Jimmy Vasser

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 was co-owner of KV Racing Technology, winning the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with driver Tony Kanaan. He currently co-owns Vasser Sullivan Racing, claiming the GTD Pro teams title at the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Driving career

Vasser made his CART debut in 1992 and qualified for the Indianapolis 500, as the fastest rookie qualifier.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Star06-26-1995pg27">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref><ref name="Star06-26-1995pg29">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref><ref name="Star06-27-1995pg13">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> A protest and appeals process dragged out through the summer,<ref name="Star08-02-1995pg16">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> and in September Unser was reinstated the win.<ref name="Star09-20-1995pg59">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref><ref name="Star09-23-1995pg48">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Dead link</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2000, his last year with Chip Ganassi Racing, Vasser won the Houston Grand Prix for his first victory since 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, he was injured prior to the race and was replaced by Davey Hamilton.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early career

• Won the 1986 Formula Ford National Championship, SCCA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 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 Genoa Racing / 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

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 Template:Small	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA	26th	3
1989	Barclay Racing	PHX	LBH	MIL	DET	POR	MEA	TOR	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG Template:Small	24th	5

CART/Champ Car

Year	Team	No.	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	17	Lola T92/00	Chevrolet 265A	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	DET	POR Template:Small	MIL	NHA	TOR Template:Small	MCH	CLE Template:Small	ROA	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small						22nd	8	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1993	Hayhoe-Cole Racing	18	Lola T92/00	Chevrolet 265A	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small		MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE														16th	30	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
				Ford XB V8t				INDY Template:Small					TOR Template:Small	MCH	NHA Template:Small	ROA	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NAZ	LAG Template:Small
1994	Hayhoe-Cole Racing		Reynard 94i	Ford XB V8t	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small						15th	42	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1995	Chip Ganassi Racing	12	Reynard 95i	Ford XB V8t	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small					8th	92	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1996	Chip Ganassi Racing		Reynard 96i	Honda HRH V8t	MIA Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	500 Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small						1st	154	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1997	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR V8t	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	FON Template:Small					3rd	144	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1998	Chip Ganassi Racing	12	Reynard 98i	Honda HRK V8t	MIA Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small			2nd	169	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1999	Chip Ganassi Racing		Reynard 99i	Honda HRS V8t	MIA Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	DET Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small		9th	104	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000	Chip Ganassi Racing		Lola B2K/00	Toyota RVA V8t	MIA Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small		6th	131	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001	Patrick Racing	40	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8F V8t	MTY Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	TXS Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAU Template:Small	ROC Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small	12th	77	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2002	Team Rahal	8	Lola B02/00	Ford XF V8t	MTY Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	MTL Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	ROC Template:Small	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small	MXC Template:Small			7th	114	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2003	American Spirit Team Johansson	12	Reynard 02i	Ford XFE V8t	STP Template:Small	MTY Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	BRH Template:Small	LAU Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	MTL Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	MIA Template:Small	MXC Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small			11th	72	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2004	PKV Racing	12	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8t	LBH Template:Small	MTY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	MTL Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	LVG Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	MXC Template:Small								8th	201^	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2005	PKV Racing		Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8t	LBH Template:Small	MTY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	EDM Template:Small	SJO Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	MTL Template:Small	LVG Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	MXC Template:Small									6th	217	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	PKV Racing		Lola B03/00	Ford XFE V8t	LBH Template:Small	HOU	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	EDM	SJO	DEN	MTL	ROA	SRF	MXC								24th	7	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• ^ 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 Template:Small	TXS	PPIR	ATL	KTY	TX2											32nd	26	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001		G-Force GF05B	44		PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY Template:Small	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TX2							36th	32	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2002	Team Rahal	Dallara IR-02	19	Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS	PHX	FON Template:Small	NAZ	INDY Template:Small	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TX2					40th	23	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2003		Dallara IR-03		Toyota V8	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY Template:Small	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	GAT	KTY	NAZ	CHI	FON	TX2				36th	4	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2008	KV Racing Technology	Panoz DP01	12	Ford XFE V8t	HMS	STP	MOT1 Template:Small	LBH1 Template:Small	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	SRF2	42nd	0	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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: Template:Convert

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	Template:Tooltip	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	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Official bio at PKVRacing.com
• Template:Racing-Reference driver
• Jimmy Vasser now savors taste of Indy milk - The Indianapolis Star, 23 May 2014