Jay Howard

Jay Howard
Howard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008.
Nationality	English
Born	(1981-02-16) February 16, 1981 Basildon, England
IRL IndyCar Series
Years active	2008, 2010
Teams	Sarah Fisher Racing Roth Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Starts	9
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	28th in 2008
Previous series
2006–2007, 2009 2006 2004–2005 2003 2003 2002	Firestone Indy Lights Toyota Racing Series U.S. F2000 National Championship Formula Renault 2000 UK Winter Championship British Formula Ford Championship Avon Tyres Junior Formula Ford
Championship titles
2006 2005 2003	Indy Pro Series U.S. F2000 National Championship Formula Renault 2000 UK Winter Championship

Jay Howard (born February 16, 1981 in Basildon, England) is an English professional race car driver who competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. Howard was the 2005 U.S. Formula Ford Zetec champion and moved up to the Firestone Indy Lights where he captured two wins on his way to the 2006 championship for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in his rookie season. He qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 in 2011.

2006 Indy Pro Series

Howard competed for Sam Schmidt Motorsports when he won the points championship in his rookie season.

2007 Indy Pro Series

He made three starts for SpeedWorks at the beginning of the 2007 season, but was inactive for the rest of the year.

2008 IndyCar Series

Roth Racing announced on November 26, 2007 that they had signed Jay Howard to drive their second car for the 2008 IndyCar Series season.^[1]

Howard was hired on merit/talent and did not bring sponsorship to the team. The team was presented with a sponsorship opportunity with another driver and Howard was replaced in the #24 Roth Racing entry by John Andretti for the 2008 Indianapolis 500. This was originally announced as a one–race arrangement, meaning Howard would be back for the Milwaukee race. However, on May 30 it was announced that Andretti would continue in the #24 car in the Milwaukee Mile and Texas Motor Speedway races.^[2] Andretti also drove in the next two races at the Iowa Speedway and Richmond International Raceway, but Howard returned to the car for the Watkins Glen International road course race. It would be Howard's last race with the team as it contracted to a single car driven by team owner Marty Roth for the rest of the season.

2009 Firestone Indy Lights

Howard began the 2009 Indy Lights season (the new name for the Indy Pro Series) for the rookie outfit Team PBIR. He competed in five races before being replaced by paying drivers Pablo Donoso and Richard Philippe for the remainder of the season.

2010 IndyCar Series

While Howard was announced in late 2009 with SFR for four events (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, ChicagoLand Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), on March 1 SFR announced that they would add the Kansas Speedway event to Howard's 2010 campaign.^[3]

On April 14, Howard joined team owner Fisher when he was the first entrant for the 2010 Indianapolis 500, while celebrating the 100th anniversary of English drivers competing at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.^[4]

On April 21, Howard unveiled the 2010 paint scheme for his No. 66 Service central entry at Kansas Speedway during a private test.^[5]

On May 23, Howard had qualified for the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500. With just minutes left before the gun would fire to signal the 33-car field, Howard's entry was withdrawn due to pressure from next in queue, veteran driver Paul Tracy. Howard failed to show sufficient speed to qualify and missed the race.

On Aug. 28, Howard competed in his last race with SFR, fulfilling his contract with the team.

On October 10, Howard won the RoboPong 200 all-star kart race at the New Castle Motorsports Park along with teammate Bill McLaughlin, Jr., beating such notable drivers as Will Power and Graham Rahal, among others.^[6]

2011 IndyCar Series

Howard noted in an interview on Oct 14, 2010, on Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee on 1070 The Fan Indianapolis that he would in no way return to SFR after the year they had. He also noted that he has his 2011 Indianapolis 500 program solidified and the team would be announced soon.^[7] Howard signed a deal with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in association with Sam Schmidt Motorsports to race in the 2011 Indianapolis 500 and the twin races at Texas Motor Speedway. Howard successfully qualified for the Indy 500 on pole day in the 20th position. He crashed out of the race after completing 60 laps and was credited with 30th place. Two weeks later he finished 15th and 20th in the twin races at Texas Motor Speedway.

2012 IndyCar Series

Howard was announced on April 23, 2012 as the driver of a Mike Shank Racing entry which was filed for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500.^[8] On May 2, 2012, MSR Indy Announced they had relieved Jay Howard of his duties to the team after an engine deal had not materialized for the team, leaving the Brit open to pursue other options.^[9]

Media work

In a national promotion with MTV and American Family Insurance Howard served as a Driver Coach with a music-obsessed teen named Lauren during the Fall of 2009. The spots were filmed on October 12 and 13 in Nebraska at Mid-America Motorplex. The spots started circulating during MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge on Oct. 28, 2009. The spots ran for four weeks during MTV's flagship program with the fifth installment slated for Dec. 4, 2009 during the mtvU Woodie Awards which were filmed on Wed. Oct 18 in NYC.^[10]

Howard is represented by BRANDed Management agency, founded by Klint Briney.

Personal life

Howard married his longtime girlfriend Courtney Nicoson on Saturday, October 29, 2011 in a private ceremony in Indianapolis, In.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Indianapolis 500

References

External links

• Jay Howard Official Website
• IndyCar Driver Page
• Twitter page
• Jay Howard Interview at the All Stars Karting Classic