Goux began racing cars in his early twenties, inspired by the Gordon Bennett Cup. He achieved early success in 1909 and 1910 at the Catalan Cup on a road circuit near Sitges, Spain. His victories brought him to the attention of Peugeot Automobile, which invited him and compatriot Georges Boillot to join its factory racing programme. As part of a four-man design group led by Paul Zuccarelli and Ernest Henry, Goux contributed to the development of a racing car powered by a straight-four engine with a twin overhead camshaft — an engineering approach that would prove highly influential in subsequent racing car design.
In 1912, Goux won the Sarthe Cup at Le Mans in a Peugeot. The following year the team travelled to the United States for the Indianapolis 500. Goux won the race, becoming the first non-American winner in the event's history. His victory became part of motor racing folklore when it was reported that he had consumed four bottles of champagne during the race itself. Goux was later quoted as saying that without the wine he could not have won — an account that endeared him to generations of readers even if its literal truth has never been fully established.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 interrupted Goux's racing career, and he served in the French military for the duration of the conflict. After the war he resumed Grand Prix competition. In 1921, driving for Ballot Automobile, he finished third in the French Grand Prix and then won the inaugural Italian Grand Prix held at Brescia — one of the most important new races on the European calendar.
Following several years in which mechanical problems hampered his results, Goux returned to the winners' circle in 1926, now racing for Bugatti. That year, in a Bugatti T39A, he won both the French Grand Prix at Miramas and the European Grand Prix at the Circuito Lasarte in Spain, capping one of the more improbable career revivals of the interwar period.
Jules Goux's place in motorsport history rests above all on his 1913 Indianapolis 500 win, which demonstrated to European constructors that their cars and drivers could compete successfully in North American events. His technical involvement in the development of the twin-cam Peugeot engine placed him at the heart of one of the most important engineering advances in pre-war racing. He died on 6 March 1965, having lived long enough to see the sport he helped shape transformed beyond recognition.