Anthony Lazzaro (born August 26, 1963) is a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

and

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

driver. He is usually classified as a NASCAR

road course ringer In NASCAR, a road course ringer, also known as road course specialist, road course expert, or a road runner, is a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series team to race specifically on road courses. , current ...

; however, he has made other starts in the

Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

. He also has open-wheel oval racing experience.

Racing career

Lazzaro started in karting, winning numerous World Karting Association championships between 1987 and 1992. Lazzaro came-up through the open-wheel ranks, first racing in the Olds Pro Series in 1993, winning at Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Dallas and again at Road Atlanta. He won the pole at Mid Ohio and a podium finish of third with other podium finishes at the Moroso National S2000 and at Trois Rivieres. He was also the Hooter Formula Cup Champion in 1995, winning 6 of the 14 races and 9 poles. As a rookie in 1996, in the

Toyota Atlantic 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) ...

Series, he won the race at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

. He won races in 1997 ( Homestead-Miami Speedway) and 1998 (

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

). His rise culminated in a Toyota Atlantic championship in 1999. That year he won 4 races (Nazareth,

Gateway International Raceway World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a o ...

, Trois-Rivieres,

). Lazzaro first began racing stock cars in the ARCA in 1999. At the ARCA event at the

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

that year, Lazzaro was injured in a multi-car wreck late in the race after he made contact with Bill Baird and spun down to the grass, before his Thunderbird lifted off the ground and slammed the Turn 3 banking before being t-boned by Skip Smith. Lazzaro suffered a

compression fracture A compression fracture is a collapse of a vertebra. It may be due to trauma or due to a weakening of the vertebra (compare with burst fracture). This weakening is seen in patients with osteoporosis or osteogenesis imperfecta, lytic lesions from m ...

of the thoracic T3 vertebra in the crash that eliminated half a dozen cars. In 2000, Lazzaro raced ten

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

races for

PPI Motorsports PPI Motorsports was a race team which competed in CART, NASCAR and various off-road racing circuits. The team had one of the few remaining single car operations in NASCAR. Early years PPI stood for Precision Preparation, Inc., a company founded ...

. He was planned to move up to Cup with the #96

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

team. However, after a lack of results, he was released, and replaced by

Andy Houston Andrew Houston (born November 7, 1970) is an American stock car racing spotter and former driver. He is a veteran of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, scoring three wins. Houston is the son of legendary Busch driver Tommy Houston and the younges ...

. Besides the stint in the Busch Series, Lazzaro has raced mainly road course races, giving him the label of a road course ringer. He also made 6 starts in the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

in 2001 and 2002 for

Sam Schmidt Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren (competing as Arrow McLaren due to sponsorship) is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. After a series of partnerships and name ...

with a best finish of 9th. In addition, Lazzaro has had success in

. He won the GT3 class in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

in 1999, co-driving a

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

. In 2002 he finished third in the SPII class after winning seven races. In 2003 he was fifth at the GT class of the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

, collecting six podiums with a Risi

Ferrari 360 The Ferrari 360 (Type F131) is a two-seater, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari from 1999 until 2005. It succeeded the Ferrari F355 and was replaced by the Ferrari F430 in 2004. Devel ...

. He took a GT win in the 2004 race at

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously ope ...

with Ralf Kelleners and ended seventh in the GT class. He made his debut in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

in 2003, also racing a Ferrari. In 2013, Lazzaro got three podiums in the LMP2 class of the ALMS with Extreme Speed Motorsports. He also competed in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

driving a GT class

Ferrari 458 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is a mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The F458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Berl ...

. With four podiums, he ended fourth in the drivers championship. He switched to the

SCCA World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...

for 2014, where he races a Ferrari 458.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

American Open Wheel

(

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 ...

)1995 Hooters Formula Cup champion with 6 wins and 9 pole positions.

Indy Racing League

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

NASCAR

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

References

External links

*
Anthony Lazzaro at Risi CompetizioneAnthony Lazzaro at Driver DatabaseAnthony Lazzaro at Speedsport Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzaro, Anthony 1963 births 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Atlantic Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Charleston, South Carolina Racing drivers from South Carolina Trans-Am Series drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners 24 Hours of Spa drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers GT World Challenge America drivers Extreme Speed Motorsports drivers Arrow McLaren SP drivers DragonSpeed drivers