By Josh Farmer

INDIANAPOLIS – Ed Jones rose against the odds to claim a third place in the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, and Ed Jones go three-wide down the frontstretch during the late stages of the 101st Indianapolis 500. Photo by Jim Haines

Jones, driving the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda took the green flag from 11th place and gradually moved his way into the top ten by lap 15.

His run was slightly hindered by some damage collected in the lap 52 crash between Scott Dixon and Jay Howard. The damage did not set him back for long as he marches his way back to the front and by the three-quarter mark of the race, he found himself in the top ten.

A handful of yellow flags in the race’s final quarter allowed him to maintain his position throughout the exchange of pitstops.

The 22-year-old Dubai based Britton flexed his muscle on the final stint and mixed it up with former Indy 500 winners Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. While a piece of debris hurt his aerodynamic performance, he managed to overtake Max Chilton for third and cross the line third.

Jones admitted that his key to success was playing it clean and smart while staying relaxed when he struggled.

Ed Jones finished third on Sunday at the 101st Indianapolis 500. Photo by Joe Skibinski

“Throughout the race, to be honest, the first half, the starts and the restarts, I was struggling quite a bit,” he said. “I learned a lot through them. The last three or four, I was making up positions every restart. So it was a big learning process for me.”

The race was Jones’ first IndyCar race on a superspeedway and his first 500-miler He admitted tht h enjoyed every minute of it.

“Again, I haven’t actually done that much running in traffic. I was learning how close you could get, using my tools a lot, more than I have done in the past. Although it looked common or normal for me, I was learning so much every time I was driving, making passes.”

The result also eclipsed Dale Coyne Racing’s best previous finish at the Indianapolis 500 of fourth set by Alex Lloyd in 2010. Team owner Dale Coyne had nothing but positive words about his driver.

Ed Jones leads a group through Turn 1 during the 101st Indianapolis 500. Photo by Forrest Mellott

“We had a shot to win the race,” said Coyne. “Ed had the piece come off his front nose, the car was very draggy.

“He’s had great car control and he’s been a surprise all year.”

The finish is another result of Dale Coyne Racing ramping up their game this year with a robust engineering program. The 2016 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires felt very satisfied with the team.

“We worked so hard over the season and even the winner,” he continued. “It just shows the work that the team put in. I’m so proud to be a part of the Dale Coyne team.

“They made it possible for me to attack at the end there. I’m confident how it’s gone so far that we’ll have more goes at it in the future.”