Richie Hearn (born January 4, 1971) is an American former racing driver.
Hearn was born in
Glendale, California. He ran 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) ...
championship for two seasons, winning the title in 1995. In 1996, he began driving for John Della Penna in both the
IRL and
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
ranks. He won an IRL race at the
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...
to cap off the year and was the highest finishing rookie at 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 ...
, finishing 3rd.
Hearn moved full-time into Champ Car in 1997 for Della Penna with high-profile sponsor
Budweiser
Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States.
''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
but failed to post significant results and by 2000 was surplus for sponsored driver
Norberto Fontana
Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in four Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 June 1997 but scoring no championship points.
His opportunity to race came as a result of two separate ...
. He contested a few more Indy 500s, with a best result of 6th in 2002. In 2005 following the Indy 500 he retired as a driver and started Hearn Motorsports LLC that ran in the
Star Mazda
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 ...
series. He planned to move the team into
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) ...
competition in 2006. Hearn returned from retirement to qualify on Bump Day of the
2007 Indianapolis 500
The 91st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 27, 2007. It was the twelfth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and marked the fifth race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season. HÃ ...
in a car jointly entered by
Racing Professionals and
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 ...
.
Hearn is currently a driving instructor at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch's
Ron Fellows
Ronald Charles Fellows CM (born September 28, 1959) is a Canadian auto racing driver. Fellows holds the record for most wins by a foreign-born driver in NASCAR's top three series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and trucks) with six – four in Nationw ...
driving school.
Motorsports Career Results
American Open-Wheel racing results
(
key)
CART
IndyCar Series
Indianapolis 500
External links
Driver Database Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearn, Richie
1971 births
Atlantic Championship drivers
Champ Car drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
IndyCar Series drivers
Living people
Sportspeople from Glendale, California
Racing drivers from California
International Kart Federation drivers
Arrow McLaren SP drivers
A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers