Dean Vetrock

Last updated

Dean Vetrock (born November 5, 1954) is a former American racing driver from Racine, Wisconsin. He competed primarily in the Formula 5000 series and then its successor, the F5000-based Can-Am formula. In June 1981 Vetrock and his friend Larrie Ervin entered an aging chassis in the USAC "Gold Crown" Championship Car race at the Pocono Raceway and were invited to enter a car in the 1982 Indianapolis 500. By participating in the Pocono race, Vetrock was also suspended from racing in CART for 60 days despite never racing in a CART event, though the decision was later reversed. [1] Vetrock and Ervin purchased a newer chassis for the Indy 500 and were given a garage stall that A. J. Foyt Enterprises typically used to store its tools. However, they blew their only race engine on the second day that the car was on track without completing a practice lap. [2] Vetrock returned to Can-Am, eventually retiring in the late 1980s and Ervin retired from race team ownership.

Related Research Articles

Indianapolis 500 Auto race held in Speedway, Indiana, US

The Indianapolis 500, also formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or simply the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May.

Championship Auto Racing Teams Defunct North American open wheel auto racing organization

Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.

Mario Andretti Italian-American racing driver

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 Mears American racecar driver

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.

Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One.

Pocono Raceway Motorsport track in the United States

Pocono Raceway, also known as The Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of four NASCAR national series races and an ARCA Menards Series event in June: a NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader with support events by the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. From 1971 to 1989, and from 2013 to 2019, the track also hosted an Indy Car race, currently sanctioned by the IndyCar Series.

Bobby Rahal American racing driver

Robert Woodward Rahal is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 and 2020 Indy 500s as a team owner for Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.

Michael Andretti American racing driver

Michael Mario Andretti is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fourth-most all time. Since his retirement from active racing, Andretti has owned Andretti Autosport, which has won four IndyCar Series championships and five Indianapolis 500 races.

Theodore Racing (徳利賽車隊香港) was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars.

American open-wheel car racing Category of professional-level automobile racing in North America

American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2020, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.

Chaparral Cars was a pioneering American automobile racing team and race car developer that engineered, built, and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Founded in 1962 by American Formula One racers Hap Sharp and Jim Hall, it was named after the roadrunner, a fast-running ground cuckoo also known as a chaparral bird.

Indy Lights American automobile racing series

Indy Lights is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program of racing series leading up to the IndyCar Series. The Indy Lights series has been promoted by Anderson Promotions since 2014, which also manages the Road to Indy program.

1996 Indy Racing League

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.

Gordon Eugene Smiley was an American race car driver who was killed in a single-car crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was inducted into the Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.

1993 PPG Indy Car World Series

The 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 15th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART under the name "IndyCar". The season consisted of 16 races. Nigel Mansell was the national champion as well as the Rookie of the Year. The 1993 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500, his second career victory in that event.

The 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 5th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 13 races. Al Unser was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Teo Fabi. The 1983 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but an arrangement was made such that it counted towards the CART points championship. Tom Sneva won the Indy 500, after three previous runner-up finishes.

Truesports

Truesports was an automobile racing team founded by Jim Trueman based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team is best known for winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and back-to-back CART championships in 1986 and 1987. The team won 19 points-paying Indy car races.

The 1971 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Rafaela, Argentina on February 28 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 23. The USAC National Champion was Joe Leonard and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. For 1971 it was decided that there should be three separate points championships, for paved ovals, dirt ovals, and road courses.

SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.

Bernard James "B. J." Swanson was an American racing driver. Swanson was killed in a Formula 5000 race in 1975.

References