Buddy Lazier

Robert Buddy Lazier (born October 31, 1967) is an American auto racing driver, best known for winning the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and the 2000 Indy Racing League season championship.

Lazier began his racing career in the 1980s by competing in such series as the IMSA GT Championship, the SCCA Canadian-American Challenge Cup and the American Indycar Series. Lazier won the American Indycar Series championship in 1988. Lazier started his IndyCar career in 1989 by competing in the Indy Car World Series. During the season, Lazier failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Lazier eventually qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 1991. During his Champ Car career, Lazier often drove for teams that used older chassis and engines; his best finish in the Champ Car standings was a nineteenth-place finish in 1992.

Lazier began to compete in the newly formed Indy Racing League in 1996. Lazier won the Indianapolis 500 that season, and he became one of the most dominant drivers in the series for a period of time, winning eight races overall and the series championship in 2000. Lazier began to drive only at the Indianapolis 500 in 2007 and continued to enter the Indianapolis 500 through 2009. He did not return to the series until 2013 at the Indianapolis 500 when he competed for Lazier Partners Racing, a team started by his father Bob Lazier and various investors. Lazier and the team repeated their efforts in 2014, 2015, 2016 and, for the final time, in 2017.

Career Lazier was originally a competitive skier, and for a time was part of the U.S. Olympic developmental program. but ultimately was unable to do so. As a result, Lazier did not contest any part of the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1988. In 2011, Lazier was reported to be in line for a drive at the Indianapolis 500 for Dragon Racing. Dragon Racing opted to run Ho-Pin Tung and Scott Speed, with Speed later being replaced by Patrick Carpentier. For the second year in a row, Lazier did not attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

2013–15 Lazier returned to the IndyCar Series after a three-year absence in 2013 when on May 8, Lazier's father, Bob Lazier, formed a team called Lazier Partners Racing with Corbet Krause, Chris Nielsen and Jason Peters. The team purchased a Dallara DW12 chassis from Fan Force United for $250,000. The chassis needed to be modified to have a Chevrolet engine placed into it. Lazier originally drove the car with no sponsorship and the paint scheme remained the same as when Fan Force United fielded the car, albeit with orange replacing the original gold stripes. Lazier first practiced on May 16, completing only installation laps. Lazier took his refresher test the next day and was quickly practicing at speeds greater than . On Pole Day, the team gained sponsorship from Advance Auto Parts and Lazier posted a qualifying speed of , failing to make the race on Pole Day. On Bump Day, Lazier qualified for the race in 32nd place with a speed of . Lazier officially drove the car as the No. 91 entry, with Spirit of Oklahoma added to the car after the tornados in Moore, Oklahoma on May 20 as a sign of respect for the victims. Lazier retired from the race after completing 44 laps due to mechanical problems. Lazier only competed at Indianapolis and was ranked in 38th place in the final championship standings with eight points.

For 2014, Lazier returned with Lazier Partners Racing to drive the No. 91 Dallara-Chevrolet at the Indianapolis 500. Lazier did not practice until May 15. On the first day of qualifying, Lazier posted a speed of and had the 33rd-fastest speed. On Pole Day, Lazier qualified for the race with a speed of and started in 33rd place. On the first lap of the race, Lazier narrowly avoided Ryan Briscoe, who had nearly spun coming off turn 2. Lazier completed 87 laps before retiring due to clutch problems, and was scored in 32nd place. By starting the race, Lazier joined Tom Sneva and Roger McCluskey in a tie for tenth place for the most Indianapolis 500 starts with eighteen. Lazier also moved into seventh place for the most laps completed, with 2,797. Lazier only competed at Indianapolis and ultimately finished in 35th place in the final standings with eleven points.

In 2015, Lazier returned with Lazier Partners Racing to drive the No. 91 Dallara-Chevrolet at the Indianapolis 500. Lazier used using Chevrolet's new aero kit on the car. Lazier first practiced on May 14, completing 28 laps prior to Pole Day. The car then suffered gearbox issues prior to qualifying and Lazier was unable to make an attempt to qualify in the original line, but was repaired in time for the Last Row Shootout. The speed of Lazier's first qualifying attempt was , compared to Bryan Clauson's next-slowest speed of . Lazier's pit crew made wing adjustments to reduce the car's downforce. Lazier improved to a speed of , but ultimately ran out of time and failed to qualify.

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series In 2001, Lazier competed in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Lazier drove the No. 74 Riley & Scott Mk III-Judd with Jack Baldwin, George Robinson and Irv Hoerr for Robinson Racing in the Sport Racing Prototype (SR) class. Lazier only competed with the team at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. The car started in 2nd place overall and led ten laps during the race. The car then suffered an engine failure after completing 563 laps; the car was classified in fifth place in its class and 22nd place overall. Lazier finished in 35th place in the final championship standings with 29 points.

International Race of Champions In 2001, Lazier competed in the International Race of Champions as a representative of the Indy Racing Northern Light Series, with Eddie Cheever, Mark Dismore and Scott Goodyear – latterly replaced by Al Unser Jr. for the final two races of the season due to injuries received at the Indianapolis 500 – also representing the series. Lazier, as with the other drivers, drove a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. At the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, Lazier started in eighth place and finished in eleventh place due to a crash on lap 27 with Jeff Burton. At the following race at Talladega Superspeedway, Lazier started and finished in third place. At the third race of the season at Michigan International Speedway, Lazier started in seventh place and finished in sixth place. At the final race of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Lazier started in fourth place and finished in eleventh place due to another crash with Burton, who had led every lap in the race up to that point. Lazier finished in ninth place in the final championship standings with 31 points, earning $40,000 for his efforts.

Lazier returned to the series in 2002, with Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Sharp and Unser Jr. joining him from the IRL. At the season-opening race at Daytona, Lazier started in seventh place and finished in tenth place. At the second race of the season, at California Speedway, Lazier started in third place and finished in ninth place. At the following race at Chicagoland Speedway, Lazier qualified on pole position, and led flag-to-flag. At the final race of the season at Indianapolis, Lazier started in eighth place and finished in fourth place. As a result, Lazier finished in second place in the final standings with 49 points, five points behind champion Kevin Harvick.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Later in his career, Lazier participated in NASCAR for a brief time. In 2005, Lazier tested a Chevrolet Silverado for Billy Ballew Motorsports at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In 2007, Lazier returned to drive for Billy Ballew Motorsports in the No. 15 Chevrolet Silverado at the Smith's Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Lazier said of the opportunity, "The opportunity arose for us to race in Las Vegas and I am extremely excited. They are racers on that team and to me it's a perfect fit, and I feel right at home with the whole team." nowrap| Gary Trout Motorsports 23

91

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nowrap| Dick Simon Racing 90 nowrap| Lola T94/00 nowrap| Ford Cosworth XB

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IndyCar Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref 1996 Hemelgarn Racing 91 Reynard Ford Cosworth WDW PHX INDY 14th 159 1996–97 NHA LVS 8th 209 Dallara Infiniti WDW PHX Oldsmobile INDY TXS PPIR CLT NHA LVS 1998 WDW PHX INDY TXS NHA DOV CLT PPIR ATL TXS LVS 5th 262 1999 WDW PHX CLT1 INDY TXS PPIR ATL DOV PPIR LVS TXS 6th 224 2000 Riley & Scott WDW PHX LVS 1st 290 Dallara INDY TXS PPIR ATL KTY TXS 2001 PHX HMS ATL INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH KTY GTW CHI TXS 2nd 398 2002 Chevrolet HMS PHX FON NAZ INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY GTW CHI TXS 8th 305 2003 HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS GTW KTY NAZ CHI FON TXS 19th 201 2004 Dreyer & Reinboldwith Hemelgarn HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY PPIR NAZ CHI FON TXS 33rd 12 2005 Panther Racing 95 HMS PHX STP MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY PPIR SNM CHI WGL FON 23rd 140 2 MIL 2006 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 5 Honda HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY SNM CHI 18th 122 2007 Sam Schmidt Motorsports 99 HMS STP MOT KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MOH MIS KTY SNM DET CHI 28th 12 2008 Hemelgarn-Johnson Racing 91 HMS STP MOT1 LBH1 KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MOH EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF2 37th 13 2009 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL TOR EDM KTY MOH SNM CHI MOT HMS NC – 2013 Lazier Partners Racing Dallara DW12 Chevrolet STP ALA LBH SAO INDY DET DET TXS MIL IOW POC TOR TOR MOH SNM BAL HOU HOU FON 38th 8 2014 STP LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS HOU HOU POC IOW TOR TOR MOH MIL SNM FON 35th 11 2015 STP NLA LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS TOR FON MIL IOW MOH POC SNM NC – 2016 Lazier Burns Racing 4 STP PHX LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET RDA IOW TOR MOH POC TXS WGL SNM 35th 12 2017 Lazier Partners Racing 44 STP LBH ALA PHX IMS INDY DET DET TXS ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GTW WGL SNM 37th 14

Season still in progress. 1 Run on same day. 2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2007 Billy Ballew Motorsports 15 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 93rd 91

International Race of Champions (key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.) International Race of Champions results Year Make 1 2 3 4 Pos. Points Ref 2001 Pontiac DAY TAL MCH IND 9th 31 2002 DAY CAL CHI IND 2nd 49