Sean Rayhall (born March 10, 1995 in

Winston, Georgia Winston is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community, formerly incorporated as a city, in southwestern Douglas County, Georgia, Douglas County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Winston is assigned the United States Postal Serv ...

) is a racing driver. He competed in the LMP3 class of the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, winning the championship in 2017. He has also previously raced in the GT Daytona class of the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

, in addition to

stock cars Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

and formula cars, where in the latter, he earned a test opportunity with

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

. Rayhall announced his retirement from professional racing at the age of 23 in a post on Twitter. Three months later, he announced that he would compete in "15-20 races" in a winged sprint car with Michael Racing Group as a hobby.

Career history

Karting

Sean Rayhall started kart racing at the age of 7. Rayhall joined the Georgia Sprint Kart Championship in the Yamaha Junior class in 2004. The following seasons he would als compete in the Florida State championship and in the WKA Manufacturer's Cup. Rayhall won two championships in the 2007 Georgia Sprint Kart Championship, in the HPV 2 and Rotax Junior classes.

Auto racing

Rayhall made his auto racing debut in late 2007 in the Skip Barber Southern Series. He won his first auto race in 2009. At

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

he finished first in his

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

R/T 2000. In 2010 Sean Rayhall raced in the

Formula Enterprises Formula SCCA or Formula Enterprises is a class of open wheel race car sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. A spec racing class, all chassis are produced by SCCA Enterprises in association with Van Diemen and include a sealed Mazda M ...

and he made his debut in

Legends car racing Legends car racing is a style of auto racing designed primarily to promote exciting racing and to keep costs down. The race car bodyshells are 5/8-scale replicas of American automobiles from the 1930s and 1940s, powered by Yamaha XJ1250, FJ1200 ( ...

. In the SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises Rayhall had a tough battle for the championship with

Scott Rettich Scott Rettich (born September 7, 1984, in Dayton, Ohio, deceased April 12, 2022) was an Americans, American racing driver, competing in such disciplines as the U.S. F2000 National Championship in the National class. Career history Karting Scot ...

. The young driver from Georgia won six races. He was the fastest at

New Jersey Motorsports Park New Jersey Motorsports Park is a road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since opening in 2008 and currently hosts a schedule including MotoAmerica P ...

Miller Motorsports Park Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015. The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kar ...

Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd International Raceway is a road course, and dragstrip racing complex northwest of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. The complex has a dragstrip, and overlapping and road courses. The complex also includes a kart track. The raceway hos ...

and

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan ...

. He eventually won the championship by 23 points. In Legends Rayhall had a very successful season at the small ovals of

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

and

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

. Rayhall won both track championships. Rayhall also won the prestigious Legends Million race in the Semi Pro/Young Lions class. In 2011 Sean Rayhall made his stock car racing debut in the USAR Pro Cup Series. A third place at

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in t ...

was his best result out of eight races. The following year he continued in stock cars. This time he raced full-time in the southern based UARA Stars. His season was almost disrupted by a big pile up during a legends race. Rayhall injured his back racing in the Big Money 100. A week later he took his only stock car win of the season at

Caraway Speedway Caraway Speedway is a short track located near Asheboro, North Carolina, U.S. Caraway Speedway was built in 1966 as a dirt track. The track was paved in 1972 and joined the NASCAR Weekly Series family as a .455 mile asphalt short track. Caraway ...

after he switched marques from

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 ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. Rayhall ended up fourth in the standings of the 16-round championship while Travis Swaim won the championship. In 2013 he switched to sports cars. Racing for Comprent Motorsports the driver from Georgia won six races and scored twelve podium finishes out of fourteen races. Ryan Booth followed closely every race bringing the title chase to the last round. Rayhall eventually won the championship by four points. Rayhall graduated to the PC class of the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

for the

2013 Petit Le Mans The 16th Annual Petit Le Mans presented by Mazda was the 2013 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 16–19, 2013, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race was the final Rou ...

. Partnered with

Oswaldo Negri Oswaldo "Ozz" Negri Jr. (born May 29, 1964) is a Brazilian racing driver from São Paulo. Racing career Formula Three and Indy Lights He raced part-time in the British Formula Three Championship from 1987 to 1989 with few good results. He return ...

the duo finished second in class. For 2014 Sean Rayhall raced full-time in the

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

PC class for BAR1 Motorsport and 8 Star Motorsports. He finished sixth in the PC class championship. He will make his

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 ...

debut with 8 Star at

Barber Motorsports Park Barber Motorsports Park is an multi-purpose racing facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alab ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. He won the second of two Indy Lights races in the Indy GP, leading all 35 laps. He scored his second win in the second race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. On December 16, 2018, Sean Rayhall announced his retirement from motor racing, via his Twitter social media account, effective immediately. In 2020, he raced in a 410

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 ...

in the Upper Midwestern racing series Interstate Racing Association (IRA). He won his second semi-feature race by September. He was named the 2020 IRA Rookie of the Year.

Motorsports results

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 ...

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

Complete SCCA Pro Formula Enterprises results

Indy Lights

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Sean Rayhall's profile on IMSA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayhall, Sean 1995 births Living people People from Douglas County, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Indy Lights drivers CARS Tour drivers Team Pelfrey drivers United Autosports drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers Graff Racing drivers