great Parnelli Jones did so many times in a stellar …

In his first race since Parnelli Jones died Tuesday at age 90, Jagger Jones led from the drop of the green flag in the 45-minute sprint, taking the checkered flag in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 by 7.567s. The victory was the third straight for Jagger Jones in the VP Racing Challenge, following a weekend sweep at St. Petersburg in March.

[lawrence-related id=357848,357303]

“Obviously, he lived a great, great career and a long life — more than most of the people he raced against in his day and era,” Jagger said of his grandfather, regarded as one of the most versatile racers ever who won in Indy cars, stock cars, dirt cars, sports cars and off-road vehicles. “So many accomplishments and it’s cool to be able to follow in his footsteps but also create my own path. It’s unfortunate to lose him but he was riding with us with the stickers (on the car). It’s cool to win on the same week.”

Steven Aghakhani (No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320) finished second overall and in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) class, with Miguel Villagomez (No. 23 Escuderia ABRO Ligier) placing third. Aghakhani unofficially extended his points lead to 310 over Villagomez. With the win, Jones jumped from seventh to fourth in the P3 standings, but because he missed the opening doubleheader round at Daytona International Speedway, still trails Aghakhani by 440 points.

Fittingly, Jones’ triumph on Saturday came 54 years and a day after his grandfather won a Trans-Am race at the same Mid-Ohio circuit. It’s a fact the 21-year-old was unaware of but pleased to learn.

“I did not know that but I like it!” Jagger said. “And maybe tomorrow there will be another win for the Jones family here.”

Mars capitalizes to win third GSX race of season

Luca Mars started third Saturday in the GSX class for GT4 spec cars but benefitted from a coming together of the cars ahead and a drive-through penalty for the polesitter to cruise to the GSX victory in the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4. It’s also Mars’ third win of the season following his sweep of the opening round at Daytona International Speedway in January.

Polesitter Jesse Lazare (No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4) and second-place starter Josh Green (No. 78 Thaze Competition Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) made light contact with each other on the opening lap, allowing Mars to slip past Green into second place.

Soon after, Lazare was ordered to make the pit-lane drive-through for lining up in the wrong lane at the start. That opened the door for Mars to take the lead, which he took to the finish, 5.606s ahead of Green. Lazare charged from seventh in class after the penalty to snare the final podium position.

“It’s not a long race out there but it’s really hot, so it’s a battle of who can save the tires, who can stay in front the longest,” Mars said. “I got kind of lucky there at the start. Josh and Jesse had a little incident, let me come into second, then Jesse had to serve that penalty. From then on, I was just managing a gap. I was glad I was able to hold on.”

Race 2 of the Mid-Ohio weekend streams live on Peacock starting at 9:40 a.m. ET Sunday.

RESULTS