Jimmy Vasser
From WOI Encyclopedia Italia
| |
| Jimmy Vasser | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  American
|
| Years | 1992 - 2006 |
| Team(s) | Hayhoe/Cole Racing (1992-1994), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (1995-2000) Patrick Racing (2001), Rahal Letterman Racing (2002) American Spirit Team Johansson (2003), PKV Racing (2004-2006) |
| Races | 232 |
| Championships | 1 (1996) |
| Wins | 10 |
| Podiums | 33 |
| Poles | 9 |
| First race | 1992 Dailkyo IndyCar Grand Prix (Surfer's Paradise) |
| First win | 1996 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead) |
| Last win | 2002 The 500 Presented by Toyota (Fontana) |
| Last race | 2006 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach |
Jimmy Vasser (born November 20 1965 in Canoga Park, California ) is an American racing driver and current race team owner. Vasser won the 1996 Champ Car champion with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series. Vasser was the last American to win the Champ Car championship.
Contents |
Driving career
Indy Car/ChampCar
Vasser made his Champ Car debut in 1992 and looked set to become a successor to legends such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan and Rick Mears. Although he did become a top driver, his rise to prominence coincided with the infamous CART-IRL (Indy Racing League) 'split' so Vasser's best years were spent away from the important Indianapolis 500, although he has raced in the event on a one-off basis a few times since, finishing as high as 4th in the 2001 race.
1996 season/Ganassi
Vasser won 4 of the first 5 races in 1996 and did enough to maintain a lead in the standings, although rookie teammate Alex Zanardi outperformed him in the second half of the season, and over the next 2 years. He had a poor 1999 season teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya, and left the team at the end of 2000.
PKV Racing
In 2004 he became part owner of PKV Racing along with Dan Pettit and Kevin Kalkhoven where he became one of the drivers for the two-car operation. Vasser retired from open wheel racing in 2006, but still has an ownership stake. He temporarily came out of retirement to drive the 3rd KV Racing Technology car in the final Champ Car World Series event at the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Sports car racing
Also in 2006, Vasser competed in three Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing. In 2007, he again drove for the renamed GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and on Sept. 4, 2007, it was announced that he would return to the team for the season-ending Sunchaser 1000 km. Vasser will again drive for Stallings' team beginning at Laguna Seca in May 2008, pairing with fellow Champ Car champion Cristiano da Matta.
Early career
- Won the 1987 Formula Ford National Championship, SCCA
- Competed in the 1988 Corvette Challenge.
- Competed in the 1989 and 1990 Pro F-2000 Canadian Championship. Vasser and his teammate Ken Murillo were sponsored by LucasFilm.
- Competed in Atlantic Championship in 1990 and 1991 for Della Penna Motorsports.
- Won the Formula Atlantic East/West Challenge in 1990.
- Finished Runner-up (by 4 points Jovy Marcelo) in the 1991 season, six wins and seven pole positions.
Motorsports Career Results
American Open-Wheel
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)
Champ Car
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Hayhoe/Cole |  SRF Ret | PHX Ret | LBH 7 | IND Ret | DET DNP | POR Ret | MIL Ret | NHA DNP |  TOR Ret | MIC DNP | CLE 14 | ROA DNP | VAN Ret | MDO Wth | NAZ DNQ | LS 12 | 22nd | 8 | |||||
| 1993 | Hayhoe/Cole | SRF Ret | PHX 3 | LBH Ret | IND 13 | MIL 8 | DET Ret | POR 11 | CLE DNP | TOR 11 | MIC DNP | NHA 9 | ROA DNP | VAN Ret | MDO Ret | NAZ 10 | LS 21 | 16th | 30 | |||||
| 1994 | Hayhoe/Cole | SRF 4 | PHX 5 | LBH Ret | IND 4 | MIL 11 | DET Ret | POR Ret | CLE Ret | TOR Ret | MIC Ret | MDO 14 | NHA 7 | VAN 15 | ROA Ret | NAZ 13 | LS Ret | 15th | 42 | |||||
| 1995 | Ganassi | MIA 8 | SRF Ret | PHX Ret | LBH Ret | NAZ Ret | IND Ret | MIL 9 | DET 2 | POR 2 | ROA 3 | TOR Ret | CLE 3 | MIC 7 | MDO 9 | NHA 6 | VAN Ret | LS 8 | 8th | 92 | ||||
| 1996 | Ganassi | MIA 1 |  RIO 8 | SRF 1 | LBH 1 | NAZ 7 | US5 1 | MIL 10 | DET 12 | POR 13 | CLE 10 | TOR 8 | MIC 9 | MDO 2 | ROA 6 | VAN 7 | LS 4 | 1st | 154 | |||||
| 1997 | Ganassi | MIA 3 | SRF 12 | LBH 9 | NAZ 5 | RIO 9 | GAT 5 | MIL 3 | DET 4 | POR Ret | CLE 13 | TOR 7 | MIC Ret | MDO 5 | ROA 8 | VAN 2 | LS 1 | FON 2 | 3rd | 144 | ||||
| 1998 | Ganassi | MIA 16 |  MOT 7 | LBH 8 | NAZ 1 | RIO 6 | GAT 4 | MIL 1 | DET 6 | POR 8 | CLE 7 | TOR 3 | MIC 2 | MDO Ret | ROA 9 | VAN Ret | LS 5 | HOU 4 | SRF Ret | FON 1 | 2nd | 169 | ||
| 1999 | Ganassi | MIA 4 | MOT 12 | LBH 10 | NAZ 11 | RIO Ret | GAT 10 | MIL 4 | POR 12 | CLE Ret | ROA Ret | TOR 8 | MIC 9 | DET 5 | MDO 4 | CHI 3 | VAN 3 | LS Ret | HOU Ret | SRF Ret | FON 5 | 9th | 104 | |
| 2000 | Ganassi | MIA 4 | LBH 3 | RIO 2 | MOT Ret | NAZ 7 | MIL 13 | DET 7 | POR Ret | CLE 8 | TOR 9 | MIC Ret | CHI 8 | MDO Ret | ROA 5 | VAN 6 | LS 8 | GAT 7 | HOU 1 | SRF 3 | FON Ret | 6th | 131 | |
| 2001 | Patrick |  MTY 6 | LBH 5 | FTW Canc | NAZ 4 | MOT 5 | MIL Ret | DET Ret | POR 16 | CLE 5 | TOR Ret | MIC Ret | CHI 14 | MDO Ret | ROA Ret | VAN Ret |  LAU 15 |  ROC 7 | HOU 11 | LS 5 | SRF 6 | FON 12 | 12th | 77 |
| 2002 | Team Rahal | MTY Ret | LBH 2 | MOT Ret | MIL 9 | LS 8 | POR Ret | CHI Ret | TOR 6 | CLE 6 | VAN Ret | MDO 8 | ROA 5 | MTL 5 | DEN 10 | ROC 7 | MIA 3 | SRF 12 | FON 1 | MXC 11 | 6th | 114 | ||
| 2003 | Spirit | STP 6 | MTY 14 | LBH 4 | BRH Ret | LAU 8 | MIL 11 | LS 8 | POR 7 | CLE 13 | TOR 13 | VAN Ret | ROA 9 | MDO 15 | MTL Ret | DEN 11 | MIA 4 | MXC Ret | SRF 3 | FON NH | 11th | 72 | ||
| 2004 | PKV Racing | LBH Ret | MTY Ret | MIL 4 | POR 8 | CLE 5 | TOR 2 | VAN 10 | ROA 8 | DEN Ret | MTL 8 | LS Ret | LVG 5 | SRF 12 | MXC 5 | 8th | 201* | |||||||
| 2005 | PKV Racing | LBH 9 | MTY Ret | MIL 5 | POR 6 | CLE 6 | TOR 4 | EDM 11 | SAN Ret | DEN Ret | MTL 7 | LVG 3 | SRF 3 | MXC 6 | 6th | 217 | ||||||||
| 2006 | PKV Racing | LBH Ret | HOU DNP | MTY DNP | MIL DNP | POR DNP | CLE DNP | TOR DNP | EDM DNP | SAN DNP | DEN DNP | MTL DNP | ROA DNP | SRF DNP | MXC DNP | 24th | 7 |
- *New points system implemented in 2004
Indianapolis 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Reason out | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Lola | Chevrolet | 28th | 21st | Crash | Hayhoe |
| 1993 | Lola | Ford-Cosworth | 19th | 13th | Running | Hayhoe |
| 1994 | Reynard | Ford-Cosworth | 16th | 4th | Running | Hayhoe |
| 1995 | Reynard | Ford-Cosworth | 9th | 22nd | Crash | Ganassi |
| 2000 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 7th | 7th | Running | Ganassi |
| 2001 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 12th | 4th | Running | Ganassi |
| 2002 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 19th | 30th | Gearbox | Rahal |
| 2003 | Dallara | Honda | 27th | 26th | Gearbox | Rahal |
Notes
Winner of fastest Champ Car race: Fontana 2002, Average Speed: {{#ifeq:|on|}}Template:Convert/mi/h
Co-owner of PKV Racing
External links
- Official bio at PKVRacing.com
- Bob Stallings Racing bio
