Arie Luyendyk, Jr.

Arie Luyendyk, Jr.

Arie Luyendyk, Jr. at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2009.
Nationality Dutch
Born September 18, 1981 (1981-09-18) (age 30)
Den Bosch
Related to Arie Luyendyk (father)
Firestone Indy Lights Series
Years active 2002-2008, 2010
Teams Luyendyk Racing
Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Brian Stewart Racing
Guthrie Racing
AGR-AFS Racing
Andersen Racing
Alliance Motorsports
Starts 66
Wins 1
Poles 4
Best finish 2nd in 2002
Previous series
2007-2008
2006
2001
A1 Grand Prix (rookie driver)
IndyCar Series
SCCA Formula Continental

Arie Luyendyk, Jr. (born September 18, 1981 in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands) is an auto racing driver and son of Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk. Despite his European birth, all of his adult racing has taken place in North America where his father lives and made his career. He placed second in points in the 2002 inaugural season of the Infiniti Pro Series. He was named a test-driver in A1 Grand Prix alongside Jeroen Bleekemolen for A1 Team The Netherlands starting the 2007-08 season.[1] Luyendyk Jr. lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He was introduced to the worldwide stage when the then-16 year old Arie Jr. was handed the keys to a new Oldsmobile Aurora that his father won as part of his prize package for winning the 1997 Indy 500.

Contents

Career

Arie began racing karts in 1992, and moved to Sports Car Club of America club Formula Ford competition six years later. He raced in a number of American junior formulae, notching wins in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge series and top five finishes the U.S. Formula Ford 2000 Championship. In 2001, Luyendyk finished third in the Formula Continental class at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs as well as winning the SCCA Southern Pacific divisional title on the strength of 4 wins in that same class. He competed full-time in the first three seasons of the Indy Racing League's Indy Pro Series (now known as Firestone Indy Lights), beginning in 2002. In his Firestone Indy Lights career, Luyendyk, Jr. has four poles and 24 top-5 finishes. He has been voted IPS "Most Popular Driver" four years in a row, 2003-06. Luyendyk finished second in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship in 2002, third in 2004 and 4th in 2008.

In 2005, Arie attempted to make his Indy Car Series debut by qualifying for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 in a car owned by Curb-Agajanian/Beck Motorsports. However, with limited track time and a car that never handled properly, Luyendyk's qualifying speed of 215.039 mph (346.072 km/h) was close to 2 mph (3.2 km/h) slower than the next slowest qualifier at the time. A.J. Foyt hired driver Felipe Giaffone to qualify a third car for him, and Giaffone's 217.645 mph (350.266 km/h) four-lap average bumped Luyendyk from the field. Luyendyk, Jr. was the only driver to be bumped that year.

Arie, Jr. did qualify for the 2006 Indianapolis 500 in a car owned by his father and backed by cheapcaribbean.com and Blue Star Jets. The team had limited practice time due to a second week engine program. However, his first race in the more powerful cars ended early due to handling issues, with Arie scoring a 28th place finish.

In the 2007-08 A1 Grand Prix season, Luyendyk Jr. drove for A1 Team Netherlands in the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport as the team's "rookie driver". His best result was a fifth place training time at Round 5 held in Taupo, New Zealand. He has returned to the Firestone Indy Lights Series to race for AGR-AFS Racing as the teammate to Raphael Matos. He captured his first series win in the final race of the 2008 season at Chicagoland Speedway by passing Matos on a late race restart.

In 2010 he returned part-time to Indy Lights and drove in the Freedom 100 for Andersen Racing and three other oval races for Alliance Motorsports. His best finish was seventh at Chicagoland.

Outside racing

In 2009, Luyendyk became the driver analyst for Versus broadcasts of Indy Lights races.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2002 Luyendyk Racing
KAN
10

NSH
2

MIS
2

KTY
6

STL
2

CHI
2

TXS
7
2nd 236
2003 Sinden Racing
HMS
4

PHX
10

INDY
15

PPIR
3

KAN
12

NSH
9

MIS
11

STL
3

KTY
4

CHI
4

FON
10

TXS
13
7th 299
2004 Sam Schmidt Motorsports
HMS
9

PHX
2

INDY
3

KAN
7

NSH
11

MIL
9

MIS
8
3rd 330
AFS Racing
KTY
4

PPIR
5

CHI
4

FON
14

TXS
4
2005 AFS Racing
HMS

PHX
4

STP
5

INDY

FON
6
11th 228
Brian Stewart Racing
TXS
10

IMS
6

NSH
8

MIL
7

KTY
10

PPIR
10

SNM

CHI

WGL
2006 AFS Racing
HMS
4

STP1
DNS

STP2

INDY

WGL
11

IMS

NSH
11

MIL

KTY

SNM1

SNM2

CHI
6
15th 105
2007 Guthrie Racing
HMS

STP1

STP2

INDY

MIL

IMS1

IMS2

IOW

WGL1
17

WGL2
22

NSH

MDO

KTY

SNM1

SNM2

CHI
35th 21
2008 AGR-AFS Racing
HMS
4

STP1
6

STP2
22

KAN
3

INDY
14

MIL
8

IOW
2

WGL1
7

WGL2
7

NSH
3

MDO1
8

MDO2
11

KTY
3

SNM1
17

SNM2
16

CHI
1
4th 428
2010 Andersen Racing
STP

ALA

LBH

INDY
14

IOW

WGL

TOR

EDM

MDO

SNM
17th 82
Alliance Motorsports
CHI
7

KTY
9

HMS
12

IndyCar

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2005 CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
HMS

PHX

STP

MOT

INDY
DNQ

TXS

RIR

KAN

NSH

MIL

MIS

KTY

PPIR

SNM

CHI

WGL

FON
NC
2006 Luyendyk Racing
HMS

STP

MOT

INDY
28

WGL

TXS

RIR

KAN

NSH

MIL

MIS

KTY

SNM

CHI
36th 10

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2005 Dallara Chevrolet DNQ Beck
2006 Panoz Honda 31 28 Luyendyk

References

External links