Jones surprises Coyne with Bears tribute helmet

Dale Coyne Racing's Ed Jones doesn't know much about American football, but he does know enough about the history between his team owner and the late NFL star Walter "Sweetness" Payton, who formed Payton-Coyne Racing team, to surprise Coyne with a custom tribute helmet.

The Dubai-based Briton arrived at Road America with a new helmet bearing the team colors and logo of Payton's Chicago Bears, and once the Kohler Grand Prix is over, Jones plans to give to Coyne in honor of his former partner.

"When I was joining Coyne, a person I work with told me he once shared a flight with Walter Payton, and at the time, he didn't think Walter knew a lot about racing but then he learned he was the co-owner of Dale's [CART] IndyCar team," Jones told RACER.

"I really wanted to learn about Walter's history and this is the track where he did his first race, so with the hard year Dale's been having, I wanted to do something nice to cheer him up. It's quite fitting being as close to Chicago as we are."

Asked if he was aware the nearby Green Bay Packers are a Wisconsin institution, and that most fans at Road America would be hard pressed to root for a driver wearing a Chicago Bears helmet, Jones said, "Yeah, but everyone respects Walter, so I hope they'll understand the gesture."

Coyne admitted he knew nothing of Jones' plan until he saw the helmet Friday morning.

“That was all Ed,” Coyne said. “I knew nothing about it until this morning. Awful nice of him to do that for me and for Walter. That’s a nice little tribute he’s done.”