Harry Talbott "Chip" Mead, Jr. (March 17, 1950 – March 31, 1993) was an American racing driver from

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. Starting out in US

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe wa ...

, the single-seat Can-Am series, and North American

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

in the late-1970s including a 7th-place points finish in the

1977 Formula Atlantic season The 1977 CASC Formula Atlantic Labatts Championship Series season was contested over 7 rounds. In this one-make engine formula all drivers had to use Ford engines. 39 different drivers competed in 5 different chassis. Calendar Final points s ...

, Mead later made 7 starts in the CART

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series from 1980 to 1983. His best finish was 9th place at the Spring race at Phoenix International Raceway in 1982. He attempted to qualify for 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 ...

in 1981 and 1982 but failed to find enough speed to qualify in 1981 and was bumped from the field (on the bubble) the following year. After his experience in CART, Mead moved on to the popular

IMSA 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 direc ...

Camel GT 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 ...

series. As an IMSA and CART driver, Mead started out in Formula Atlantic Championship in 1974, raced in F3 in England for a year with Doug Shierson, and made six starts in the CART Series between 1980 and 1983 – his best finish was a 9th at Phoenix in 1981 – but was best known as a sports car driver. Through the late-1970s and 1980s he drove a wide variety of sports cars in IMSA and CanAm, from Porsche 911s to 934s and from the Fabcar Porsche to a Lola T711 Chevrolet. 1987 was his best year driving the Porsche Fabcar, often referred to as the Baby 962. The team came second in class in the 24 Hours of Daytona, won their class at the 12 Hours of Sebring, won their class again at the Miami Grand Prix, and took another second in the West Palm Beach GP. Racing against factory teams from Ferrari, Buick, Pontiac and Mazda, the Dayton, Ohio-based team were front runners all season, adding the California 500 at Sears Point to their record. Mead was awarded the Porsche Cup for their accomplishments. After leaving his Real Estate Development business in St. Simons Island, Georgia, Mead and his wife moved to Saratoga, California where Mead owned an aircraft sales firm based in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. On March 31, 1993, Mead as a passenger on a plane flown by a colleague was killed when the plane crashed near

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

.Glick, Shav
Alabama Gang Has Lost Another
Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1993 Mead was survived by his wife Caroline (Quintard) Mead, his mother Mary Wilshire Mead, brothers Dan Mead, George Mead, Whit Mead, Dudley Mead and sister Mimi Mead-Hagen.

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

References

External links

1950 births 1993 deaths Accidental deaths in California Atlantic Championship drivers Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Champ Car drivers Racing drivers from Dayton, Ohio SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993 {{sportscar-autoracing-stub IMSA GT Championship drivers Can Am drivers