Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois (born April 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver from the small town of Shelby in northern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. He raced in a variety of racing genres, most notably

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...

and Indy "Big" cars.

Racing career

Midget cars

Sirois won four championships in 1961 including UARA midget title. Some of his major victories include a 100-mile race at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 specta ...

and a race at the

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

in a midget.

USAC Indy car

Though he never qualified 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 ...

, Sirois is most known in racing circles for circumstances surrounding his qualifying attempt in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. On Pole Day, Sirois drew first in line to qualify, and after a lengthy rain delay, took to the track late in the afternoon to make the first attempt of the day. He completed his first three laps at: *Lap 1 – 161.783 mph *Lap 2 – 162.279 mph *Lap 3 – 160.542 mph However, on his fourth and final lap, his crew waved off the run with the yellow flag, and it was negated. The crew felt the speed was inadequate to the make the field, and presumably intended to make another attempt later on. Moments later, Arnie Knepper went out to qualify, but rain began to fall during his warm up laps, and washed out the remainder of the weekend. It was quickly noticed by media and fans that had the crew not waved off his final lap on Saturday, Sirois would have been the lone qualifier of the weekend and sat on the coveted provisional pole position for an entire week - and likely would have started on the pole for race day. During the second weekend of time trials, Jigger Sirois waved off his second attempt, and also waved off his third and final attempt when his speed was not fast enough. As it ended up, Sirois's first attempt would have been fast enough to qualify for the race. The qualification rules were changed in 1971 to guarantee all cars in line on the first day of qualifying at least one chance to qualify during the pole position round. After 1969, Jigger came back to attempt to make the field every year up until 1975, failing to make the field every time. Outside of the Indy 500, he made ten other starts in USAC

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 ...

racing. His best finish was 5th place at

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in 1969.

Awards

Sirois was named to the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wi ...

in 2013.

Personal life

Sirois is the son of former Indy 500 mechanic Earl "Frenchy" Sirois, who worked on the winning cars of

Lee Wallard Lee Wallard (September 7, 1910 Schenectady, New York – November 29, 1963 St. Petersburg, Florida ) was an American race car driver. In the 1951 Indianapolis 500 Wallard drove the Number 99 Belanger Special to victory, at age 40. Tony Bett ...

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight "Sam" Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American race car driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars. Racing career Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and l ...

, and

Jimmy Bryan James Ernest Bryan (January 28, 1926 – June 19, 1960) was an American racecar driver who won the 1958 Indianapolis 500. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bryan died as a result of injuries sustained in a champ car race at Langhorne Speedway. Career ...

. Sirois is named after driver Leon Duray. The nickname "Jigger" is in reference to two-time Indy-winning

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

Jigger Johnson (1931, 1937), as well as a nickname given to him by his older sister. Sirois graduated from Lowell High School and did various jobs in between races such as truck driver and construction worker. Sirois is married and his wife's name is Juanita. Sirois started

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

after a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

scare when he was three years old while living near

Shelby, Indiana Shelby is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Cedar Creek Township, Lake County, Indiana. Shelby had a population of 539 at the 2010 census. History Shelby was laid out and platted in 1886 by William R. Shelby, when the r ...

. He was able to learn to manage his

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

with professional help when he was 65. He lends his time to promote the awareness and treatment of stuttering disorders in youth.

Indianapolis 500 results

The Jigger Award

In reflection of Sirois' infamous

hard-luck qualifying gaffe, the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) created an annual award for the

. The plaque consists of a gold-colored metal

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

jigger attached to a base, awarded to the year's "hard-luck" driver during qualifying. Selection criteria are very loose, and "blanket" awards for the entire month have been selected on more than one occasion. The recipient is usually one of the last drivers bumped from the field, or a driver who fails to qualify (especially if he/she made several unsuccessful attempts). Drivers that fail to qualify under unusual circumstances are a common theme. In 1991, car owner

Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, ...

was voted the winner, after pulling

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

from the qualifying line on pole day. Shortly thereafter, it began to rain, and Fittipaldi lost his chance to qualify for the pole position. Fittipaldi would have to be second day qualifier. In 2012 the recipient was

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

, who qualified 33rd. The criteria were based on Alesi's publicized struggles with the Lotus entry, making him the slowest car by over 4 mph, and more than 16 mph slower than the pole position winner. In recent years, the award has garnered less and less attention, and some years have not had a winner formally named. *1969

Jigger Sirois Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois (born April 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver from the small town of Shelby in northern Indiana. He raced in a variety of racing genres, most notably midget, stock and Indy "Big" cars. Racing career Midge ...

*1970

Tony Adamowicz Tony Adamowicz (May 2, 1941 – October 10, 2016) was an American racing driver, active from 1963 until his death. He won the Under 2-Liter class of the 1968 Trans-Am Championship and the 1969 SCCA Continental Championship. Early life Adamowicz ...

*1971

John Mahler John Mahler (born November 16, 1936, Alpha, Iowa), is a former open wheel race car driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1970-1973 and 1976-1981 seasons, with 39 combined career starts, including the 1972 and 1977- ...

*1972 Art Pollard *1973

Johnny Parsons John Wayne Parsons1975 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (May 25, 1975) (born August 26, 1944 in Van Nuys, California) is an American race car driver. He is the son of 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner John ...

*1974

Al Loquasto Albert John (Al) Loquasto (Jr.) (June 21, 1940 – July 31, 1991), was an Italian-American racecar driver. Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, Loquasto died in a plane crash in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania. He drove in the USAC and CART Championshi ...

*1975 AARWBA (for losing the trophy) *1976

Salt Walther David "Salt" Walther (November 22, 1947 – December 27, 2012) was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars and unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a car owner in USAC. Walther is best remembere ...

*1977

Vern Schuppan Vernon John Schuppan (born 19 March 1943) is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing. Although he consider ...

*1978 Larry Cannon & Roger Rager *1979 USAC ( race controversies) *1980

Janet Guthrie Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938) is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, both in 1977. She had first attempted to enter the Indianapolis 500 in 1 ...

*1981 Bob Frey *1982

Geoff Brabham __NOTOC__ Geoff Brabham (born 20 March 1952) is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States. Racing career CART He raced successfully in CART early in his career, finishing 8th in 1982, 19 ...

(crew failed to display the green flag to start his first attempt) *1983

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in ...

*1984

Bill Alsup Bill Alsup (July 15, 1938 in Honolulu – August 9, 2016) was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CA ...

*1985

Chet Fillip Chet Fillip (born April 4, 1957), is an American former racing driver best known for driving in the CART series. Fillip raced stock cars and a modified during his teens and early twenties at Arena Park Raceway in Lubbock, Texas. His father Marvin ...

*1986 Mike Nish *1987

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*1988

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*1989

*1990

*1991

(owner of

's car) *1992

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*1993

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(for causing

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's retirement) *1994 Mark Smith (" Curse of the Smiths") *1995

*1996 Two 500 miles races ( Indy &

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

) *1997 25/8 rule *1998 Scott Harrington *1999 Mike Borkowski *2000

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*2001 Raul Boesel *2002 Billy Roe *2003 Jeff Ward *2004

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(for being "trouble makers") *2005 Arie Luyendyk Jr. *2006 Marty Roth *2007 P. J. Jones *2008

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*2009

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*2010

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*2011 *2012

*2013

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*2014

Sage Karam Sage Rennie Karam (born March 5, 1995) is an American professional racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 43 and 45 Chevrolet Camaros for Alpha Prime Racing and part-time in the IndyCar Series, drivi ...

(for skipping

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and

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to race) *2015 Not Awarded *2016

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family. He is the 20 ...

*2017 *2018

James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...

https://speedsport.com/indy/verizon-indycar/hinchcliffe-knight-punch-jordan-honored-at-ims/ Hinchcliffe, Knight, Punch & Jordan Honored At IMS] *2019 *2020 *2021

References

External links

Jigger Sirois at ChampCarStats.comHard-Luck 'Jigger' Has No Regrets, Enjoys New Qualifying Format
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirois, Leon 1935 births American Speed Association drivers Living people People from Lake County, Indiana Racing drivers from Indiana USAC Silver Crown Series drivers