Luis Miguel "Chapulín" Díaz Castell (born 1 December 1977, in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) is a Mexican racing driver who competes in 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 racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

for

Level 5 Motorsports Level 5 Motorsports was an American auto racing team founded in 2006 with illegally procured funds by racing driver, money lender and later convicted racketeer Scott Tucker, currently serving a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in federal prison. ...

. He won the 2009

LMP2 class drivers championship alongside team owner

Adrián Fernández Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team. Racing career Early career Fernández was born in Mexico City and began his career in Mexico at the age ...

, and was runner-up in the 2005 and 2006

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

DP drivers championship. Díaz also has an extensive open-wheel racing background.

Early racing career

Starting off in karting in 1989, Diaz was National Kart Champion in the A category and a two-time champion in the Super 100cc category. He earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1996 in Formula Reynard before moving up to Formula 3 International in 1997, where he was the highest-placed Mexican driver in the series that year. Diaz earned the Formula Mexico title in 1998, followed by a season in the Panamerican Indy Lights, where he was also Rookie of the Year and the first Mexican driver to win a race in that series.

Indy Lights

Díaz made his

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

debut in 1999, finishing 10th in his first race at Laguna Seca. One year later, he joined the GO-Quaker-Herdez team before transitioning to Roquin Motorsports in 2001, where he finished seventh in the championship with one podium and four top-five finishes to his credit.

Atlantic championship

Diaz was hired by Dorricot Racing in 2002 and competed in his first Formula Atlantic season, finishing fourth in the championship with wins at Portland and Road America. The following year, he won the season-opening round at Monterrey en route to an eighth-place finish in the end-of-year championship. Diaz was awarded the Gilles Villeneuve trophy for his achievements that year.

Champ Car

Díaz made two Champ Car starts, both as a substitute driver at the

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Autodromo or Autódromo is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish word for race track. It may refer to: * Autódromo de Benguela, Benguela, Angola * Autódromo Chiapas, Berriozábal, Chiapas * Autódromo Ciudad de Concordia, Concordia, Entre Río ...

circuit in Mexico City. He failed to finish both events.

Grand-Am

Making his sports car racing debut in 2004, Diaz teamed with Jimmy Morales in a Lexus-Riley Daytona Prototype for

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

in the

. In 2005, Diaz moved to the team’s No. 01 entry with

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...

, earning three wins, eight podium finishes and four poles en route to a runner-up finish in the Daytona Prototype drivers championship. He repeated the feat again in 2006 and helped lead Ganassi to the teams championship.

American Le Mans Series

Díaz made his

debut in 2007, driving for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing in the LMP2 category with a Lola B06/43 Acura and later the Acura ARX-01a/b. He enjoyed a successful three-year stint with the team, culminating with the 2009 LMP2 Drivers Championship for he and Adrian Fernandez. That year, they scored nine wins out of ten races, with Diaz earning three class poles. Following the demise of Fernandez Racing Diaz made a handful of starts for both

Alex Job Racing Alex Job Racing is a former professional sports car racing team based in the United States. The team, which is noted for its long-time association with Porsche, has competed in the American Le Mans Series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series, and the ...

and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in 2010, reaching the podium four times and earning three class poles in the GTC and PC ranks. The 2011 season saw Diaz join

for its P2 program. He kicked off the season with a class win in the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring with Scott Tucker and

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is an American professional racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. He currently competes part-time in the IndyC ...

before earning additional victories at Road America and Laguna Seca. Diaz remained at

for 2012, earning the P2 victory at Laguna Seca in the team's HPD ARX-03b. In addition to his success on the track, Diaz is a two-time winner of the "Most Popular Driver" award.

24 Hours of Le Mans

Diaz made his Le Mans debut in 2012, co-driving with Scott Tucker and

Christophe Bouchut Christophe Bouchut (born 24 September 1966 in Voiron, Isère) is a French professional racing driver. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for Dexwet-df1 Racing and Alex Caffi Motorsport in a part-time effort. He won t ...

’ LMP2-class HPD ARX-03b. The car failed to finish after running out of fuel on-track.

Personal life

Díaz enjoys karting, golf, tennis, fitness, and Mini-Z RC Car Racing. His nickname is ''Chapulín'' (Grasshopper in English).

Racing record

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

Complete American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

Atlantic Championship

CART

Complete American Le Mans Series results

: * ''Season still in progress.''

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Luis Diaz Career Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Luis 1977 births Living people A1 Team Mexico drivers Indy Lights drivers Mexican racing drivers Racing drivers from Mexico City Rolex Sports Car Series drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Mexican Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Walker Racing drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers DAMS drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers