John Schneider (born July 14, 1938 in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

) is a former

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 ...

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.

Racing career

1983 to 1988

Schneider came on the national scene in 1983 driving a

Porsche 924 The Porsche 924 is a sports car produced by Porsche in Neckarsulm, Germany,from 1976 until 1988. A two-door, 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the Porsche 912, 912E and Porsche 914, 914 as the company's entry-level model. Altho ...

in the

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

GTU class for Performance Motorsports. He stayed in that car through 1985. In 1985 he also began racing a

Pontiac Firebird The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's Che ...

in the

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...

. In 1986 he moved to Performance Motorsports' new

Buick Somerset The Buick Skylark is a passenger car formerly produced by Buick. The model was made in six production runs, during 46 years, over which the car's design varied dramatically due to changing technology, tastes, and new standards implemented over ...

Trans-Am car and drove a

Mazda rotary engine The Mazda Wankel engines are a family of Wankel rotary combustion car engines produced by Mazda. Wankel engines were invented in the early 1950s by Felix Wankel, a German engineer. Over the years, displacement has been increased and turboch ...

powered

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

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 ...

for Outlaw Racing. In 1987 he drove at Daytona in a

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...

powered Tiga for Cosmik-Roy Baker Racing while continuing to drive the Somerset in Trans-Am. In 1988's 24 Hours of Daytona race, Schneider drove a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

powered Royale for Diman Racing and drove a number of other IMSA races in a Tiga for Essex Racing Services. He also raced part-time in Performance Motorsports'

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

Trans-Am car.

1995 to 2002

Schneider was away from racing from the end of 1988 to 1995. When he returned, he drove a

Stillen STILLEN (Steve Millen Sportparts, Inc.) is the automotive aftermarket parts company created by Steve Millen, a former racecar driver for Nissan who was known for racing the 300ZX. In 1986, STILLEN began selling mini-truck ground effects and then ...

Nissan 300ZX The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z. It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...

to a number of strong finishes in the

IMSA Supercar Championship The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dire ...

. In 1996 he drove an

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

-powered

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

for Bobby Brown Motorsports in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

but had few good results.John Schneider - All Results
''Racing Sports Cars'', Retrieved 2010-12-06 In 1997 Schneider signed onto an "all star" team to drive the

Dyson Racing Dyson Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. Founded by Rob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including the IMSA GT Championsh ...

Riley & Scott Mk III The Riley & Scott Mark III (Mk III) was a sports prototype auto racing car developed by Bob Riley, Bill Riley, and Mark Scott of Riley & Scott Cars Inc. Initially designed in 1993, the car was created for the World Sports Car (WSC) category whic ...

in the 24 Hours of Daytona with co-drivers

Rob Dyson Robert Richard "Rob" Dyson (born June 21, 1946) is a retired American sports car racing driver and owner of Dyson Racing. Dyson began competing in amateur SCCA competition in 1974 and began racing professionally in IMSA GTO and the Trans-Am Se ...

, James Weaver,

Butch Leitzinger Robert Franklin "Butch" Leitzinger (born February 28, 1969) is an American professional racing driver. He is best known as an ALMS driver with Dyson Racing, but he has also driven for a variety of other teams and race series. He won the IMSA Pro ...

, Andy Wallace, John Paul Jr., and

Elliott Forbes-Robinson Elliott Forbes-Robinson (born October 31, 1943 in La Crescenta, California) is a road racing race car driver. He is known for his race wins and championships in many different series, including the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Super Vee, Trans ...

. The team won the race as many expected.Final Standings for the 1997 Rolex 24 hrs of Daytona
, Retrieved 2010-12-06 After the win, Schneider again took a lengthy sabbatical from racing, but returned to the 24 at Daytona in 2002 to drive a Chevrolet powered Riley & Scott for TRV Motorsport but the car failed to finish. That was his last professional race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, John Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Trans-Am Series drivers Barber Pro Series drivers 1938 births Racing drivers from Dallas Racing drivers from Texas