Michele Bumgarner

Last updated
Michele Bumgarner
Born (1989-09-02) 2 September 1989 (age 34)
Occupation Auto racing driver

Michele Marie Bumgarner (born September 2, 1989, in Mandaluyong) is a Filipina racing driver. She was born to an American father and a Filipina mother. [1] She made her debut into single seater racing with the National Karting Series in the Philippines in 1999 at the age of 10. She has participated in the Asia-Pacific Karting Championships Japan, Shell Super Karting Series, Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC), and the Italian Masters Series.

Contents

In 2006 Bumgarner made her auto racing debut driving in the Asian Formula Three Championship, finishing third in the series' Promotion Class. [2]

She competed in the first five rounds of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship season for John Walko Racing. Her best finish was 15th place coming in her final start at Portland International Raceway.

On September 19, 2008, she became the first female champion of the Rock Island Grand Prix in Rock Island, Illinois, the world's largest street karting race. The 7th foreign-born winner in its 14-year history, Michele steered the Margay Team to a 1-2-3-4 finish with 11 minutes and 24.144 seconds. She said: “This will stick with me my whole career. Everyone goes on about how great this race is and it’s special that this is my first time here and my first win here. I hope to come back.” [3] On September 6, 2009, she successfully defended that title in a three kart battle.

In November 2008 it was announced that Bumgarner had signed a driver development contract to race in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Walker Racing. [4] She participated in a test with Guthrie Racing [5] However, Walker Racing entered the 2009 Indy Lights season fielding a car for Stefan Wilson rather than Bumgarner and as of 2011 she has not driven in an Indy Lights race and she has not participated in a professional auto race since 2008.

In September 2013, Michele announced that she will join the Mazda Road to Indy program with World Speed Motorsports, to which she made two starts in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at Houston, claiming a top-10 finish and earning the Quarter Master Hard Charger Award for most positions gained in the race.

In 2014, Michele joined the Pro Mazda Championship full-time, racing for World Speed Motorsports Team.

Motorsport distinctions

Pro Mazda Championship

YearTeam1234567891011121314RankPoints
2014 World Speed Motorsports STP
12
STP
13
BAR
14
BAR
15
IMS
16
IMS
13
LOR
13
HOU
13
HOU
11
MOH
MOH
MIL
SON
12
SON
20
15th79

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USF Pro 2000 Championship</span> American automobile racing series

The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy ladder system, between the U.S. F2000 Championship and Indy NXT. The series is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club and operated by Andersen Promotions. The series' champion is awarded a scholarship package to advance to Indy Lights competition for the following season. It competes on all open-wheel disciplines: road courses, street courses, and ovals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Heylen</span> Belgian racing driver (born 1980)

Jan Heylen is a championship-winning Belgian racing driver, based out of Tampa, Florida.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niall Quinn (racing driver)</span> Irish racing driver

Niall Quinn is an Irish motor racing driver, currently living in County Meath, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Christodoulou</span> Greek-British racing driver

Adam Robert Christodoulou is a Greek-British racing driver, who won the 2008 British Formula Renault Championship and also won the 2009 Star Mazda Championship in the United States. His less successful cousin Riki Christodoulou is also a racing driver, having competed in British Formula 3 Championship.

Joel Miller is an American auto racing driver from Hesperia, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ostella</span>

David Ostella is a Canadian racing driver from Maple, Ontario.

The 2008 Star Mazda Championship was a season of the open wheel racing series the Star Mazda Championship. It consisted of a 12-race schedule beginning in March and ending in October, with only the best eleven race results counting towards the championship. As with 2007, the series featured races exclusively on road and street courses. In addition to the main championship that is typically tested by young, developing drivers, there were also additional class titles for older drivers.

Mikaël Grenier is a Canadian racing driver from Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connor De Phillippi</span> American racing driver

Connor De Phillippi is an American professional racing driver and gold rated BMW Motorsport works driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Hawksworth</span> British racing driver

Jack W. Hawksworth is a British professional racing driver from Bradford, West Yorkshire. As of 2020, he competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for AIM Vasser Sullivan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Kaiser</span> American racing driver

Kyle Kaiser is an American racing driver from Santa Clara, California, and won the 2017 Indy Lights Championship with Juncos Racing. He is also currently enrolled in classes part-time at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago Urrutia</span> Uruguayan racing driver

Santiago Urrutia Lausarot is a Uruguayan racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup, driving for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He formerly competed in Indy Lights, and was the 2015 Pro Mazda series champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalton Kellett</span> Canadian racing driver

Dalton Kellett is a Canadian former racing driver from Stouffville, Ontario. He last competed in the IndyCar Series, driving for A. J. Foyt Racing.

Scott Hargrove is a Canadian racing driver from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who formed the team in 1997, the team was initially based in Argentina before limited racing opportunities in that country led to the team moving to the United States. The team is currently based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Following Williams F1 shareholder Brad Hollinger's entry to the team as partner in 2021, the team was renamed to Juncos Hollinger Racing.

Trent Hindman is an American racing driver. Hindman won the 2014 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the GS class. He also was selected by BMW Motorsport for their junior program in 2015.

Ryan Hampton is a former American Indy Lights driver. Besides racing cars in races he also competed in drift competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Askew</span> American-Swedish race car driver

Oliver Clark Askew is an American-Swedish race car driver who races under the American flag. He is the 2019 Indy Lights champion.

Ashley Lynn Freiberg is an American racing driver who has competed in open-wheel, sports car and endurance racing. She became the first woman to win a Skip Barber Racing championship title in 2010, and the first female to claim outright race victories in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

References

  1. Laudato, Sheryl G. Celebrate girl power and beautiful sporting queens, Manila Bulletin, November 27, 2005, Retrieved 2011-08-04
  2. Michele Bumgarner - Career Detail, Driver Database, Retrieved 2011-08-04
  3. Filipina first woman champ of Rock Island GP Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine , Enquirer Sports, September 20, 2008, Retrieved 2011-08-04
  4. Michelle Bumgarner inks 5-year deal to race in Indianapolis, GMA News, November 17, 2008, Retrieved 2011-08-04
  5. Stenzel, Scott. Michele Bumgarner - Indy Lights Test - Indycar Driver (video), Retrieved 2011-08-04