Ryan Hampton

Ryan Hampton (born 17 April 1974 in Duarte, California) is an American former Indy Lights driver. Besides racing cars in races he also competed in drift competitions.

Career Hampton started his karting career in 1992 with the International Kart Federation. After racing touring cars in 1994 and 1995, Hampton made his open-wheel debut in 1996. The racing driver from California competed a Van Diemen in the SCCA Formula Continental class. The young driver also made his debut in the USF2000 in 1996. After failing to qualify at Walt Disney World Speedway his first start was at Phoenix International Raceway. At the Arizona track Hampton failed to finish. Hampton started three more USF2000 races with a best finish of tenth at Watkins Glen International.

Hampton scored his first USF2000 win in 1997. At Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina a fierce battle for the win occurred between Hampton and Matt Sielsky. Hampton made a decisive pass for the win in lap 26 out of thirty. Despite missing the first two races of the season, Hampton ended up sixth in the season standings. For 1998, Hampton was a championship contender in USF2000. Hampton won three races, one at Watkins Glen International and two at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However a devastating final race weekend obliterated his championship hopes. In the first race Hampton suffered car troubles. In the second race Hampton was disqualified as there was a foreign substance discovered on the cars tires in post-race technical inspection. Hampton finished second in the standings. For 1999 Hampton raced a partial season in USF2000. At the end of the season Hampton, and Larry Foyt, attended the Indy Racing League rookie test at Texas Motor Speedway. Hampton passed the rookie test in a Dallara IR9, previously raced by Billy Boat.

Grand-Am In 1998, Hampton made his debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Hampton joined Kryderacing which entered a Nissan 240SX in the GT3 class. The car failed to finish due to a failed engine. The following year Hampton joined Pettit Racing in a Mazda RX-7. The car finished in thirtieth place overall.

For 2000, Hampton joined Archangel Motorsport Services for the full season in the Rolex Sports Car Series SRPII class. Hampton, and teammate Larry Oberto, first raced a Chevrolet powered Magnum SC205 the team switched to the popular Lola B2K/40. The team scored five class wins and Hampton and Oberto were crowned SRPII class champions. Winning the championship earned him a U.S. F2000 Hall of Fame nomination. The following year Hampton joined Team Spencer Motorsports, again in the SRPII class. Racing a Kudzu Hampton was joined by Rich Grupp and Barry Waddell to score a class win at Watkins Glen International. The Californian remained at Team Spencer Motorsports for 2002 again running a partial schedule.

Indy Lights Willing to return to open wheel racing, Hampton founded Ryan Hampton Racing for the Indy Lights. Hampton made his debut at Michigan International Speedway finishing seventh. At Gateway International Raceway the young driver won his first Indy Lights race. Hampton beat Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Ed Carpenter. The California driver lead each lap of the thirty lap race. Hampton made a final appearance in the series in 2004. With sponsorship by Bush-Cheney '04, Hampton started tenth but crashed out of the race.

Drifting In 2005, Hampton joined Falken Tire for their second Formula D season. Besides Formula D, Hampton also competed in the Falken Tire 1969 Chevrolet Camaro in D1GP.

Personal Hampton currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. In his early career Hampton was an instructor at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Panoz Racing School and the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Hampton is currently employed by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. The American racing driver is a Citrus College graduate.

Complete motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Complete USF2000 National Championship results Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Points 1996 WDWDNQ STP PIR DSC151 MOS IRP RIR WGI110 WGI228 MID18 NHS LVSDNQ N.C. N.C. 1997 Archangel Motorsport Services WDW STP PIR15 DSC15 DSC23 SAV10 PPI16 CHA11 CHA22 MID9 WGI34 WGI28 6th 133 1998 Tatuus WDW11 PIR4 HMS12 HMS23 WGI4 WGI1 MID15 MIN2 CHA11 CHA21 MID236 ATL7 PPI128 PPI2DSQ 2nd 275 1999 Archangel Motorsport Services PIR12 CHA132 CHA230 MOS MOS MID ATL ROA1 ROA2 CTR MID PPI18 SEB1 SEB2 30th 10

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2002 Ryan Hampton Racing KAN NSH MIS7 KTY12 STL1 CHI14 TXS39th147 2004 Brian Stewart Racing HMS PHX INDY KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY PPIR CHI FON TXS14 27th 16

Sports Car racing

Rolex Sports Car Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class) Rolex Sports Car Series results Year Team No. Make Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points 2000 Archangel Motorsport Services 22 Lola SRPII DAY1 PIR HOM LRP MOH DAY2 ROA CTR WAT 274 2001 Team Spencer Motorsports 62 Kudzu SRPII DAY1 HOM PIR WAT LRP1 LRP2 MOH ROA CTR1 CTR2 DAY2 73 2002 Team Spencer Motorsports 62 Kudzu SRPII DAY1 HOM CAL PIR WAT1 DAY2 WAT2 VIR CMT DAY3 30 2003 Ferri Competizione 34 Ferrari GT DAY1 HOM PIR BAR CAL WAT1 MID DAY3 WAT2 CMT VIR DAY2 26

American Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class) American Le Mans Series results Year Team No. Make Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 2002 Team Spencer Motorsports 62 Lola LMP675 SEB SON MID ROA WAS CTR MOS LAG MIA ATL 18