Jimmy Vasser

This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately.(December 2006) Find sources: (Jimmy Vasser – news, books, scholar)

Jimmy Vasser

Nationality	American
Champ Car career
Active years	1992 - 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)
Race starts	232
Championships	1 (1996)
Wins	10
Podium finishes	33
Pole positions	9
First race	1992 Dailkyo IndyCar Grand Prix (Surfer's Paradise)
First win	1996 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami (Homestead)
Last win	2002 The 500 Presented by Toyota (Fontana)
Last race	2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Jimmy Vasser (born November 20, 1965 in Canoga Park, California ) is a retired American racing driver and current race team owner. Vasser won the 1996 CART championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series. Vasser was the last American to win the Champ Car championship.

Driving career

Indy Car/ChampCar

Vasser made his Champ Car debut in 1992 and looked set to become a successor to legends such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan and Rick Mears. Although he did become a top driver, his rise to prominence coincided with the infamous CART-IRL (Indy Racing League) 'split' so Vasser's best years were spent away from the important Indianapolis 500, although he has raced in the event on a one-off basis a few times since, finishing as high as fourth in the 2001 race.

1996 season/Ganassi

Vasser won four of the first five races in 1996 and did enough to maintain a lead in the standings, although rookie teammate Alex Zanardi outperformed him in the second half of the season, and over the next two years. He had a poor 1999 season teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya, and left the team at the end of 2000.

PKV Racing

In 2004 he became part owner of PKV Racing along with Dan Pettit and Kevin Kalkhoven where he became one of the drivers for the two-car operation. Vasser retired from open wheel racing in 2006, but still has an ownership stake. He temporarily came out of retirement to drive the third KV Racing Technology car in the final Champ Car World Series event at the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Sports car racing

Also 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.

Early career

• Won the 1987 Formula Ford National Championship, SCCA
• Competed in the 1988 Corvette Challenge.
• Competed in the 1989 and 1990 Pro F-2000 Canadian Championship. Vasser and his teammate Ken Murillo were sponsored by LucasFilm.
• Competed in Atlantic Championship in 1990 and 1991 for Della Penna Motorsports.
• Won the Formula Atlantic East/West Challenge in 1990.
• Finished Runner-up (by 4 points Jovy Marcelo) in the 1991 season, six wins and seven pole positions.

Motorsports Career Results

American Open-Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Champ Car

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
1992	Hayhoe/Cole	SRF Ret	PHX Ret	LBH 7	IND Ret	DET DNP	POR Ret	MIL Ret	NHA DNP	TOR Ret	MIC DNP	CLE 14	ROA DNP	VAN Ret	MDO Wth	NAZ DNQ	LS 12						22nd	8
1993	Hayhoe/Cole	SRF Ret	PHX 3	LBH Ret	IND 13	MIL 8	DET Ret	POR 11	CLE DNP	TOR 11	MIC DNP	NHA 9	ROA DNP	VAN Ret	MDO Ret	NAZ 10	LS 21						16th	30
1994	Hayhoe/Cole	SRF 4	PHX 5	LBH Ret	IND 4	MIL 11	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIC Ret	MDO 14	NHA 7	VAN 15	ROA Ret	NAZ 13	LS Ret						15th	42
1995	Ganassi	MIA 8	SRF Ret	PHX Ret	LBH Ret	NAZ Ret	IND Ret	MIL 9	DET 2	POR 2	ROA 3	TOR Ret	CLE 3	MIC 7	MDO 9	NHA 6	VAN Ret	LS 8					8th	92
1996	Ganassi	MIA 1	RIO 8	SRF 1	LBH 1	NAZ 7	US5 1	MIL 10	DET 12	POR 13	CLE 10	TOR 8	MIC 9	MDO 2	ROA 6	VAN 7	LS 4						1st	154
1997	Ganassi	MIA 3	SRF 12	LBH 9	NAZ 5	RIO 9	GAT 5	MIL 3	DET 4	POR Ret	CLE 13	TOR 7	MIC Ret	MDO 5	ROA 8	VAN 2	LS 1	FON 2					3rd	144
1998	Ganassi	MIA 16	MOT 7	LBH 8	NAZ 1	RIO 6	GAT 4	MIL 1	DET 6	POR 8	CLE 7	TOR 3	MIC 2	MDO Ret	ROA 9	VAN Ret	LS 5	HOU 4	SRF Ret	FON 1			2nd	169
1999	Ganassi	MIA 4	MOT 12	LBH 10	NAZ 11	RIO Ret	GAT 10	MIL 4	POR 12	CLE Ret	ROA Ret	TOR 8	MIC 9	DET 5	MDO 4	CHI 3	VAN 3	LS Ret	HOU Ret	SRF Ret	FON 5		9th	104
2000	Ganassi	MIA 4	LBH 3	RIO 2	MOT Ret	NAZ 7	MIL 13	DET 7	POR Ret	CLE 8	TOR 9	MIC Ret	CHI 8	MDO Ret	ROA 5	VAN 6	LS 8	GAT 7	HOU 1	SRF 3	FON Ret		6th	131
2001	Patrick	MTY 6	LBH 5	FTW Canc	NAZ 4	MOT 5	MIL Ret	DET Ret	POR 16	CLE 5	TOR Ret	MIC Ret	CHI 14	MDO Ret	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	LAU 15	ROC 7	HOU 11	LS 5	SRF 6	FON 12	12th	77
2002	Team Rahal	MTY Ret	LBH 2	MOT Ret	MIL 9	LS 8	POR Ret	CHI Ret	TOR 6	CLE 6	VAN Ret	MDO 8	ROA 5	MTL 5	DEN 10	ROC 7	MIA 3	SRF 12	FON 1	MXC 11			6th	114
2003	Spirit	STP 6	MTY 14	LBH 4	BRH Ret	LAU 8	MIL 11	LS 8	POR 7	CLE 13	TOR 13	VAN Ret	ROA 9	MDO 15	MTL Ret	DEN 11	MIA 4	MXC Ret	SRF 3	FON NH			11th	72
2004	PKV Racing	LBH Ret	MTY Ret	MIL 4	POR 8	CLE 5	TOR 2	VAN 10	ROA 8	DEN Ret	MTL 8	LS Ret	LVG 5	SRF 12	MXC 5								8th	201*
2005	PKV Racing	LBH 9	MTY Ret	MIL 5	POR 6	CLE 6	TOR 4	EDM 11	SAN Ret	DEN Ret	MTL 7	LVG 3	SRF 3	MXC 6									6th	217
2006	PKV Racing	LBH Ret	HOU DNP	MTY DNP	MIL DNP	POR DNP	CLE DNP	TOR DNP	EDM DNP	SAN DNP	DEN DNP	MTL DNP	ROA DNP	SRF DNP	MXC DNP								24th	7

• *New points system implemented in 2004

Indianapolis 500 results

Notes

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

Co-owner of PKV Racing

External links

• Official bio at PKVRacing.com
• Bob Stallings Racing bio