Benjamin Pedersen (born 11 May 1999) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

race car driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, with residence in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He currently competes in

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

Early career

Lower formulae

Pedersen began his single-seater career in 2016, driving for the Leading Edge Grand Prix in cooperation with Global Racing Group, a team set up by his father, in the F4 United States Championship. A strong start with a podium at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

proved deceiving, as Pedersen ended up tenth in the drivers' standings. For the 2017 season, Pedersen remained in the F4 US series, now partnering Justin Sirgany and Jacob Loomis at Global Racing Group. This season yielded more success, as the Dane took podiums in the first two events, before ending the campaign on a particularly impressive note, winning twice in the penultimate round and once more at the season finale, held as part of the 2017 United States Grand Prix weekend. These results led to Pedersen finishing fourth overall, beating both of his teammates. In 2018, the Dane returned to tackle the F4 US Championship for the final time, where he took two victories, placing fifth in the standings.

Formula Regional & BRDC F3

Parallel to his F4 campaign, Pedersen competed in the inaugural season of the

F3 Americas Championship The Formula Regional Americas Championship powered by Honda (formerly the F3 Americas Championship powered by Honda) is an FIA Formula Regional racing series that competes in the United States, with plans in the future to race in Canada and Mexic ...

. Despite missing two events, Pedersen finished third overall, being beaten by fellow GRG driver

Baltazar Leguizamón Baltazar Leguizamón (born August 11, 2000) is an Argentine racing driver who competes in open wheel racing as well as part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 74 Chevrolet Camaro for CHK Racing. He is the son of Alejandro Legui ...

. 2019 saw Pedersen performing double-duties in the F3 Americas and BRDC F3 championships, the latter becoming his first venture into European racing. In the former, Pedersen won seven races, which included a triple of victories at Sebring, which put him second in the standings. Over in British F3, a victory in the reverse-grid race at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

, coupled with a further podium in

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

, left the Dane 14th overall. A full season of the BRDC British F3 Championship was on the cards for Pedersen in 2020, driving for

Double R Racing Double R Racing is a motor racing team, which races in Formula Three and other junior levels of formula racing including the MSA Formula Championship for the 2016 season. The team was formed in November 2004 as Räikkönen Robertson Racing by th ...

. He ended the season ninth in the drivers' standings, having taken three podiums including another win in Silvestone.

Indy Lights

2021

Pedersen switched to the

Road to Indy A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

ladder for 2021, driving for Global Racing Group in

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

. The season began with a second place at

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

, although he would fail to take any podiums throughout the following three rounds. The Dane, who by this stage was racing under an American licence, bounced back with a podium appearance at

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 ...

before going on to experience a strong second half of the campaign, with four third-placed finishes elevating him to fourth overall.

2022

In 2022, Pedersen returned to

for his sophomore season. Having scored five podiums, which contained his first win in the category at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Pedersen took fifth in the championship.

IndyCar Series

Having tested for

Juncos Hollinger Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who for ...

at the end of June, it was announced that Pedersen would be entering the

IndyCar Series 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 2023, driving for the A.J. Foyt Enterprises outfit alongside

Santino Ferrucci Santino Michael Ferrucci (born May 31, 1998) is an American professional racing driver. He competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No 14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing. He has also previously raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Career ...

. In his first

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, Pedersen was named Rookie of the Year.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 United States Championship 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 lap)

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results

(

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

American open-wheel racing results

(

)

Indy Lights

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with ^L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

IndyCar Series

(

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

Indianapolis 500

References

External links

*
Home - Benjamin Pedersen
Official web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Benjamin 1999 births Living people Danish racing drivers Racing drivers from Seattle BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers Sportspeople from Copenhagen Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Double R Racing drivers United States F4 Championship drivers HMD Motorsports drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers Racing drivers from Washington (state)