Randy Lanier

Last updated

Randy Lanier
Born1954 (age 6970)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation race car driver
Criminal statusReleased October 2014
Children2
Motivecriminal enterprise
Conviction(s) engaging in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise and conspiring to distribute more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana
Criminal penalty life without parole
Retired1988
CART
Years active 19851986
TeamsArciero Racing
Starts18
Best finish20th in 1986
Previous series
1981–1986 IMSA GT Championship
Championship titles
1984 1
Awards
1986 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 1982
Teams NART/T-Bird Racing
Best finish49th
Class wins0

Randy Thomas Lanier (born 1954) is a professional race car driver and convicted drug trafficker from the United States. He is best known for his racing efforts in the mid-1980s, including winning the 1984 IMSA Camel GT title for the wholly independent Blue Thunder Racing team, and for being arrested for marijuana smuggling in 1988 to support his racing efforts.

Contents

Personal life

Lanier was born in 1954 in Lynchburg, Virginia to a family of tobacco farmers.. [1] At age 13, he moved to Miami, Florida. [1] When he was caught with an ounce of cannabis, he dropped out of high school to avoid suspension, later earning a GED. Lanier worked in construction to make a living. [1]

In 1976 he married his wife Pam. They had a daughter, Brandie in 1980 and a son Glen in 1987, who was named after Lanier's younger brother who was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 16. He has other siblings as well. [2] The couple divorced in the mid-1980s in an attempt to protect their house and other property when they became fearful of the authorities catching up with Lanier's illegal activities. [3]

In 1986, Lanier became romantically involved with Maria De La Luz Maggi, and she accompanied him during his time as a fugitive. [2] [4] In 1993, Maggi was convicted of money laundering, and by the time she was released from prison in 1999, the two were divorced. [5]

Some time after his 2014 release from prison, Lanier moved in with his ex-wife, Pam, and the two are planning to marry. [3] [6] According to a 2021 Netflix documentary about Lanier, "Need For Weed", he is a brand ambassador for a medical marijuana company and plans to continue racing with them as a sponsor. [3] In the documentary Pam claims that "Randy's release from prison is a true miracle. He got a presidential pardon.", when in fact Lanier did not receive a pardon; Lanier's release was based on a cooperation agreement with the prosecution. [7]

Motorsports career

Lanier began his motorsport career in 1978, following a meeting with the Sports Car Club of America at an auto show taking place in Miami Beach Convention Center on how to make a start in racing, he bought himself a 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster, where he used it to compete in E Production at the SCCA Southeast Regional Championship, eventually winning the class in 1980. [8]

He made his IMSA Camel GT series debut at the 1981 Daytona Finale, partnering with Dale Whittington, finishing 30th. The following season at the 24 Hours of Daytona, he was approached by a crew member for the North American Racing Team to fill in for Janet Guthrie, who was unable to race due to illness. [9] Partnering with Bob Wollek and Edgar Dören, the trio ran in 3rd place for 18 hours until their run ended [8] when Lanier took over at dawn on his first lap, considered by fellow driver Desiré Wilson to be unsuited to drive as he had been seen previously acting nervously in the pits, he drove the car off course destroying the suspension. [10]

He was invited by the same team to partner with Preston Henn and Denis Morin at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, [8] retiring after they ran out of fuel. [11] At Lanier's fifth race at the 6 Hours of Mosport , he brought an ex-works March 82G Chevrolet, scoring his first podium finish with a third, and then another at the Mid-Ohio 6 Hours. [12]

In 1984, after driving for a variety of teams in the previous seasons, including a second place at the 24 Hours of Daytona, he formed his own team, Blue Thunder Racing, with Bill Whittington and crew chief Keith Leyton consisting of two March GTPs. [8] [13]

Earlier in the season, Whittington led the season, allowing Lanier to take over after the Charlotte 500. With the help of Whittington, who taught Lanier how to set up the car, [14] he took six wins, enough to score a driver's championship with one race to remain along with the Most Improved Driver award, despite having a lack of sponsorship and being a wholly independent team, unsupported by March Engineering. [14] [15] Another reason for his success was that the team employed the services of talented engine builder Ryan Falconer, who rebuilt the engines after each race. [14]

Lanier began to focus on his Indycar career, with the hope of winning the Indianapolis 500. [13] He drove for Arciero Racing, intending to commit full-time for the 1986 season. [8] For the following season, Lanier would also drive for Joest Racing for both the Daytona 24 Hours and Miami. After poor form in the previous year, Lanier would improve his form by finishing six of the nine races he entered including his 10th-place finish at the Indy 500, winning the Rookie of The Year honor and taking the fastest qualifying time for a rookie that year, an average of 209.964 MPH, [13] beating the previous record set by Michael Andretti in 1984. [16] His final race was at the Michigan 500 where he collided into a wall at 214 MPH following a tire blow out, breaking his right femur and shortly after this, he was arrested. [13] Prior to that, he drove in 18 CART races in 1985 and 1986.

A year after his release from federal custody, Lanier returned to the track, coaching and racing with Rally Baby Racing, and the Road & Track teams in BMW E30s at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the American Endurance Racing series. [17]

Drug conviction and imprisonment

Lanier's presence in Florida during his youth has been suggested as a potential precursor to his later involvement in the drug trade. [2] [8]

Shortly after moving to Broward County, Lanier discovered cannabis at 14 when he began enjoying it recreationally. At 15, he began to sell drugs on the side. At the age of 20, he bought an $18,000 (equivalent to $87,000 in 2023) 27-foot-long (8.2 m) Magnum go-fast boat, [1] for recreational use, with money he made as a marijuana dealer. Later as suggested by a friend, he took the opportunity to use this to smuggle a ton of marijuana out of the Bahamas and took this as an opportunity to make a small sideline to his personal water craft rental business. [1] [13]

He later took on Ben Kramer, who raced in offshore powerboat racing, as a business partner. Together, their haul grew from a 65-foot (20 m) wooden trawler [13] that was used to carry 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg) of drugs [1] to a fleet of tugboats that was used to haul barges. [13]

As Lanier defeated the heavily sponsored and factory supported oppositions of the Group 44 Racing Jaguar XJR-5 and Löwenbräu-sponsored Holbert Racing Porsche 962, the sudden racing successes began to raise questions about the team's source of finance [14] and thus Lanier was under investigation from the FBI. [15] [Note 1] [16] Lanier along with Eugene Fischer [18] and Ben Kramer, owner of Apache boats; and twelve others [19] ran a multi-million dollar drug empire between 1982 and 1986 when the arrest took place. [20] Kramer was the great-nephew and one of the putative heirs of a top boss of the U.S. crime syndicate, Meyer Lansky. [21]

A week prior to the Indy time trials, his former driving partner Bill Whittington was arrested and Lanier's name began to surface. Shortly after his Indy 500 drive, he made his largest haul [13] of 165,000 lbs [1] and had considered retiring from the drugs trade. [13] Months after an Illinois dealer was arrested when a local state trooper discovered a small haul of cannabis in a broken down truck. [16] Lanier's business partner and brother-in-law, [22] Ronald Harris Ball, was arrested and denied bail. [1]

Since many of these drugs were distributed in Illinois, his trial was conducted by Judge James L. Foreman [1] in the Southern District of Illinois in January 1987. [2] He was convicted of importing and distributing over 300 tons of Colombian marijuana, [23] [24] believed to be worth $68 million by prosecutors [25] and was due to be sentenced when he disappeared. [26]

He was believed to have fled to Puerto Rico, [27] but fled first to France, where he went into hiding in Monte Carlo, and later went into hiding in Antigua, where he kept properties, [1] and was later arrested on October 26 [2] whilst fishing. [13] Lanier had also cut a deal after his arrest for conspiracy to distribute marijuana, but at the last minute refused to testify against Jack Kramer, father of Ben. [28]

Lanier and his partner Ben Kramer received life without parole sentences on October 4, 1988 [23] under the newly enacted Continuing Criminal Enterprise statute (also known as the "Super Drug Kingpin" law), owing to their refusal to cooperate with the prosecution. The Whittington brothers who were also involved received a lighter sentence. Lanier filed an appeal based on the fact that later RICO convictions were not nearly as lengthy, but lost the appeal. [29] He was initially placed in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and was later transferred to the higher security United States Penitentiary I in Coleman. [30] He spent his time in prison exercising, playing chess and answering letters sent by race fans. [31]

Maggi, who married Lanier on August 31, 1990, at Oxford Federal Correctional Institution in Wisconsin., [2] was sentenced on April 30, 1993, to nine years in prison for money laundering. She pleaded guilty in September the previous year to conspiracy and obstruction [24] and later successfully appealed to have it reduced from 108 months to 97. [32]

She was released in 1999: by that time she was no longer married to Lanier. [33]

Release from prison

Otherwise serving a life sentence, for reasons undisclosed under sealed motions, Lanier was scheduled to be released from prison, with a discharge date of October 15, 2014, [34] which was reportedly confirmed to Autoweek magazine insiders by Jim Porter, first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website also confirmed Lanier's date of discharge conditional to the requirement that he spend six months in a halfway house before entering a three-year period of supervised release where he would be disallowed alcohol and firearms. Lanier stated that he had a job awaiting him at a classic car museum in Florida, [28] said to be for Preston Henn, owner of Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop. [1] In 2019 Lanier's co-offender Ben Kramer sought to unseal the reasons for Lanier's release. The Court granted that application in part. It was acknowledged by the Court that Lanier was released due to Rule 35 sentence reduction [35]

In 2015 Lanier took part in a race in Mid Ohio, driving for Rally Baby Racing, which was covered in-depth by Road & Track magazine. [36]

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

CART

YearTeamChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617RankPointsRef
1985 Arciero Racing Lola T900 Cosworth DFX V8 t LBH
24
INDY
DNQ
MIL POR
22
MEA
22
CLE
20
MCH ROA
14
POC MDO
20
SAN MCH LAG
13
PHX
17
MIA
15
41st0 [37]
1986 Arciero Racing March 86C Cosworth DFX V8 t PHX
11
LBH
13
INDY
10
MIL
20
POR
9
MEA
6
CLE
9
TOR
21
MCH
19
POC MDO SAN MCH ROA LAG PHX MIA 20th21 [38]

Indy 500 results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearClassNoTyresCarTeamCo-DriversLapsPos.Class
Pos.
1982 GTX73 D Ferrari 512BB/LM
Ferrari 4.9L Flat-12
Flag of the United States.svg NART/T-Bird Racing Flag of the United States.svg Preston Henn
Flag of France.svg Denis Morin
4349th10th

Complete IMSA GT results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456789101112131415161718RankPoints
1981 Whittington Bros.GTX Porsche 935 K3 Porsche 3.0L Turbo F6 DAY SEB ATL LA MON LRO MOH BRN DAY2 SEP POR MOS RAM ATL2 POC DAY3
30
76th0
1982 North American Racing Team GTP Ferrari 512BB/LM Ferrari 4.9L F12 DAY
Ret
SEB ATL LA MON CHR MOH LRO DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS RAM MOH ATL2 POC DAY3 16th42
T-Bird Swap Shop Porsche 935 K3 Porsche 3.0L Turbo F6 DAY SEB
Ret
ATL LA MON CHR
Ret
MOH LRO DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS RAM MOH ATL2 POC DAY3
March Racing March 83G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY SEB ATL LA MON CHR MOH LRO DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS
3
RAM
6
MOH
3
ATL2
Ret
POC
Ret
DAY3
1983 Motorsports MarketingGTP March 83G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY
2
MGP SEB ATL LA MON CHR
Ret
LRO MOH DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS
Ret
RAM POC DAY3 28th23
Marty Hinze [39] March 82G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY MGP SEB
Ret
ATL LA MON CHR LRO MOH DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS RAM
Ret
POC DAY3
Porsche 935 K3 Porsche 3.0L Turbo F6 DAY MGP SEB ATL LA MON CHR LRO MOH DAY2 BRN SEP POR MOS RAM POC DAY3
Ret
1984 Blue Thunder Racing TeamGTP March 83G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY
Ret
MGP
DNS
SEB
2
ATL
2
LA MON CHR LRO MOH WAT POR SEP RAM POC MIH WAT2 DAY2 1st189
March 84G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY MGP SEB ATL LA
1
MON
1
CHR
1
LRO
2
MOH
2
WAT
Ret
POR
1
SEP
7
RAM
3
POC
5
MIH
1
WAT2
1
DAY2
Ret
1985 Leon Brothers RacingGTP March 85G Porsche 3.0L Turbo F6 DAY
Ret
MGP SEB ATL LA MON CHR LRO MOH WAT POR SEP RAM
6
POC WAT2 COL DAY2 27th18
Blue Thunder Racing Team March 84G Chevrolet 5.7L V8 DAY MGP SEB
7
ATL LA MON CHR LRO MOH WAT POR SEP RAM POC WAT2 COL DAY2
5
1986 Joest Racing GTP Porsche 962 Porsche 3.0 L Turbo Flat-6 DAY
Ret
MGP SEB
Ret
ATL LA MON CHR LRO MOH PBE WAT POR SEP RAM WAT2 COL DAY2 63rd0

Bibliography

In 2021, a book written by Lanier with A. J. Baime about his past in drug smuggling and racing entitiled Survival of the Fastest: Weed, Speed and the 1980s Drug Scandal that Shocked the Sports World was released. [40]

Notes

  1. Lanier claimed his source of financial aid came from his Blue Thunder fabrication shop in Davie and a former watersports rental company in Hollywood.

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Ray Downs (March 17, 2015). "Former Racecar Star Randy Lanier Finds Freedom After Life Sentence for Smuggling Pot". New Times Broward-Palm Beach.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Maria D. Maggi, Also Known As Maria D. Wolleter, Also known as Maria L. Maggi, Also Known As Maria M. Lanier,also Known As Maria "lucca" Lanier,defendant-appellant – 44 F.3d 478 – Justia US Court of Appeals Cases and Opinions". Cases.justia.com. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Bad Sport, episode "Need for Weed". Raw Entertainment, 2021.
  4. Tabor, Damon (January 30, 2018). "The Unlikely Rise and Epic Fall of Florida's Pot-Smuggling Kingpin". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  5. "FindLaw's United States Seventh Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  6. "Randy Lanier: IndyCar driver and drug smuggler". Sports Illustrated Longform. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  7. United States v. Lanier, Crim. No. 4:87-cr-40070-JPG (S.D. Ill. Sep. 16, 2019)
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "IndyCar Advocate: Off Course: An Interview With Randy Lanier". indycaradvocate.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  9. Wertheim, L. Jon (January 18, 2017). "Randy Lanier: IndyCar driver and drug smuggler". Sports Illustrated Longform. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  10. Wilson, Alan (October 15, 2011). Driven by Desire. Veloce Publishing. ISBN   9781845843892.
  11. "Le Mans 24 Hours 1982 – Photo Gallery – Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  12. "JOHN STARKEY CARS :: GRYFON INC". johnstarkeycars.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "The Untold Story of Randy Lanier, Indy 500 Star and Drug Smuggler". maxim.com. October 27, 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Blue Thunder Racing". Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Prototypes: The History of the IMSA GTP Series, J. A. Martin & Ken Wells, David Bull Publishing, ISBN   1-893618-01-3
  16. 1 2 3 Patrick George (October 22, 2014). "The Man Who Turned Speedboats Full Of Weed Into Indy 500 Glory". Jalopnik.
  17. "How I Got Back in a Race Car After Drug Trafficking Sent Me to Prison for 26 Years". November 3, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  18. "United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Benjamin Barry Kramer, Randy Thomas Lanier, Eugene Albertfischer, and Kay Dee Bell, Jr., Defendants-appellants, 955 F.2d 479 (7th Cir. 1992) :: Justia". law.justia.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  19. "Guilty Pleas Entered by 11 In Smuggling of Marijuana". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 8, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  20. "Driver Randy Lanier Gets Life in Prison". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. December 22, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  21. Umpenhour, C.M. (2005). Freedom, a Fading Illusion. BookMakers Ink. p. 438. ISBN   9780972678957 . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  22. "995 F.2d 662". resource.org. July 12, 1993.
  23. 1 2 "Auto Racing; Driver Jailed". The New York Times. December 22, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  24. 1 2 "Hemp News No. 6". Crrh.org. May 1, 1993. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  25. "Article: 1989.(50th Anniversary countdown)". Highbeam.com. March 10, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2009.[ dead link ]
  26. "Randy Lanier Sought". The New York Times. February 6, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  27. "Comings and Goings". The New York Times. October 27, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  28. 1 2 Saraceno, Jon (October 27, 2014). "The 225,000 Hours of Randy Lanier". Autoweek . 64 (21): 53–55. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  29. "FindLaw: Cases and Codes". Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  30. "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Bop.gov. March 30, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  31. Allen Brown. "Where are they now? « The Indy 500 drivers (L) « OldRacingCars.com". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  32. "62 F3d 1419 United States v. De La Luz Maggi". Open Jurist. August 4, 1995. p. 1419. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  33. "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Bop.gov. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  34. Veksler, Marie. "Racing Sensation Turned Marijuana Kingpin Released From Prison Today". Whaxy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  35. "United States v. Lanier, Crim. No. 4:87-cr-40070-JPG | Casetext Search + Citator".
  36. "How I Got Back in a Race Car After Drug Trafficking Sent Me to Prison for 26 Years". November 3, 2015.
  37. "Randy Lanier – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  38. "Randy Lanier – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  39. "1977 Porsche 935 Desperado Factory Built Racecar | Mecum Auctions". mecum.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  40. Berk, Brett (July 30, 2022). "Racer/Weed Dealer Randy Lanier Recounts His Wild Ride in 'Survival of the Fastest'". Car and Driver. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Indianapolis 500
Rookie of the Year

1986
Succeeded by
Preceded by IMSA GT champion
1984
Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Jung</span> American drug trafficker and smuggler (1942–2021)

George Jacob Jung, nicknamed Boston George and El Americano, was an American drug trafficker and smuggler. He was a major figure in the United States cocaine trade during the 1970s and early '80s. Jung and his partner Carlos Lehder smuggled cocaine into the United States for the Colombian Medellín Cartel. Jung was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1994 on conspiracy charges, but was released in 2014. Jung was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the biopic Blow (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Unser Jr.</span> American racing driver (born 1962)

Alfred Unser Jr. – nicknamed "Little Al" to distinguish him from his father, Al Unser – is an American retired racing driver. Known primarily for his Championship car career, Unser won two CART championships, and is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomáš Enge</span> Czech racing driver (born 1976)

Tomáš Enge is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One.

Kelly Carl Petillo was an American racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Briscoe</span> Australian racecar driver

Ryan John Briscoe is an Australian–American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.

Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rallycross Championship, Extreme E and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It was founded in 1990 by businessman and former racecar driver Chip Ganassi from the assets of Patrick Racing to compete in the CART IndyCar World Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Hmiel</span> American racing driver

Shane Riley Hmiel is an American former racecar driver, who competed in all three of NASCAR's national series. Hmiel's controversial stock car career, marred by accidents from his aggressive driving style, ended in 2006 after he failed a third substance abuse test and was banned from competing in NASCAR for life. After rebuilding his career in open wheel racing, primarily in United States Auto Club sanctioned dirt track racing, Hmiel was paralyzed in a near fatal racing accident on October 9, 2010, in Terre Haute, Indiana. Prior to the accident, Hmiel had become the first driver to win the Hoosier Hundred, Rich Vogler Classic, and the Pat O'Connor Memorial, the three premier USAC midget-car races, in the same season.

Aaron Fike is an American racing driver, a former competitor in NASCAR and USAC. The younger brother of A. J. Fike, he was suspended from NASCAR competition from 2007 to 2012 due to a drug-related arrest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Indy Racing League</span> Sports season

The 1996 Indy Racing League was the first season in the history of the series, which was created and announced on March 11, 1994 by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as a supplementary Indy-car series to the established Indy Car World Series sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) since 1979. It consisted of only three races, as the season concluded with the 80th Indianapolis 500 in May. Walt Disney World Speedway was completed in time to host the first ever event of the Indy Racing League (IRL), and Phoenix International Raceway switched alliances from CART to the IRL, in order to host the second event of the season. At the conclusion of the three-race schedule, Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins ended up tied for first place in the season championship. With no tiebreaker rule in place, the two drivers were declared co-champions. Its creation, and the opposition of Indy Car's teams and drivers to take part in it, marked the start of 'the Split', a 12-year period of competition between rival series at the top level of American Open Wheel racing that had lasting negative effects in the sport.

John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Herb</span> American racing driver and sex offender

Jon Allen Herb is an American former racecar owner, driver in the Indy Racing League and ARCA, and convicted child sex offender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Whittington</span> American racing driver (1949–2021)

William Marvin Whittington was an American racing driver from Lubbock, Texas, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed five times in the Indianapolis 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Whittington</span> American racing driver

Reginald Donald Whittington is an American former racing driver from Lubbock, Texas, who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans together with his brother Bill Whittington and Klaus Ludwig in a Porsche 935, although Ludwig, a multiple winner at Le Mans and elsewhere, did most of the driving in the heavy rain as the brothers did not have any real racing experience prior to the late 1970s. Don's brother Dale also competed in open wheel racing. His father, Don Whittington, Sr. was also an American racing driver in the USAC National Championship from 1957 to 1959.

Dale Lindsey Whittington, was an American racing driver. Born in Farmington, New Mexico, he was the youngest of four sons born to 1950s race car owner Dick Whittington. Dale Whittington had 3 sons: R.D Whittington, Dale Lindsey Whittington Jr, Blake Whittington. Dale Whittington has one grandson Dale Whittington III. Whittington was not married at the time of his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt Walther</span> American racing driver

David "Salt" Walther was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars and unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a car owner in USAC. Walther is best remembered for a crash at the start of the 1973 Indianapolis 500 that left him critically injured. He recovered from his injuries, returned in 1974, and placed 9th in the 1976 race. He also co-drove a car with Bob Harkey to 10th place in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphael Matos</span> Brazilian open-wheel racing driver

Raphael Matos is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He was the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion and the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion. He lives in Miami.

Charles Zwolsman was a Dutch drug dealer and professional racecar driver and team owner.

John Lee Paul is or was an American racing driver, convicted felon and fugitive known as John Paul Sr. in the motorsport scene. In 1982 he and his son John Paul Jr. (1960–2020) won both U.S. classic endurance races, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. After his racing career he served a fifteen-year prison sentence for a variety of crimes including drug trafficking and shooting a Federal witness. In 2001, he disappeared on his boat while being sought for questioning by officials regarding the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. Paul's status is unknown.

Some racing drivers have used doping in auto racing to enhance their performance. Deemed unsafe and illegal by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Appendix A to the International Sporting Code determines which substances are banned and mandates penalties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Michigan 500</span> Motor car race

The 1986 Michigan 500, the sixth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Saturday, August 2, 1986. The race was won by Johnny Rutherford, his 27th and final Indy Car victory. It was Rutherford's sixth win in IndyCar racing's Triple Crown of 500 mile races, and his first at the Michigan 500. The event was race number 9 of 17 in the 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series.