Wade Cunningham

Wade Grant Cunningham (born 19 August 1984) is a former racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand who competed in the IndyCar Series from 2011 to 2012.

Racing career

Indy Lights Cunningham driving his Indy Lights car on the Streets of St. Petersburg in 2005

Cunningham's professional career began when he won the Karting World Championship in 2003.

The following year, Cunningham moved to the United States and competed in the Cooper Tires Formula Ford Zetec Championship in which he finished fifth after winning four consecutive poles and seven podium finishes. He won the 2005 Indy Lights Series championship in his rookie season for Brian Stewart Racing despite only winning a single race.

Cunningham continued with the team in 2006 and won three more races, including the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (becoming the first driver from New Zealand to do so) and placed third in championship points despite missing two races due to an emergency appendectomy. While missing out on the drivers title, the team was still able to claim their second consecutive entrants championship because they were able to replace Wade with a reserve driver for those events. He narrowly missed the title by eleven points and would have easily clinched his second drivers championship had he started either of those events.

Cunningham drove in the A1 Grand Prix series as practice driver for A1 Team New Zealand in the round in Taupō, New Zealand, and China. He returned to the Indy Lights Series in 2007 for AGR-AFS Racing where he finished third.

IndyCar Series

In December 2007, Cunningham tested an IndyCar Series machine for the first time at Sebring as a reward for his results with their satellite team in the Indy Lights Series, driving the Andretti Green Racing IndyCar normally driven by Marco Andretti.

Cunningham's brother Mitch made his Firestone Indy Lights Series debut (formerly the Indy Pro Series) in 2008 for Brian Stewart Racing, the same team with whom Wade had his initial success. Wade made a handful of starts in the series in 2008, both for Brian Stewart and in the Mid-Ohio double-header for the new Alliance Motorsports team.

Cunningham signed on to return to the series full-time in 2009 driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Upon joining the team, he became the first driver to win a second Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Cunningham won again that race in 2010 in a one-race deal for the Schmidt team, becoming the only three-time winner of the Freedom 100.

Sam Schmidt announced 11 February that Cunningham would make his Izod IndyCar Series debut in 2011 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in a three race deal. He qualified 8th on debut at Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone Texas Twin 275s and posted a season and career best IndyCar finish at the Indy Kentucky 300 when he finished seventh a mere 0.702 seconds from the lead.

Cunningham ran two races for A.J. Foyt Enterprises in 2012, the 2012 Indianapolis 500 in a second team car and the season finale after regular driver Mike Conway voluntarily sat out over safety concerns on oval tracks.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500 Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 2012 Dallara Honda 26 31 A. J. Foyt Enterprises

Complete A1 Grand Prix results Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points Ref 2006–07 New ZealandNEDSPRNEDFEACZESPRCZEFEABEISPRBEIFEAMYSSPRMYSFEAIDNSPRIDNFEA NZLSPRNZLFEAAUSSPRAUSFEARSASPRRSAFEAMEXSPRMEXFEASHASPRSHAFEAGBRSPRGBRSPR2nd93