Airton Daré (born 9 February 1978 in
Bauru
Bauru () is a Brazilian municipality located in the interior of São Paulo state, recognized as the most populous city in the Central-West region of São Paulo. It is one of the 19 municipalities comprising the Bauru Immediate Geographic Region ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
) is a Brazilian race car driver who has competed in the
Indy Racing League
IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...
. Daré began his racing career in
jet ski
A personal watercraft (PWC), also called Jet Ski or water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat.
P ...
racing in 1990. He won six Brazilian championships, one South American championship and came fourth in the world championship. In 1995, he switched to motorsports, participating in Brazilian Formula Fiat. In 1997, he competed in the
Indy Lights
Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...
and during three years in this category, he managed one victory in Detroit in 1998 and one in
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
in 1999, and his best championship result was a sixth place in 1998. He made his first IRL start in 2000 and was a long-time driver for
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
A. J. Foyt Racing, officially and historically known as A. J. Foyt Enterprises, is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and formerly NASCAR. It is owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le ...
. Airton has a single IRL race win which he captured for Foyt in 2002 at
Kansas Speedway
Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The track, since its inaugural season of ...
. He was also the 2000 IRL Rookie of the Year. Dare has five starts in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
with a best finish of 8th in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
.
His best IRL points finish is 9th in 2002. He drove in the
2006 Indianapolis 500
The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish Jr. won from the pole position. It was Hornish's first and only win at Indianapolis, and the record fourteenth Indy v ...
for
Sam Schmidt Motorsports
The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM). The team operates the N ...
, finishing in 18th position.
He also races
stock cars
Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...
and motocross in his native Brazil.
Racing record
American open-wheel racing results
(
key)
Indy Lights results
(
key)
IndyCar Series
Indianapolis 500 results
References
The Greatest 33 Profile
1978 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Bauru
Brazilian racing drivers
IndyCar Series drivers
Brazilian IndyCar Series drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indy Lights drivers
Stock Car Brasil drivers
{{Brazil-autoracing-bio-stub
Arrow McLaren SP drivers
A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
Long stubs with short prose