Mike Groff

Last updated
Mike Groff
NationalityAmerican
Born (1961-11-16) November 16, 1961 (age 62)
Van Nuys, California
Retired1999
Related to Robbie Groff
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active1996-1998
Teams A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Walker Racing
Byrd-Cunningham Racing
Starts12
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish6th in 1996
Mike Groff
CART Championship Car
Years active1990-1994, 1996
Teams Euromotorsport
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Walker Racing
Rahal-Hogan Racing
Starts54
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish16th in 1991
Previous series
1986-1989
1985		 American Racing Series
American Formula Super Vee
Championship titles
1989American Racing Series champion

Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961, in Van Nuys, California) 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.

Contents

Racing career

Formula Super Vee and Indy Lights

Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert Bosche Formula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In 1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America and finished third in points. In 1987 he won at Nazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988 he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989 he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

CART Champ Car

Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Euromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at the Detroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In 12 starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished 17th in points.

In 1991 Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished 16th in points. He also competed in his first Indianapolis 500.

Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car for Walker Racing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driver Scott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (2 races), Walker (1 race), and Foyt (3 races) and finished 23rd in points.

In 1993 Groff joined Rahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.

1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment with Honda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchase Ilmor-powered cars from Team Penske to make the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Groff only finished 20th in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.

In 1995, Groff was left without a ride. During the third day of qualifications for the 1995 Indianapolis 500, he was tabbed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the back-up car for Bryan Herta, who had crashed and was not cleared to drive during the weekend. As Herta risked being bumped from the field, Groff was tasked with qualifying the car if such a situation had happened. To prepare for the situation, Groff did start an official qualifying attempt, which was aborted after two laps. However, Herta was not bumped, and Groff did not drive at all during Bump Day.

IRL IndyCar

In 1996 Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race at Phoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished 14th and qualified 11th for the 1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.

For the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured 3 straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a second at Walt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series new naturally aspirated cars). He finished 12th in the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in 1998. After finishes of 7th, 15th, and 15th to start the season, he was replaced at the Texas Motor Speedway race by John Paul Jr. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.

Groff attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Team Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
1986 Groff Motorsport PHX1
12		 MIL
1		 MEA
12		 TOR
2		 POC
2		 MDO
13		 ROA
1		 LS
7		 PHX2
7		 MIA 5th89
1987 Patrick Racing PHX
4		 MIL
3		 MEA
10		 CLE
12		 TOR
2		 POC
10		 MDO
3		 NAZ
1		 LS
5		 MIA
11		3rd96
1988 Agapiou Racing PHX MIL POR CLE TOR MEA
15		 POC MDO ROA
5		13th26
Leading Edge Motorsport NAZ
2		 LS MIA
1989 Leading Edge Motorsport PHX
1		 LBH
9		 MIL
1		 DET
4		 POR
5		 MEA
1		 TOR
7		 POC
13		 MDO
2		 ROA
4		 NAZ
1		 LS
2		1st163

CART

YearTeamChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617RankPointsRef
1990 Euromotorsport Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8 t PHXLBH INDY
DNQ		MILDET
15		POR
23		CLE
9		MEA
26		17th17 [1]
Lola T90/00TOR
11		MIS
11		DEN
14		VAN
22		MDO
10		ROA
17		NAZ
7		LS
15
1991 Euromotorsport Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8 t SRF
8		LBH
23		PHX
16		 INDY
24		MIL
18		DET
22		POR
11		CLE
10		MEA
11		16th22 [2]
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8 t TOR
8		MISDEN
DNS		VANMDO
20		ROA
8		NAZLS
15
1992 Walker Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8 t SRF PHXLBH INDY
DET
DNS		PORROA
24		VAN25th5 [3]
Euromotorsport Cosworth DFS V8 t MIL
14		NHA
13		TORMISCLE
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8 t MDO
15
Lola T92/00NAZ
16		LS
8
1993 Rahal-Hogan Racing Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8 t SRF PHXLBH INDY
MIL
19		DET
11		POR
9		CLETORMISNHA
11		23rd8 [4]
Lola T93/00ROA
18		VANMDO
22		NAZLS
1994 Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola T93/00 Honda HRX V8 t SRF
8		20th17 [5]
Lola T94/00PHX
6		LBH
27		MIL
19		DET
27		POR
11		CLE
19		TOR
22		MIS
27		MDO
26		NHA
25		VAN
14		ROA
20		NAZ
11		LS
15
Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8 t INDY
31
1995 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8 t MIA SRF PHXLBHNAZ INDY
QL†		MILDETPORROATORCLEMISMDONHAVANLSNC- [6]
1996 Walker Racing Reynard 96i Ford XD V8 t MIA RIO SRF LBH NAZ
14		 500 MIL DET PORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLS34th0 [7]
† – Made an aborted qualifying attempt in Bryan Herta's back up car, as Herta was not cleared to drive after a crash and was in risk of being bumped.

Indy Racing League

YearTeamChassisNo.Engine1234567891011RankPointsRef
1996 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/0011 Ford XB V8 t WDW
6		6th228 [8]
41 PHX
3
Walker Racing Reynard 95i60 INDY
20
1996-97 Byrd-Cunningham Racing10 NHM
4		 LVS
3		14th169 [9]
G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDW
2		 PHX
6		 INDY
12		 TXS
DNS		 PPI NH2
DNS		 LV2
Oldsmobile Aurora V8 CLT
14
1998 G-Force GF01B WDW
7		 PHX
15		 INDY
15		 TXS NHM DOV CLT PPIR ATLTX2LVS30th56 [10]
1999 Team Xtreme Dallara IR946 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDWPHXCLT INDY
DNQ		TXSPPIATLDOVPP2LVSTX2NC- [11]

Indianapolis 500

YearChassisEngineStartFinishTean
1990 Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8 t DNQ Euromotorsport
1991 Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8 t 1824 Euromotorsport
1992 Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8 t Raced by S. Goodyear Walker Racing
1993 Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8 t No Attempt Rahal-Hogan Racing
1994 Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8 t 3131 Rahal-Hogan Racing
1995 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8 t Raced by Bryan Herta Chip Ganassi Racing
1996 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8 t 1120 Walker Racing
1997 G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 1812 Byrd-Cunningham Racing
1998 G-Force GF01B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 3215 Byrd-Cunningham Racing
1999 Dallara IR9 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 DNQ Team Xtreme

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References

  1. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1996 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1997 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Mike Groff – 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by American Racing Series Champion
1989		Succeeded by
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