Jimmy Vasser

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Jimmy Vasser

Nationality	American
Active years	1992 - 2006
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)
Race starts	232
Championships	1 (1996)
Wins	10
Podium finishes	33
Pole positions	9
First Champ Car 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 Champ Car race	2006 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Jimmy Vasser (born November 20, 1965 in Canoga Park, California ) is an American racing driver. Vasser was the 1996 Champ Car champion, driving for Chip Ganassi, and has scored ten victories in the category. He won 4 of the first 5 races in 1996 and did enough to maintain a lead in the standings, although rookie team-mate Alex Zanardi outperformed him in the second half of the season, and over the next 2 years. He had a poor 1999 season teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya, and left the team at the end of 2000, and has had various drives since. 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. His participation in the series following the 2006 season-opening Long Beach race is unclear, as PKV Racing has signed 2 full-time drivers. One possibility is that, as only 17 other drivers started each of the first 2 races, he will start the races which require 18 cars due to promotor contracts, as his team co-owner Kalkhoven has a stake in the ChampCar series itself. Also in 2006, Vasser competed in two Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing.

Vasser made his Champ Car debut in 1992 and looked set to become a successor to legends such as A.J. Foyt 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 Indianapolis 500, although he has raced in the event on a one-off basis a few times since.

[edit] Complete Champ Car results

Yr	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1992	Hayhoe/Cole	SUR Ret	PHX Ret	LBH 7	IND Ret	DET	POR Ret	MIL Ret	NHA	TOR Ret	MIC	CLE 14	ROA	VAN Ret	MID Wtd	NAZ DNQ	LAG 12					22	8
1993	Hayhoe/Cole	SUR Ret	PHX 3	LBH Ret	IND 13	MIL 8	DET Ret	POR 11	CLE	TOR 11	MIC	NHA 9	ROA	VAN Ret	MID Ret	NAZ 10	LAG 21					16	30
1994	Hayhoe/Cole	SUR 4	PHX 5	LBH Ret	IND 4	MIL 11	DET Ret	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIC Ret	MID 14	NHA 7	VAN 15	ROA Ret	NAZ 13	LAG Ret					15	42
1995	Ganassi	MIA 8	SUR Ret	PHX Ret	LBH Ret	NAZ Ret	IND Ret	MIL 9	DET 2	POR 2	ROA 3	TOR Ret	CLE 3	MIC 7	MID 9	NHA 6	VAN Ret	LAG 8				8	92

[edit] Indianapolis 500 results

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

[edit] Notes

Winner of fastest Champ Car race: Fontana 2002, Average Speed: 197.995mph

Co-owner of PKV Racing

Preceded by: Jacques Villeneuve

CART Series Champion 1996

Succeeded by: Alex Zanardi