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Mike Groff
American racing driver

Mike Groff

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
American racing driver
Work field
Gender
Male
Age
63 years
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961 in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.

Racing career

Formula Super Vee and Indy Lights

Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert Bosche Formula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In 1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America and finished third in points. In 1987 he won at Nazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988 he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989 he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

CART Champ Car

Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Euromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at the Detroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In 12 starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished 17th in points.

In 1991 Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished 16th in points. He also competed in his first Indianapolis 500.

Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car for Walker Racing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driver Scott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (2 races), Walker (1 race), and Foyt (3 races) and finished 23rd in points.

In 1993 Groff joined Rahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.

1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment with Honda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchase Ilmor-powered cars from Team Penske to make the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Despite a full-season with a well-funded team, Groff only finished 20th in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.

In 1995 Groff's only on-track activity was practice laps for the 1995 Indianapolis 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing, but he did not make an attempt to qualify.

IRL IndyCar

In 1996 Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race at Phoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished 14th and qualified 11th for the 1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.

For the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured 3 straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a second at Walt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series new naturally aspirated cars). He finished 12th in the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in 1998. After finishes of 7th, 15th, and 15th to start the season, he was replaced at the Texas Motor Speedway race by John Paul, Jr.. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.

Groff attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Team Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

YearTeam123456789101112RankPoints
1986Groff MotorsportPHX1
12
MIL
1
MEA
12
TOR
2
POC
2
MDO
13
ROA
1
LS
7
PHX2
7
MIA5th89
1987Patrick RacingPHX
4
MIL
3
MEA
10
CLE
12
TOR
2
POC
10
MDO
3
NAZ
1
LS
5
MIA
11
3rd96
1988Agapiou RacingPHXMILPORCLETORMEA
15
POCMDOROA
5
13th26
Leading Edge MotorsportNAZ
2
LSMIA
1989Leading Edge MotorsportPHX
1
LBH
9
MIL
1
DET
4
POR
5
MEA
1
TOR
7
POC
13
MDO
2
ROA
4
NAZ
1
LS
2
1st163

CART

YearTeamChassisEngine1234567891011121314151617RankPoints
1990EuromotorsportLola T89/00Cosworth DFS V8tPHXLBHIND
DNQ
MILDET
Ret
POR
Ret
CLE
9
MEA
Ret
17th17
Lola T90/00TOR
11
MIS
11
DEN
14
VAN
Ret
MDO
10
ROA
Ret
NAZ
7
LS
15
1991EuromotorsportLola T91/00Cosworth DFS V8tSRF
8
LBH
Ret
PHX
Ret
IND
Ret
MIL
Ret
DET
Ret
POR
11
CLE
10
MEA
11
16th22
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet 265A V8tTOR
8
MISDEN
DNS
VANMDO
Ret
ROA
8
NAZLS
Ret
1992Walker RacingLola T91/00Chevrolet 265A V8tSRFPHXLBHINDDET
PORROA
Ret
VAN25th5
EuromotorsportCosworth DFS V8tMIL
14
NHA
13
TORMISCLE
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet 265A V8tMDO
15
Lola T92/00NAZ
Ret
LS
8
1993Rahal-Hogan RacingRahal-Hogan RH-001Chevrolet 265C V8tSRFPHXLBHIND
DNQ
MIL
Ret
DET
Ret
POR
9
CLETORMISNHA
11
23rd8
Lola T93/00ROA
Ret
VANMDO
Ret
NAZLS
1994Rahal-Hogan RacingLola T93/00Honda HRX V8tSRF
8
20th17
Lola T94/00PHX
6
LBH
Ret
MIL
19
DET
Ret
POR
11
CLE
Ret
TOR
Ret
MIS
Ret
MDO
Ret
NHA
Ret
VAN
14
ROA
Ret
NAZ
11
LS
15
Penske PC-22Ilmor 265C V8tIND
Ret
1995Chip Ganassi RacingReynard 95iFord XB V8tMIASRFPHXLBHNAZIND
DNQ
MILDETPORROATORCLEMISMDONHAVANLSNC-
1996Walker RacingReynard 96iFord XD V8tMIARIOSRFLBHNAZ
14
500MILDETPORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLS34th0

Indy Racing League

YearTeamChassisEngine1234567891011RankPoints
1996A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLola T95/00Ford XB V8tWDW
6
PHX
3
6th228
Walker RacingReynard 95iINDY
20
1996-1997Byrd-Cunningham RacingReynard 95iFord XB V8tNHM
4
LVS
3
14th169
G-Force GF01Infiniti VRH35ADE V8WDW
2
PHX
6
IND
12
TXS
DNS
PPINH2
DNS
LV2
Oldsmobile Aurora V8CLT
14
1998Byrd-Cunningham RacingG-Force GF01BOldsmobile Aurora V8WDW
7
PHX
15
INDY
15
TXS
Rpl
NHMDOVCLTPPIATLTX2LVS30th56
1999TeamXtremeDallara IR9Infiniti VRH35ADE V8WDWPHXINDY
DNQ
TXSPPIATLDOVPP2LVSTX2NC-

Indianapolis 500

YearChassisEngineStartFinishTean
1990Lola T89/00Cosworth DFS V8tDNQEuromotorsport
1991Lola T91/00Cosworth DFS V8t1824Euromotorsport
1992Lola T91/00Chevrolet 265A V8tRaced by S. GoodyearWalker Racing
1993Rahal-Hogan RH-001Chevrolet 265C V8tNo AttemptRahal-Hogan Racing
1994Penske PC-22Ilmor 265C V8t3131Rahal-Hogan Racing
1995Reynard 95iFord XB V8tRaced by Bryan HertaChip Ganassi Racing
1996Reynard 95iFord XB V8t1120Walker Racing
1997G-Force GF01Infiniti VRH35ADE V81812Byrd
1998G-Force GF01BOldsmobile Aurora V83215Byrd
1999Dallara IR9Infiniti VRH35ADE V8DNQTeamXtreme

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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