Wikipedia

Dick Simon Racing

Dick Simon Racing was a race team owned by racer Dick Simon that competed in the CART Championship Car series from 1983 to 1995 and the Indy Racing League from 1999 to 2001.

CART edit

 
Dick Simon's March 84C at Laguna Seca in 1984.

The team was founded in 1983 when Simon decided to bring his sponsorship from Vermont American to a new team of his own creation. He saw an immediate boost in performance as he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1980 and was noticeably more competitive than he was with the Leader Card team. In 1985 Simon brought in Brazilian Raul Boesel to drive full-time as he scaled back his own racing to a part-time schedule, occasionally joining Boesel in a second car. Simon only competed in four races in 1986 as Boesel drove the team's primary car to 17th in points and was competitive in nearly every race. A number of other drivers made part-time appearances in Simon's other entry as Dick Simon Racing became one of the premier teams for pay drivers. This trend continued in 1988 which would be Simon's final year of racing as Arie Luyendyk replaced Boesel in the team's full-time entry. In 1989 Scott Brayton joined Luyendyk as the team fielded a pair of full-time fully funded entries for the first time. Luyendyk finished 10th in points while Brayton finished 15th. Luyendyk left the team for 1990 and was replaced by Japanese rookie Hiro Matsushita while Brayton again finished 15th. Matsushita took his Panasonic funding elsewhere for 1991, leaving Brayton to drive a single Simon entry to a respectable 12th-place points finish. Brayton, Matsushita, and Boesel returned to the team in 1992 and Boesel finished 9th in the championship while Brayton finished 15th again. The team also fielded a car in the Indy 500 for female rookie Lyn St. James who became the second woman to compete in the race. St. James returned for a partial schedule in 1993 while Brayton and Boesel drove the full-time cars to 15th and 5th-place points finishes respectively, with Boesel capturing 3 runner-up finishes. In 1994 Matsushita again returned to the team as Boesel continued in the other car, this time finishing 7th in points. In 1995 the team signed Dean Hall and Formula One veteran Eliseo Salazar to drive the team's two cars and they were joined in April by rookie Carlos Guerrero. Hall left the team after failing to qualify for the Indy 500 while Salazar and Guerrero managed 21st and 30th-place points finishes respectively.

The team finished its years in CART without winning a race, but captured two poles, both by Boesel at the Milwaukee Mile in 1993 and 1994. The team had six second place finishes, one with Arie Luyendyk in 1988, and the rest with Boesel.

As an owner, Simon had a stellar record of his rookie drivers successfully qualifying for the Indy 500. As a tradition, Simon cars frequently made the effort to be "first car(s) on the track" at Indy on the opening day of practice, a popular ceremonial honor.

Indy Racing League edit

In 1996 Dick Simon sold much of the team's cars and assets to Team Scandia founder Andy Evans and Simon was listed on many of the team's entries in the new Indy Racing League as Simon/Scandia Racing. It was during that year that Scandia set a race record by having 7 of their cars qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Dick Simon returned to the IRL in 1999 with Stephan Gregoire who competed in a full schedule but failed to qualify for the Indy 500 and finished 15th in points. Gregoire returned in 2000 and finished 14th in points and was joined in the Indianapolis 500 by Lyn St. James who began her IndyCar career with Simon 8 years earlier. Both cars made the race and while St. James wrecked early in the race, Gregoire finished 8th. Gregoire was set to return for a full season in 2001, but after the team again failed to qualify for the Indy 500, the team shut down in May of that year.

When his own team failed to qualify at the 2001 Indy 500, on race day Simon was hired to be the team strategist for Robby Gordon at A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

NASCAR edit

At the 1994 Brickyard 400, Dick Simon was the co-owner of Jim Sauter's entry. The car failed to qualify.

Drivers edit

CART edit

IRL edit

* indicates car was entered as Simon/Scandia Racing

Complete Racing Results edit

PPG CART Indycar World Series edit

(key)

Year Chassis Engine Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts Pos Pos
1983 ATL INDY MIL CLE MCH ROA POC RIV MDO MCH CPL LAG PHX
March 83C Cosworth DFX   Dick Simon 22 DNQ 15 11 14 19 14 23 29th 2
Eagle 83 13 25 15
  Jorge Koechlin (R) 19 15 41st 0
1984 LBH PHX INDY MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MDO SAN MCH PHX LAG CPL
March 84C Cosworth DFX   Dick Simon 22 19 4 23 13 20 24 DNQ 12 15 12 24 12 15 21 14 DNQ 25th 15
  Mike Nish (R) 23 15 DNQ 40th 0
1985 LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MDO SAN MCH LAG PHX MIA
March 85C Cosworth DFX   Raul Boesel (R) 22 20 11 11 12 8 23 20 23 30th 10
23 18 28
  Dick Simon 22 26 13 25 10 17 19 DNQ 36th 3
23 17
March 84C   Mike Nish DNQ NC —
1986 PHX LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC MDO SAN MCH ROA LAG PHX MIA
Lola T8600 Cosworth DFX   Raul Boesel 22 13 19 13 14 8 23 6 7 5 5 7 9 15 8 14 13 19 13th 54
  Dick Simon 23 14 22 23 20 42nd 0
  Chip Robinson (R) 14 7 26th 6
  Ian Ashley 15 9 23 28th 4
1987 LBH PHX INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC ROA MDO NAZ LAG MIA
Lola T8700 Cosworth DFX   Dick Simon 22 20 10 6 20 18 14 23 23 9 21 18 20th 15
  Wally Dallenbach Jr. 12 37th 1
  Ludwig Heimrath 26 34th 5
23 15 22 30 10 12 17 18 19 25 12
  Fulvio Ballabio (R) 26 48th 0
  Jeff Wood 10 15 DNQ 10 33rd 6
22 23
  John Richards (R) 13 38th 0
Lola T8600 27 26 13 14
  Ian Ashley 20 43rd 0
1988 PHX LBH INDY MIL POR CLE TOR MEA MCH POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG MIA
Lola T8800 Cosworth DFX   Arie Luyendyk 7 9 10 10 15 2* 18 20 20 28 26 25 19 9 22 14 14th 31
  Dick Simon 22 9 12 7 20 24th 11
Lola T8700 19 19
  Scott Pruett (R) 18 38th 0
Lola T8800   Didier Theys 10 9 18 21 10 23 8 3 15th 29
Lola T8700   Fulvio Ballabio 23 25 17 18 39th 0
  Tero Palmroth (R) 19 18 42nd 0
  Jean-Pierre Frey (R) 13 19 37th 0
1989 PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG
Lola T8900 Cosworth DFS   Arie Luyendyk 7 17 7 6 6 3 9 7 24 6 23 8 4 13 9 10th 75
9 21
  Scott Brayton 22 15 12 18 DSQ 13 28 10 14 11 14 15 13 10 20 15th 17
Buick 3300 V6t 6
1990 PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH DEN VAN MDO ROA NAZ LAG
Lola T8900 Cosworth DFS   Hiro Matsushita (R) 10 19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 31st 1
Lola T9000   Tero Palmroth DNS 33rd 1
23 12
Lola T8900 28 27
  Johnny Rutherford DNQ NC —
  Joe Sposato (R) 17 39th 0
Lola T9000   Scott Brayton 22 13 9 7 20 10 25 22 9 14 16 12 9 8 13 12 24 15th 28
1991 SFR LBH PHX INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH DEN VAN MDO ROA NAZ LAG
Lola T9000 Cosworth DFS   Hiro Matsushita 7 21 14 10 14 14 23rd 6
Lola T9100 13 14 12 15 19 14 16 14 12 12
Buick 3300 V6t 16
Chevrolet 265A 20
  Scott Brayton 22 6 8 13 17 6 9 15 7 9 6 9 16 10 13 11 19 27 12th 52
Lola T9000 Cosworth DFS   Tero Palmroth 23 23 48th 0
1992 SFR PHX LBH INDY DET POR MIL NHA TOR MCH CLE ROA VAN MDO NAZ LAG
Lola T9200 Chevrolet 265A   Hiro Matsushita 11 DNQ 16 10 DNQ 24 14 13 18 14 15 27th 3
  Raul Boesel 7 2 9 10 18 3 9th 80
23 22 6 8 11 7 6 6
  Scott Brayton 22 20 9 17 12 22 3 17 17 10 21 12 8 10 8 10 15th 39
Buick 3300 V6t 22
Lola T9100 Chevrolet 265A   Philippe Gache (R) 44 28 60th 0
  Lyn St. James (R) 90 11 33rd 1
1993 SFR PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH NHA ROA VAN MDO NAZ LAG
Lola T9306 Ford XB   Raul Boesel 9 8 2 12 4 2* 2 7 7 7 4 21 4 9 4 9 11 5th 132
Lola T9200   Scott Brayton 22 16 25 14 15th 36
Lola T9306 24 6 6 17 18 19 11 6 7 24 9 15 24
Lola T9200   Didier Theys 23 15 42nd 0
Buick 3300 V6t   Stéphan Grégoire (R) 36 19 46th 0
Chevrolet 265A   John Brooks 44 DNQ NC —
  Gary Brabham (R) 90 14 40th 0
Ford XB   Lyn St. James 13 17 36th 0
Lola T9306 25 DNQ 20 23 22
  Bertrand Gachot (R) 12 34th 1
  Eddie Cheever 6 17th 21
  Maurício Gugelmin (R) 21 13 37th 0
18 24
1994 SFR PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH MDO NHA VAN ROA NAZ LAG
Lola T9400 Ford XB   Raul Boesel 5 27 8 4 21 8 28 23 6 12 9* 8 4 23 6 4 2 7th 90
  Hiro Matsushita 22 15 27 DNQ 14 23 DNQ 21 15 18 6 18 17 DNQ 14 16 23 26th 8
  Lyn St. James 90 19 48th 0
Lola T9306   Dennis Vitolo 79 26 53rd 0
  Tero Palmroth DNQ NC —
  Hideshi Matsuda (R) 99 24 52nd 0
1995 MIA SFR PHX LBH NAZ INDY MIL DET POR ROA TOR CLE MCH MDO NHA VAN LAG
Lola T9400 Ford XB   Eliseo Salazar (R) 7 24 21st 19
Lola T9500 17 10 15 12 4 16 20 15 18 21 10 18 13 13 13 DNQ
  Arie Luyendyk 22 25 26th 6
  Carlos Guerrero 11 33 15 24 24 17 26 18 16 15 18 30th 2
Lola T9400 14 21 19
Lola T9500   Davy Jones 77 23 43rd 0
  Lyn St. James 90 32 17 39th 0
Lola T9400 20
  Tero Palmroth DNQ NC —
Lola T9500   Dean Hall 99 12 12 17 17 16 DNQ 31st 2
1996 MIA RIO SFR LBH NAZ 500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH MDO ROA VAN LAG
Lola T9600 Ford XB   Marco Greco 7 25 12 23nd 1
  Eliseo Salazar 21 18 11 15 30th 2
  Carlos Guerrero 22 20 20 14 33rd 0
  Michel Jourdain Jr. (R) 23 23 DNS 22 16 26 37th 0

Indy Racing League results edit

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis Engine Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
19961 WDW PHX INDY
Lola T95
Lola T94[N 1]
Lola T93[N 2]
Reynard 95I[N 3] 		Ford Cosworth   Eliseo Salazar 7 Wth 6
  Fermín Vélez 19
34 21
  Alessandro Zampedri 8 4
  Michel Jourdain Jr. 22 20 13
  Michele Alboreto 33 4 8 30
  Joe Gosek[N 4] 43 22
  Lyn St. James 90 8 21
  Racin Gardner 25
1999 WDW PHX CLT INDY TXS PPIR ATL DOV PPIR LSV TXS
G-Force GF01C Oldsmobile Aurora V8   Stéphan Grégoire 7 16 10 C2 DNQ 4 11 24 14 14 8 15
2000 WDW PHX LSV INDY TXS PPIR ATL KTY TXS
G-Force GF05 Oldsmobile Aurora V8   Stéphan Grégoire 7 18 8 28 8 11 8 7 5 20
  Lyn St. James 90 32
2001 PHX HMS ATL INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH KTY GAT CHI TXS
Dallara IR-01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8   Stéphan Grégoire 7 21 22 15 DNQ
  Roberto Guerrero DNQ
17 DNQ
  1. ^ Run in conjunction with Team Scandia.
  2. ^ The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.
  1. ^ Used by Alessandro Zampedri, Joe Gosek and Racin Gardner.
  2. ^ Used by Lyn St. James at Walt Disney World
  3. ^ Used by Michele Alboreto at Walt Disney World and Lyn St. James at Phoenix.
  4. ^ Switched from Tempero-Giuffre Racing (car #15) during practice for the Indy 500.
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