Earl Thomas Jones (April 26, 1943 – May 29, 2015) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas. He entered his own

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

T82 in one

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race, the

1967 Canadian Grand Prix The 1967 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on August 27, 1967. The 90-lap contest was race 8 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup ...

. After a promising practice performance, he suffered electrical problems during qualifying and only set one very slow lap time. The stewards denied him a place on the grid on the grounds that he was "too slow", even though he had been competitive in practice runs. Until quite recently Jones was considered one of Formula One's great obscurities, but it has since emerged that he raced on and off throughout the 1970s in various series before retiring in 1980. He ran a welding and metal fabrication company in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Jones died in

Eastlake, Ohio Eastlake is a city in Lake County, Ohio, Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Dennis Morley is the current mayor of Eastlake. The city was named for the fact it is northeast of ...

on 29 May 2015. His old Cooper T82 still survives and its current owner competes with it in historic racing series.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Tom 1943 births 2015 deaths American Formula One drivers Racing drivers from Dallas People from Lake County, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio