"From dreams to reality” - Jagger Jones reflects on his dream of joining Indy NXT since the age of 12

Jagger Jones, son of former stock car driver PJ Jones and grandson of Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones, posted a reel on his Instagram as he reflected on joining the Indy NXT series. Jagger is the third generation of race car driver from his family. The reel highlighted how Jones Jr. made his dream of driving in Indy NXT a reality.

The Arizona-born started karting at the age of 9 and became a professional karting driver at the age of 12. Jones went up the racing ladder and joined the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West series in 2019. He made his open-wheel racing debut in 2022 with Cape Motorsports in the USF 2000 national championship.

After finishing 4th in the USF 2000 championship in 2022, he was promoted to the Indy NXT series by Cape Motorsports. He made his Indy NXT debut in 2023. The reel uploaded on Instagram has clips from this very season in IndyCar NXT.

The reel’s caption read,

“From dreams to reality”.

The reel starts with Jagger Jones’ photo from when he was a kid with “Me at 12 wanting to race in Indy NXT” as the caption. The video then transitioned to videos from his karting days. The caption then changes to “9 years later" and a final transition with videos of him racing in the Indy NXT with Cape Motorsports.

Jones went on to race for HMD Motorsports at Mid Ohio in the 2024 Indy NXT championship. Alongside the Indy NXT, the American also races in the 2024 IMSA LMP3 class. Jones missed the first couple of races of the 2024 IMSA season and finished P2.

He won 8 of the 10 races in the LMP3 series racing for Fast MD Racing with Remstar. Had Jones participated in the first two races in Daytona, he could've possibly won the championship.

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"Jagger is no slouch": HMD Motorsport President Mike Maurini on Jagger Jones

The American stepped in for Niels Koolen at the 2024 Indy NXT race in Mid-Ohio. Jones started the race in P19 as he was the slowest driver in qualifying group 2. The 22-year-old finished the race in P13 after 35 laps of racing and was awarded 17 points. Despite finishing 53 seconds behind the leader, HMD Motorsports President spoke highly of Jones.

Mike Maurini said, (via Racer.com)

“Jagger is no slouch behind the wheel of a race car and proved that in his USF2000 results, and then making the jump straight to Indy NXT. He has been active in other cars this season and winning races, so we are all confident that he will be a valuable addition to our programme for Mid-Ohio.”

Jones will continue to race in the IMSA for the 2025 season as he keeps the dream of making an Indy NXT return alive.