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Mario Gabriele Andretti is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful Americans in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR. He has also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.
Rick Ravon Mears, known by the nickname "Rocket Rick", is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six. Mears is also a three-time Indycar series/World Series champion.
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III, also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 starts. He became one of ten drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, winning in 1974, 1976, and 1980. He also won the CART championship in 1980.
Roberto José Guerrero Isaza is a Colombian-American former race driver. He participated in 29 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 23 January 1982, becoming the first Colombian to start a Formula One Grand Prix.
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James Hurtubise was an American race car driver who raced in USAC Champ Cars, as well as sprint cars and stock cars. He was from the Buffalo suburb of North Tonawanda, New York. Hurtubise enjoyed a lot of success in sprint cars, champ dirt cars, and stock cars but never achieved the success at the Indy 500 that his rookie qualifying run promised when he out qualified pole sitter Eddie Sachs by three mph, nearly breaking the 150 mph mark. "Herk" was a fan favorite throughout much of his career because of his fun-loving attitude and his hard driving style.
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Michael Dennis Groff is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.
Bill Alsup was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career. His best race finish of third came 3 times and he was the 1981 CART Championship runner-up, putting in a winless but consistent season for Penske Racing, his only effort with a top-level team. He returned to his own team the next year and struggled until leaving Champ Car following the 1984 Sanair Super Speedway race.
Paul Durant, is a former American racecar driver from San Diego, California.
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Jeff Wood is an American former race car driver born in Wichita, Kansas. He was Formula Atlantic Rookie of the Year in 1977. He drove in the CanAm series for Carl Haas in 1981 and finished 5th in the series behind Danny Sullivan. In 1982, driving for Bob Garretson Racing, finished 3rd place in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He then made his CART debut in 1983 at the Caesars Palace Grand Prix driving for Dan Gurney. He then drove in the Formula Atlantic West Series where he won the 1985 championship. He returned to CART in 1987 and made 4 starts for Dick Simon with his best finish being 10th. He was away from the series in 1988, then returned in 1989 to make 5 starts for Gohr Racing, where he finished 12th at the Michigan 500. In 1990 he drove for a new team, Todd Walther Racing, where he made his first attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, but crashed in practice. He made 10 other starts, with a 10th-place finish at Phoenix, finishing 22nd in points. In 1991 he made 8 starts for Dale Coyne Racing, Arciero Racing, and Euromotorsports with the best finish being 13th. 7 starts in '92 for Arciero netted Wood a 12th-place finish and a single point. In 1993 Wood attempted a nearly full season for Andrea Moda Formula/Euromotorsports but failed to qualify for 6 races and only made 8 starts and again failed to score points. He made four more unsuccessful starts in 1994 for Euromotorsports in what would be his final races in the series. He was named to an entry for the 1996 Indianapolis 500, but the car failed to appear. His best finish in his 49 CART races was an 8th place that came in his second series start back in 1983 at Laguna Seca Raceway.
Mark Smith is a former American racing driver who competed in the CART IndyCar Series. Smith won the 1989 United States Formula Super Vee Championship and was the 1991 Indy Lights National Championship runner-up.
Frank Weiss was a Canadian racecar driver. He competed in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.
Bill Tempero is an American former racing driver from Milwaukee. He raced in the CART Championship Car series from 1980 to 1984 competing in full seasons his first two years and partial schedules thereafter. He failed to qualify for both the races he attempted in 1984, so he was not credited with a race start that season. Tempero finished 20th in CART points in 1980 with two top-10 finishes including his series-best result of 6th place at the Milwaukee Mile while driving for Hopkins Racing. He fielded his own car in 1981 and 32nd in points without a single top-ten. He attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1980, 1981, and 1983 but failed to make the field in 1980 and 1983 and crashed while attempting to qualify in 1981.
Phil Caliva is an Italian-born American racing driver who competed in the CART Championship Car series from 1979 to 1984. After racing in the North American Formula Super Vee series in 1977 and 1978, he made his CART debut in 1979 driving for Spike Gehlhausen at Ontario Motor Speedway. Caliva returned the next year and made five starts for Bill Alsup and tried but failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Caliva attempted a second time to qualify for the "500" for Alsup in 1981 but again failed to make the field. He made 3 more starts later that year, including his best series finish of 8th place at the Michigan International Speedway in July. He tried 3 races including the Indy 500 in 1982 but failed to qualify for all of them. He tried the Indy 500 again in 1983 and missed the field again, but made the race at Riverside International Raceway in what would be his last Champ Car start. He tried the Long Beach race and the Indy 500 again in 1984 but again missed both races.
Jerry Wayne Miller was an American racing driver from Salem, Indiana who excelled at sprint car racing and made a 3-year foray into Championship Car.
Michael Roe is a former racing driver from Naas, Ireland.
Robert C. Frey is a former American racing driver from Elyria, Ohio. He was a notable sprint car driver who won some of the country's most prestigious races when he attempted to try his hand at CART Championship Car racing in 1980. His first attempt to qualify for a race at the Pocono Raceway ended in a practice crash. His first race came in September of that year at the Michigan International Speedway and he finished 17th. The following year Frey notched his best CART finish of 13th at Phoenix International Raceway but then failed to qualify his eight-year-old Eagle-Offy for the 1981 Indianapolis 500. He returned the week after the Indy 500 and drove in the Milwaukee Mile race, finishing 17th. Frey returned in 1982 with a much newer 1981 Eagle chassis but failed to qualify for both the Indy 500 and the Milwaukee race, after which he returned to sprint cars.
References
- 1 2 Chuck Ciprich, ChampCarStats.com
- ↑ Jenkins, Richard. Where are they now? - Chuck Ciprich, OldRacingCars.com, December 10, 2006
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