Mike Groff

Mike Groff

Born: November 16, 1961
Age: 62
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Biography

Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961 in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.

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Racing career

Formula Super Vee and Indy Lights

Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert Bosche Formula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In 1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America and finished third in points. In 1987 he won at Nazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988 he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989 he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

CART Champ Car

Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Euromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at the Detroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In 12 starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished 17th in points.

In 1991 Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished 16th in points. He also competed in his first Indianapolis 500.

Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car for Walker Racing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driver Scott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (2 races), Walker (1 race), and Foyt (3 races) and finished 23rd in points.

In 1993 Groff joined Rahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.

1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment with Honda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchase Ilmor-powered cars from Team Penske to make the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Despite a full-season with a well-funded team, Groff only finished 20th in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.

In 1995 Groff's only on-track activity was practice laps for the 1995 Indianapolis 500 with Chip Ganassi Racing, but he did not make an attempt to qualify.

IRL IndyCar

In 1996 Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race at Phoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished 14th and qualified 11th for the 1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.

For the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured 3 straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a second at Walt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series new naturally aspirated cars). He finished 12th in the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in 1998. After finishes of 7th, 15th, and 15th to start the season, he was replaced at the Texas Motor Speedway race by John Paul, Jr.. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.

Groff attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Team Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1986 Groff Motorsport PHX1
MIL
MEA
TOR
POC
MDO
ROA
LS
PHX2
MIA 5th 89
1987 Patrick Racing PHX
MIL
MEA
CLE
TOR
POC
MDO
NAZ
LS
MIA
3rd 96
1988 Agapiou Racing PHX MIL POR CLE TOR MEA
POC MDO ROA
13th 26
Leading Edge Motorsport NAZ
LS MIA
1989 Leading Edge Motorsport PHX
LBH
MIL
DET
POR
MEA
TOR
POC
MDO
ROA
NAZ
LS
1st 163

CART

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
1990 Euromotorsport Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8t PHX LBH IND
MIL DET
POR
CLE
MEA
17th 17
Lola T90/00 TOR
MIS
DEN
VAN
MDO
ROA
NAZ
LS
1991 Euromotorsport Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8t SRF
LBH
PHX
IND
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
MEA
16th 22
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8t TOR
MIS DEN
VAN MDO
ROA
NAZ LS
1992 Walker Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8t SRF PHX LBH IND DET
POR ROA
VAN 25th 5
Euromotorsport Cosworth DFS V8t MIL
NHA
TOR MIS CLE
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8t MDO
Lola T92/00 NAZ
LS
1993 Rahal-Hogan Racing Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8t SRF PHX LBH IND MIL
DET
POR
CLE TOR MIS NHA
23rd 8
Lola T93/00 ROA
VAN MDO
NAZ LS
1994 Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola T93/00 Honda HRX V8t SRF
20th 17
Lola T94/00 PHX
LBH
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
MDO
NHA
VAN
ROA
NAZ
LS
Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8t IND
1995 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t MIA SRF PHX LBH NAZ IND
MIL DET POR ROA TOR CLE MIS MDO NHA VAN LS NC -
1996 Walker Racing Reynard 96i Ford XD V8t MIA RIO SRF LBH NAZ
500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIS MDO ROA VAN LS 34th 0

Indy Racing League

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
1996 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8t WDW
PHX
6th 228
Walker Racing Reynard 95i INDY
1996-1997 Byrd-Cunningham Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t NHM
LVS
14th 169
G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDW
PHX
IND
TXS
PPI NH2
LV2
Oldsmobile Aurora V8 CLT
1998 Byrd-Cunningham Racing G-Force GF01B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 WDW
PHX
INDY
TXS
NHM DOV CLT PPI ATL TX2 LVS 30th 56
1999 TeamXtreme Dallara IR9 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDW PHX INDY
TXS PPI ATL DOV PP2 LVS TX2 NC -

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Tean
1990 Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8t DNQ Euromotorsport
1991 Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8t 18 24 Euromotorsport
1992 Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8t Raced by S. Goodyear Walker Racing
1993 Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8t No Attempt Rahal-Hogan Racing
1994 Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8t 31 31 Rahal-Hogan Racing
1995 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t Raced by Bryan Herta Chip Ganassi Racing
1996 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t 11 20 Walker Racing
1997 G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 18 12 Byrd
1998 G-Force GF01B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 32 15 Byrd
1999 Dallara IR9 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 DNQ TeamXtreme

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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