Jim Guthrie (born September 13, 1961 in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan ...

) is a former driver in the Indy Racing League. He debuted in the Indy Racing League in 1996 with moderately successful results. When the IRL moved to purpose-built chassis in 1997, Guthrie was forced to take out a second mortgage to purchase a new chassis. With no sponsorship and the prospects of losing his house if his venture was unsuccessful, he won the second race in the new chassis at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

. He got sponsorship from Jacuzzi for the Indianapolis 500 and was able to finish the season (placing 12th in season points) winning Rookie of the Year honors and kept his house. Jim contested four races in 1998, but then during the Indianapolis 500, he was seriously injured in a multi-car crash, but he returned later in the season for two different teams. He attempted the

1999 Indianapolis 500 The 83rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 30, 1999. The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season. In the closing ...

but failed to qualify his Coulson Racing entry. Jim was later an owner of Guthrie Meyer Racing in the Firestone Indy Lights Series that fielded a car for his son Sean, who raced in the

Star Mazda Series The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

in 2005. The team began with 2005 IPS driver Travis Gregg at Homestead, and 2005 Star Mazda champion Raphael Matos scoring the team's first two wins at St. Petersburg (there were two races on that weekend). For the 2008 season, the team had 3 cars with Logan Gomez filling the second seat and the third was run by Tom Wieringa and Robbie Pecorari. Franck Perera joined the team for the second half of the season and captured a win at Infineon Raceway. Guthrie later started competing in Formula Drift with a

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

powered Mazda RX7 sponsored by Car Crafters of Albuquerque. On Sept 25th 2012, Jim under-steered, crashed and flipped his 2011

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

into a tire wall at Formula Drift/Pro Am Round 4 (After Dark); the result of a driver error. Today, Guthrie is actively involved in the local community in Albuquerque. His business, Car Crafters, has recently expanded to 5 locations around the Albuquerque area. One of his latest interests is triathlons, as he completed his first Half-Ironman in April 2016 in Monterrey, Mexico.

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 ...

)

Indy Racing League

Indianapolis 500

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Jim 1961 births Atlantic Championship drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers IndyCar Series drivers Living people Sportspeople from Gadsden, Alabama Racing drivers from Alabama Trans-Am Series drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers