Aaron Justus (born October 23, 1973 in

Pittsfield, Illinois Pittsfield is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,576 at the 2010 census, an increase from 4,211 in 2000. History Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These settl ...

) is a former American racing driver. Justus won the

USF2000 The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

championship in the year 2000 and continued into the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

. Currently Justus is an entrepreneur with his own graphics design company.

Career

Justus started his karting career in 1981 at the age of eight. In 1985 the young driver won the IKF Grand National Championship in the Junior I class. He won another Grand National Championship in 1988 in the Junior III class. In 1995 Justus started his formula racing career in the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

sanctioned Formula Russell Championship winning the series. For 1996 Justus was one of 25 drivers selected for the Team Green Academy. After catching the eye of

and

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

team owner

John Della Penna Della Penna Motorsports was an auto racing team that competed in the Toyota Atlantic, IndyCar, and CART series from 1990–2000. The team was founded by Argentinian businessman and engineer John Della Penna, who himself raced in Formula Atlanti ...

the plan was to replace

Richie Hearn Richie Hearn (born January 4, 1971) is an American former racing driver. Hearn was born in Glendale, California. He ran in the Toyota Atlantic championship for two seasons, winning the title in 1995. In 1996, he began driving for John Della ...

in the Atlantics race seat. However money was a factor and the budget did not come together. In 1996 Justus started four

races. His best result was in the

streets of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...

where he finished fifth. Funding his racing efforts with graphics design work Justus did not race in 1997. In 1998 Justus had one single USF2000 outing, at the 1998 Colorado Grand Prix. Justus finished his

Van Diemen Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula For ...

chassis in third place for the first race, behind

David Besnard David Besnard, (born 21 January 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is a retired professional racing driver. Career history Starting in karts in 1991, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Easte ...

and

Sam Hornish Jr. Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017. He began his top-tier raci ...

The sole 1998 outing impressed

Gerald Forsythe Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...

who brought Justus in at

Cape Motorsports A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

for the 1999 season. Justus won the third round of the season at

Lowe's Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

. Later in the season Justus also won the second race at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

. Despite missing the last four races of the season Justus finished tenth in the season standings. He returned with the team for 2000 for a full-time outing. In 2000 Justus dominated the series. Justus claimed eight pole positions in thirteen races. The young driver won five of the races and claimed the championship. After a sabbatical Justus returned for 2002 for three races in the

with Performance Development & Racing. His best finish was a seventh place at the

Denver street circuit The Grand Prix of Denver was a Champ Car race last held on a street circuit in Denver, Colorado, United States. A Champ Car race was first held in Denver in 1909 on a 14.5-mile (23.3-km) road circuit in nearby Brighton. Racing returned to the C ...

. For 2003 Justus joined

RuSPORT RuSPORT was an auto racing team that competed in the Champ Car, Champ Car World Series. It was founded in September 2002 by Carl Russo. Team history Russo drove for the team then known as Performance Development and Racing (PDR) based in Fort Co ...

for a full-time effort alongside

A. J. Allmendinger Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger's professi ...

. Despite failing to win a race Justus scored four podium finishes. Justus finished fifth in the series standings. At the end of the season Justus retired from competitive autosport to run his graphics design company Manifest Group.

Racing record

American Open-Wheel racing results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest race lap)

USF2000 National Championship

Atlantic Championship

References

External links

Manifest Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Justus, Aaron 1973 births Racing drivers from Illinois People from Pittsfield, Illinois U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers International Kart Federation drivers Atlantic Championship drivers American graphic designers Living people RuSPORT drivers