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Jimmy Vasser

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Jimmy Vasser
Vasser at Long Beach, 2008
NationalityAmerican
Born (1965-11-20) November 20, 1965 (age 59)
Canoga Park, California, U.S.
Championship titles
1996 PPG Indy Car World Series Champion
Champ Car career
233 races run over 16 years
Years active1992–2006, 2008
Team(s)Hayhoe/Cole Racing (1992–1994)
Target Chip Ganassi Racing (1995–2000)
Patrick Racing (2001)
Rahal Letterman Racing (2002)
American Spirit Team Johansson (2003)
PKV Racing (2004–2006)
KV Racing (2008)
Best finish1st (1996)
First race1992 Dailkyo IndyCar Grand Prix (Surfers Paradise)
Last race2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach)
First win1996 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
Last win2002 The 500 Presented by Toyota (California)
Wins Podiums Poles
10 33 8
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish97th (2003)
First race2003 Koolerz 300 (Daytona)
Last race2003 GNC Live Well 250 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

James "Jimmy" Vasser Jr. (born November 20, 1965) is an American former racing driver who competed primarily in the CART series and Champ Car. Vasser won ten CART series races and won the 1996 CART championship with Chip Ganassi Racing.[1] Vasser was the last American to win the CART title. Vasser won the 1996 U.S. 500, and had a best finish of 4th at the Indianapolis 500 twice (1994 and 2001).

Vasser and business partner Kevin Kalkhoven won the 2013 Indianapolis 500 as a car owners of KV Racing Technology, with driver Tony Kanaan.

Driving career

Vasser made his CART debut in 1992 and qualified for the Indianapolis 500, as the fastest rookie qualifier.[2] While he become a top driver on the open-wheel circuit, his rise to prominence overlapped with the IRL-CART "Split". Vasser's best years were mostly spent away from the Indy 500, although he did race at Indy on a one-off basis a few times after the Split.

In 1995, Vasser joined Chip Ganassi Racing. At the Indianapolis 500 he was battling for the lead when he crashed with just 30 laps to go. Later in the season, Vasser finished second at both Detroit and Portland. But at Portland, race winner Al Unser Jr.'s car failed post-race inspection due to insufficient ground clearance. Unser was stripped of the victory, and Vasser was elevated to the winner, tentatively his first-career Indy car triumph.[3][4][5] A protest and appeals process dragged out through the summer,[6] and in September Unser was reinstated the win.[7][8] Vasser would finish the 1995 season 8th in points.

In 1996 Vasser won the CART season opener at Homestead, officially his first win in Indy/Champ Car competition. He won four races, including the U.S. 500 at Michigan. He built a large points lead during the first half of the season, with seven top-tens in the first seven races. He clinched the championship at the season's final race, scoring points in every race except one.[9]

Vasser finished third in points in 1997 with one race win. He finished second in points with three wins in 1998, including the Marlboro 500 at Fontana. But teammate Alex Zanardi would outshine him over those two seasons, winning the points championship both years.[10] Vasser teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999. He was once again outperformed by his teammate and Montoya won the championship in his rookie season.[11] In 2000, his last year with Chip Ganassi Racing, Vasser won the Houston Grand Prix for his first victory since 1998.[12] In that year, Ganassi also became the first major CART major team to crossover to the IRL and compete at the Indianapolis 500. It was Vasser's first appearance at Indy since 1995. Vasser and Montoya were well-received by fans, and were quickly up to speed with the IRL regulars. Vasser led 5 laps, but slipped to 7th at the finish. Montoya dominated the race en route to victory.

For 2001, Vasser moved to the Patrick Racing team to drive the No. 40 Reynard Toyota. Despite having limited sponsorship for the car at first, Vasser started the season strong with four straight finishes of 4th to 6th place. Continuing the strong start to 2001, Vasser was reunited with Target Chip Ganassi Racing driving for them in the Indianapolis 500. Vasser ran well and finished in 4th place as CART drivers swept the top five spots at the 500. However, once returning to the CART circuit, back to back crashes in race No. 5 at Milwaukee and race No. 6 at Detroit seemed to derail the season as Vasser finished the final sixteen races of the season with only four more finishes of 5th to 7th.

After a disappointing year without even a podium, Vasser was able to secure the seat of the No. 8 Shell Lola Ford with Rahal Letterman Racing for 2002 which had finished 2nd in CART points the previous season. In the Shell car, Vasser showed some muscle at Long Beach scoring the pole, leading laps late, and finishing 2nd behind Michael Andretti. Vasser and Rahal Letterman also crossed over into the IRL where they ran the IRL race in Fontana to prepare for Indianapolis and then the Indianapolis 500. Success was limited as Vasser scored only a 9th at Fontana and a gearbox failure cut short his Indy 500 race. Vasser's 2002 season in the Shell car was much improved over the previous year with Patrick Racing. Vasser really finished the year strong with scoring points in each of the final nine races including a podium at Miami and a dominating win at Fontana after a late-race pass of Andretti. Vasser's Fontana win was to be the final win of his CART career.

Without sponsorship at Rahal for 2003, Vasser had to look for opportunities with other teams and without many seats available for the 38-year-old he ended up with Stefan Johansson's startup American Spirit team. The team was not fully funded and they ran the Reynard chassis which were not up to the pace of the current Lola chassis cars. Additionally, Reynard had gone bankrupt so further development of the chassis had to be taken on by the teams so the performance gap to the Lolas continue to widen during the season. Except for a couple of fourth-place finishes, leading 15 laps at Cleveland, and podium at Surfer's Paradise in a wet/dry race the season was not very successful as rookie teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was outpacing Vasser. Vasser reunited with Rahal Letterman for his final run at an Indianapolis 500 win but was again sidelined with gearbox failure during the race.

In 2004 he became co-owner of PKV Racing (later renamed to KV Racing Technology) along with Dan Pettit and Kevin Kalkhoven and was a driver for the team. In 2004, he broke the modern CART–Champ Car record for the most consecutive starts.[13] Vasser retired from open wheel racing in 2006, but remains active in his ownership role. He temporarily came out of retirement to drive in the final Champ Car World Series event at the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.[14]

In 2006, Vasser competed in three Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing. In 2007, he again drove for the renamed GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and on Sept. 4, 2007, it was announced that he would return to the team for the season-ending Sunchaser 1000 km. Vasser drove again for Stallings' team beginning at Laguna Seca in May 2008, pairing with fellow Champ Car champion Cristiano da Matta.

In 2013, Vasser joined the Stadium Super Trucks and was scheduled to make his debut at Honda Indy Toronto.[15] However, he was injured prior to the race and was replaced by Davey Hamilton.[16]

Early career

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status
1985 Road Atlanta Swift DB1 Ford Formula Ford 25 5 Running
1986 Road Atlanta Swift DB1 Ford Formula Ford 1 2 Running

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1988 R & K Racing PHX MIL POR CLE TOR MEA
10 		POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG MIA 26th 3
1989 Barclay Racing PHX LBH MIL DET POR MEA TOR POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG
8 		24th 5

CART/Champ Car

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref
1992 Hayhoe-Cole Racing Lola T92/00 Chevrolet 265A SRF
15 		PHX
15 		LBH
7 		INDY
21 		DET POR
23 		MIL NHA TOR
12 		MCH CLE
14 		ROA VAN
18 		MDO
25 		NAZ
Wth 		LAG
12 		22nd 8 [18]
1993 Hayhoe-Cole Racing Lola T92/00 Chevrolet 265A SRF
24 		PHX
3 		LBH
22 		MIL
8 		DET
16 		POR
11 		CLE 16th 30 [19]
Ford XB V8t INDY
13 		TOR
11 		MCH NHA
9 		ROA VAN
18 		MDO
10 		NAZ LAG
21
1994 Hayhoe-Cole Racing Reynard 94i Ford XB V8t SRF
4 		PHX
5 		LBH
24 		INDY
4 		MIL
11 		DET
20 		POR
32 		CLE
31 		TOR
25 		MCH
25 		MDO
14 		NHA
7 		VAN
15 		ROA
28 		NAZ
13 		LAG
26 		15th 42 [20]
1995 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t MIA
8 		SRF
24 		PHX
23 		LBH
23 		NAZ
24 		INDY
22 		MIL
9 		DET
2 		POR
2 		ROA
3 		TOR
17 		CLE
3 		MCH
7 		MDO
9 		NHA
6 		VAN
27 		LAG
8 		8th 92 [21]
1996 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 96i Honda HRH V8t MIA
1 		RIO
8 		SRF
1 		LBH
1 		NAZ
7 		500
1 		MIL
10 		DET
12 		POR
13 		CLE
10 		TOR
8 		MCH
9 		MDO
2 		ROA
6 		VAN
7 		LAG
4 		1st 154 [22]
1997 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 97i Honda HRR V8t MIA
3 		SRF
12 		LBH
9 		NAZ
5 		RIO
9 		GAT
5 		MIL
3 		DET
4 		POR
19 		CLE
13 		TOR
7 		MCH
24 		MDO
5 		ROA
8 		VAN
2 		LAG
1 		FON
2 		3rd 144 [23]
1998 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 98i Honda HRK V8t MIA
16 		MOT
7 		LBH
8 		NAZ
1 		RIO
6 		GAT
4 		MIL
1 		DET
6 		POR
8 		CLE
7 		TOR
3 		MCH
2 		MDO
27 		ROA
9 		VAN
26 		LAG
5 		HOU
4 		SRF
24 		FON
1 		2nd 169 [24]
1999 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 99i Honda HRS V8t MIA
4 		MOT
12 		LBH
10 		NAZ
11 		RIO
27 		GAT
10 		MIL
4 		POR
12 		CLE
23 		ROA
23 		TOR
8 		MCH
9 		DET
5 		MDO
4 		CHI
3 		VAN
3 		LAG
18 		HOU
20 		SRF
18 		FON
5 		9th 104 [25]
2000 Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RVA V8t MIA
4 		LBH
3 		RIO
2 		MOT
21 		NAZ
7 		MIL
13 		DET
7 		POR
24 		CLE
8 		TOR
9 		MCH
21 		CHI
8 		MDO
21 		ROA
5 		VAN
6 		LAG
8 		GAT
7 		HOU
1 		SRF
3 		FON
22 		6th 131 [26]
2001 Patrick Racing Reynard 01i Toyota RV8F V8t MTY
6 		LBH
5 		TXS
C 		NAZ
4 		MOT
5 		MIL
21 		DET
18 		POR
16 		CLE
5 		TOR
26 		MCH
23 		CHI
14 		MDO
23 		ROA
21 		VAN
19 		LAU
15 		ROC
7 		HOU
11 		LAG
5 		SRF
6 		FON
12 		12th 77 [27]
2002 Team Rahal Lola B02/00 Ford XF V8t MTY
20 		LBH
2 		MOT
20 		MIL
9 		LAG
8 		POR
16 		CHI
17 		TOR
6 		CLE
6 		VAN
17 		MDO
8 		ROA
5 		MTL
5 		DEN
10 		ROC
7 		MIA
3 		SRF
12 		FON
1 		MXC
11 		7th 114 [28]
2003 American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard 02i Ford XFE V8t STP
6 		MTY
14 		LBH
4 		BRH
19 		LAU
8 		MIL
11 		LAG
8 		POR
7 		CLE
13 		TOR
13 		VAN
11 		ROA
9 		MDO
15 		MTL
16 		DEN
11 		MIA
4 		MXC
17 		SRF
3 		FON
NH 		11th 72 [29]
2004 PKV Racing Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t LBH
16 		MTY
12 		MIL
4 		POR
8 		CLE
5 		TOR
2 		VAN
10 		ROA
8 		DEN
17 		MTL
8 		LAG
17 		LVG
5 		SRF
12 		MXC
5 		8th 201^ [30]
2005 PKV Racing Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t LBH
9 		MTY
14 		MIL
5 		POR
6 		CLE
6 		TOR
4 		EDM
11 		SJO
11 		DEN
15 		MTL
7 		LVG
3 		SRF
3 		MXC
6 		6th 217 [31]
2006 PKV Racing Lola B03/00 Ford XFE V8t LBH
14 		HOU MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL ROA SRF MXC 24th 7 [32]
  • ^ New points system implemented in 2004

IndyCar

Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref
2000 Target Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force GF01C 10 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 WDW PHX LVS INDY
7 		TXS PPIR ATL KTY TX2 32nd 26 [33]
2001 G-Force GF05B 44 PHX HMS ATL INDY
4 		TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH KTY GAT CHI TX2 36th 32 [34]
2002 Team Rahal Dallara IR-02 19 Chevrolet Indy V8 HMS PHX FON
9 		NAZ INDY
30 		TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MCH KTY GAT CHI TX2 40th 23 [35]
2003 Dallara IR-03 Toyota V8 HMS PHX MOT INDY
26 		TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MCH GAT KTY NAZ CHI FON TX2 36th 4 [36]
2008 KV Racing Technology Panoz DP01 12 Ford XFE V8t HMS STP MOT1
DNP 		LBH1
10 		KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF2 42nd 0 [37]
1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Reason out Team
1992 Lola Chevrolet 28th 21st Crash Hayhoe
1993 Lola Ford-Cosworth 19th 13th Running Hayhoe
1994 Reynard Ford-Cosworth 16th 4th Running Hayhoe
1995 Reynard Ford-Cosworth 9th 22nd Crash Ganassi
2000 G-Force Oldsmobile 7th 7th Running Ganassi
2001 G-Force Oldsmobile 12th 4th Running Ganassi
2002 Dallara Chevrolet 19th 30th Gearbox Rahal
2003 Dallara Honda 27th 26th Gearbox Rahal

Notes

  • Winner of fastest CART race: Fontana 2002, Average Speed: 197.995 mph (318.642 km/h)

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
2003 Braun Racing 30 Dodge DAY
28 		CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW
25 		DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 97th 167 [38]

References

  1. ^ "Vasser might be taking his last laps". Las Vegas Sun. September 23, 2005. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  2. ^ "Vasser headlines seven Indianapolis 500 rookies". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. May 20, 1992. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  3. ^ Harris, Mike (June 26, 1995). "Unser Jr. bumped from victory (Part 1)". The Indianapolis Star. p. 27. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. ^ Harris, Mike (June 26, 1995). "Unser Jr. bumped from victory (Part 2)". The Indianapolis Star. p. 29. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  5. ^ Miller, Robin (June 27, 1995). "Excuse me, sir, but you won the race". The Indianapolis Star. p. 13. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  6. ^ "Unser's disqualification upheld by IndyCar panel". The Indianapolis Star. August 2, 1995. p. 16. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. ^ "Still no decision on Portland". The Indianapolis Star. September 20, 1995. p. 59. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  8. ^ "Better late than never for Al Unser Jr". The Indianapolis Star. September 23, 1995. p. 48. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  9. ^ Harris, Mike (September 9, 1996). "Zanardi wins race, but Vasser takes title". The Modesto Bee. Associated Press. Retrieved January 23, 2010. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Ganassi changes drivers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  11. ^ "Ganassi changes drivers". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  12. ^ "Vasser ends drought on streets of Houston". ESPN. Associated Press. October 2, 2000. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  13. ^ Graves, Gary (August 26, 2004). "Champ Car's Vasser revved up to break record". USA Today. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  14. ^ Lawley, Erin (April 17, 2008). "Vasser getting behind wheel at LBC". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  15. ^ "Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser join Robby Gordon's Stadium SUPER Trucks series for Toronto". Racer. July 11, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  16. ^ "Lofton wins Stadium Truck Race 1 in Toronto". Racer. July 13, 2013. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  17. ^ Taylor, Michael (January 7, 2007). "A Fascination For Fine Machines". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  18. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  20. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  21. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  22. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  24. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  25. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  26. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  27. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  28. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2002 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  29. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2003 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  30. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  31. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2005 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  32. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2006 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  33. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  34. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  35. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  36. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  37. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2008 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  38. ^ "Jimmy Vasser – 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jimmy Vasser.
Sporting positions
Preceded by CART Series
Champion
1996 		Succeeded by
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