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 Champ Car 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, finishing as high as 4th in the 2001 race.

[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	LOU	TOR Ret	MIC	CLE 14	ROA	VAN Ret	MDO Wtd	NAZ DNQ	LAG 12					22	8
1993	Hayhoe/Cole	SUR Ret	PIR 3	LBH Ret	IND 13	MIL 8	DET Ret	POR 11	CLE	TOR 11	MIC	LOU 9	ROA	VAN Ret	MDO 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
1996	Ganassi	MIA 1	RIO 8	SUR 1	LBH 1	NAZ 7	500 1	MIL 10	DET 12	POR 13	CLE 10	TOR 8	MIC 9	MDO 2	ROA 6	VAN 7	LAG 4					1	154
1997	Ganassi	MIA 3	SUR 12	LBH 9	NAZ 5	RIO 9	GAT 5	MIL 3	DET 4	POR Ret	CLE 13	TOR 7	MIC Ret	MDO 5	ROA 8	VAN 2	LAG 1	FON 2				3	144
1998	Ganassi	MIA 16	MOT 7	LBH 8	NAZ 1	RIO 6	GAT 4	MIL 1	DET 6	POR 8	CLE 7	TOR 3	MIC 2	MDO Ret	ROA 9	VAN Ret	LAG 5	HOU 4	SUR Ret	FON 1		2	169
1999	Ganassi	MIA 4	MOT 12	LBH 10	NAZ 11	RIO Ret	GAT 10	MIL 4	POR 12	CLE Ret	ROA Ret	TOR 8	MIC 9	DET 5	MDO 4	CHI 3	VAN 3	LAG Ret	HOU Ret	SUR Ret	FON 5	9	104
2000	Ganassi	MIA 4	LBH 3	RIO 2	MOT Ret	NAZ 7	MIL 13	DET 7	POR Ret	CLE 8	TOR 9	MIC Ret	CHI 8	MDO Ret	ROA 5	VAN 6	LAG 8	GAT 7	HOU 1	SUR 3	FON Ret	6	131
2002	Team Rahal	MOY Ret	LBH 2	MOT Ret	MIL 9	LAG 8	POR Ret	CHI Ret	TOR 6	CLE 6	VAN Ret	MDO 8	ROA 5	MON 5	DEN 10	ROC 7	MIA 3	SUR 12	FON 1	MEX 11		6	114
2003	Spirit	STP 6	MOY 14	LBH 4	BRH Ret	LAU 8	MIL 11	LAG 8	POR 7	CLE 13	TOR 13	VAN Ret	ROA 9	MDO 15	MON Ret	DEN 11	MIA 4	MEX Ret	SUR 3	FON NH		11	72
2004	PKV Racing	LBH Ret	MOY Ret	MIL 4	POR 8	CLE 5	TOR 2	VAN 10	ROA 8	DEN Ret	MON 8	LAG Ret	LVG 5	SUR 12	MEX 5							8	201*
2005	PKV Racing	LBH 9	MOY Ret	MIL 5	POR 6	CLE 6	TOR 4	EDM 11	SAN Ret	DEN Ret	MON 7	LVG 3	SUR 3	MEX 6								6	217
2006	PKV Racing	LBH Ret	HOU	MOT	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	EDM	SAN	DEN	MON	ROA	SUR	MEX							24	7

• New Points system implemented 2004

[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