Byrd Racing is an American racing team in 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 ...

. The team is owned by Virginia (Ginny) Byrd and her sons David and Jonathan Byrd II. They also run select races in partnership with

Rick Ware Racing Rick Ware Racing (RWR) is an American motorsports team which currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the NTT IndyCar Series. History The organizational roots of RWR date back to Ware & Sons Racing with ...

starting in select races in 2020 in the

NASCAR 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, ...

, the partnership continued in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021 with

James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...

in the No. 15. They also partnered for the

2020 Indy 500 The 2020 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) automobile race held on Sunday, August 23, 2020, at the Indianapolis Motor ...

with Rick Ware Racing and

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Coyn ...

Early history (1982–2001)

Jonathan Byrd's Racing was created in 1982 by business owner Jonathan Byrd and initially ran Pro Stock with driver Jim Begley. Later, they won a few USAC Midget car championships with

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

. The team first entered the

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 ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

with Vogler. Vogler ran for the Byrd team at Indianapolis from 1985-1990, with a best finish of eighth in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. The death of team manager Andy Kenopensky from cancer caused the team to be merged with

Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing is an American auto racing team owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team debuted in 1985, and competed in the CART and Indy Racing League ranks until the team originally shut down in 2010. The team returned to competition in 2015, and cur ...

Stan Fox Stanley Cole Fuchs (July 7, 1952 – December 18, 2000), known professionally as Stan Fox (''Fuchs'' being the German word for "fox"), was an American open wheel race car driver. Fox was one of the last links between the midget car racing world a ...

replaced drivers Rich Vogler and

Billy Vukovich III William John Vukovich III (August 31, 1963, Fresno, California, United States – November 25, 1990, Bakersfield, California, United States) was an American race car driver. He was a three-time starter of the Indianapolis 500. The grandson of ...

, who both died in

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

accidents before racing at the

1991 Indianapolis 500 The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. Durin ...

. Fox would finish eighth in 1991.

Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Early career Johncock began racing at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. J ...

came out of retirement to qualify Stan Fox's backup car, fell ill before the race due to the flu and an allergic reaction, but was able to compete and finish sixth.

Buddy Lazier Robert Buddy Lazier (born October 31, 1967) is an American auto racing driver, best known for winning the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and the 2000 Indy Racing League season championship. Lazier began his career in the 1980s by competing in such s ...

would also race for the team, finishing thirty-third. Stan Fox and Gordon Johncock returned as drivers for the

1992 Indianapolis 500 The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser Jr. held off second place Scott Goodyear for ...

Scott Brayton Scott Everts Brayton (February 20, 1959 – May 17, 1996) was an American race car driver on the American open-wheel circuit. He competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s, beginning with the 1981 event. Brayton was killed in practice after qualifying ...

drove for

Dick Simon Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record as ...

and Byrd at the

1993 Indianapolis 500 The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory. The race was sanctioned by USAC ...

and finished sixth. Byrd joined with

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 ...

to field cars at the

1994 Indianapolis 500 The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 1994. The race was sanctioned by United States Auto Club (USAC), and was included as race number 4 of 16 of the 1994 IndyCar season, 199 ...

for

Double Duty Double Duty also referred to as the Indy-Charlotte Double or Memorial Day Double, is an auto racing term centered around two events held on Memorial Day weekend in most years. The two events are the annual Indianapolis 500, which is the most imp ...

driver

John Andretti John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Ada ...

, who finished tenth. Davy Jones drove for the Jonathan Byrd and Dick Simon in the

1995 Indianapolis 500 The 79th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1995. Sanctioned by USAC, it was part of the 1995 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season. Jacques Villeneuve won in his second start. Af ...

. The team won the Dura-Lube 200 with

Arie Luyendyk Arie Luijendijk (anglicised as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

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 ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. While partnering with

Treadway Racing Treadway Racing is a former auto racing team that competed in the early seasons of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. The team was owned by Indianapolis business man Fred Treadway. Prior to the IRL's inaugural season in 1996, Treadway was able ...

broke the track record for

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

. Luyendyk suffered from two failed engines, switching to a backup car, and his initial pole time disqualified due to the car being underweight by seven pounds before setting the record.

Mike Groff Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961 in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver fr ...

drove for Clayton Cunningham and Byrd in the 1996–97 Indy Racing League season. Byrd-Cunningham driver John Paul Jr. won in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Lone Star 500 at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

. Jonathan Byrd's Racing suspended operations after 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 ...

. This was due to sponsorship issues and the

VisionAire 500K The VisionAire 500K was an Indy Racing League race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1997 to 1999. During the 1999 event, three spectators were killed when debris from a crash on the track went into the grandstands. The race was stopped and c ...

. Byrd completed regularly until the

2001 Indianapolis 500 The 85th Indianapolis 500 (aka “the 2001 Indianapolis 500”) was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 27, 2001. Race rookie Hélio Castroneves, a three-year veteran of the CART series, led the final 52 lap ...

with

Jaques Lazier Jaques Lazier (born January 25, 1971) is an American former race car driver. He is the younger brother of 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Lazier and son of former Indy racer Bob Lazier. Racing career The younger Lazier ran in U.S. Formula ...

as that year's driver. Jonathan Byrd had a stroke in 2004 after heart surgery, suffered paralysis on his right side, and died in 2009 from cardiac arrest.

Byrd Brothers (2005)

Byrd Brothers completed at the

2005 Indianapolis 500 The 89th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 2005. It was the premier event of the 2005 IndyCar Series season and the tenth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Dan Wheldon ...

with Buddy Lazier as driver in a partnership with

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was f ...

. David and Jonathan, Byrd's sons, organized the team and worked with PR/sponsors. Lazier suffered an accident due to a suspension failure on Carb Day, but after significant repairs would finish fifth in the 500.

Reformation (2014–2016, 2018–2019)

The team announced plans to return at the

2015 Indianapolis 500 The 2015 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 24, 2015. It was the premier event of the 2015 season of the Verizon IndyCar Series. Juan Pablo Montoya won his second Indianapolis 500, f ...

with driver

Bryan Clauson Bryan Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver. Best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Bryan was seen more and more co ...

and support from

KVSH Racing KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Po ...

. Jonathan Byrd's Racing was originally intended to return at the

2016 Indianapolis 500 The 2016 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) took place on Sunday, May 29, 2016, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It was the prem ...

, but plans were moved forward a year. Bryan Clauson would qualify in last position (33rd) for the 2015 Indianapolis 500, beating Buddy Lazier. Due to driver changes by other teams, Clauson would start 30th, and wrecked in Turn 4 on Lap 61 finishing 31st. Jonathan Byrd's Racing attempted the

with returning driver Bryan Clauson and support from

. He qualified 28th, would lead laps 97-99, and finished 23rd completing 198 laps. Clauson was the first driver racing for Byrd to lead laps in the Indianapolis 500, and finished the most 500 laps in his career. The team was unsure if they would continue racing due to the death of Clauson in August 2016, and did not enter the

2017 Indianapolis 500 The 2017 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) was a Verizon IndyCar Series race held on Sunday May 28, 2017, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway ...

Belardi Auto Racing Belardi Auto Racing was an American racing team in the Indy Lights series. The team was owned by Brian Belardi, who competed in SCCA. Belardi was previously located in Illinois before moving to Brownsburg, Indiana. Indy Lights 2011-2013 Jorge ...

partnered with Byrd, Baldwin Brothers Racing, and driver

Chris Windom Christopher R. Windom (born December 24, 1990) is an American professional racing driver. Windom was the seventh driver to complete a United States Auto Club (USAC) Triple Crown by winning titles in sprint cars, midget cars, and Silver Crown. US ...

to enter the

2018 Indy Lights The 2018 Indy Lights season was the 33rd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 17th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. A 17-race schedule was announced on October 17, 2017 ...

Freedom 100. Windom wrecked his car in testing and could not compete in the race. Byrd with driver

entered the

2018 Indianapolis 500 The 2018 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil for sponsorship reasons) was a Verizon IndyCar Series held on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, I ...

. The team partnership included A. J. Foyt Enterprises, Belardi Auto Racing, and Hollinger MotorSport (Brad Hollinger). Davison wrecked on Fast Friday, but the team repaired the car for Saturday qualifying, and almost didn't make the race. They would qualify 19th for race, but finish 33rd after wrecking in turns 3 and 4 on lap 47 due to car issues. Byrd joined with Belardi Auto Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and Hollinger MotorSport (Brad Hollinger) to enter driver James Davison in the

2019 Indianapolis 500 The 2019 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was an IndyCar Series event held on Sunday, May 26, 2019, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Th ...

. Belardi Auto Racing partnered with Byrd and driver Chris Windom to enter the

2019 Indy Lights The 2019 Indy Lights season was the 34th season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 18th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. Oliver Askew won a tight championship race with Rin ...

Freedom 100. Windom raced in the Freedom 100 and was involved in a serious accident, despite having a serious sprint car accident the day before. Davison would quality 15th for the Indianapolis 500, have an incident on pit line, and finish 12th. Byrd was not going to field an entry in the

2020 Indianapolis 500 The 2020 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) automobile race held on Sunday, August 23, 2020, at the Indianapolis Motor ...

due to financial issues, but later joined with Belardi Auto Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, and

to enter driver James Davison. Davison qualified 27th, but due to a brake and wheel fire finished 33rd.

Racing results

Complete IndyCar 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 ...

) # Run in conjunction with

. # Run in conjunction with

Cunningham Racing Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C * Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

. # The 1999

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities. # Run in conjunction with

McCormack Motorsports McCormack Motorsports is a former Indy Racing League team owned by Dennis McCormack that operated from 1996 to 2001. Based in Avon, Indiana, the team debuted at the 1996 Indianapolis 500 with a car for Randy Tolsma, however, it failed to make the f ...

. # Run in conjunction with

Team Xtreme Racing NY Racing Team (formerly Xxxtreme Motorsport and Team Xtreme Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is owned by John Cohen, who is one of the few African-Americans to have owned a NASCAR team ...

. # Run in conjunction with

. # With support from

KV Racing Technology KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Poll ...

. # With support from

References

External links

* * {{NASCAR Cup Series teams IndyCar Series teams American auto racing teams Indy Lights teams