Before racing

Sullivan was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a building contractor father. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute and then the Jim Russell Racing School. He had several odd jobs before his racing career, including lumberjack, and most famously, New York City cab driver.

Formula One

Sullivan was given a 21st birthday present of a course at the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School at the Snetterton circuit in England. He competed in Formula Ford, Formula Three Formula Two and before returning to race in the United States. In 1982, he made his début in the PPG Indycar series, and was recruited by the Tyrrell Formula One team for the 1983 season at the request of primary sponsor Benetton, who wanted an American driver. Sullivan competed in the fifteen races of the 1983 season, scoring two points with a fifth place at the Monaco Grand Prix and finishing seventeenth in the World Drivers' Championship. He also performed strongly in the non-championship Race of Champions held at the Brands Hatch circuit in April, finishing second behind reigning champion Keke Rosberg. Nevertheless, he was somewhat overshadowed by his more experienced team-mate, Michele Alboreto, and was not retained at the end of the season.

CART career

For 1984, Sullivan returned to North America, where he competed in the CART PPG Indycar series, winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500. The "spin and win" footage of his red and white Miller American spinning 360 degrees down the south short chute (between turns one and two) at Indy after passing Mario Andretti for the lead in the race's 120th lap has been played on countless motorsports programs. Recovering from the spin undamaged except for lightly flat-spotted tires, Sullivan went into the pits for new rubber, then returned to the track and passed Mario a second time twenty laps later to go on for the win. Sullivan would set the pace at Indy again in 1988, leading 91 of the first 101 laps, until a wing adjuster broke and his car drifted out and smacked the turn 1 wall. Nevertheless, he won the Michigan 500 later that summer, and went on to win the CART Indycar series title for Roger Penske that year. Sullivan's last year with Penske Racing was 1990, when he was released by the team in favor of Emerson Fittipaldi and Fittipaldi's Marlboro sponsor. His last win for Penske Racing was at Laguna Seca in California in 1990.

In 1986, Sullivan was a guest star on the television show Miami Vice ("Florence Italy") playing a race car driver accused of murdering a prostitute. The episode featured some short outdoor scenes in the pit lanes of the Miami Grand Prix. Sullivan had limited dialogue in the episode; his longest piece of dialogue was in a police station interrogation scene.

In 1991, after being released by Penske, Sullivan drove for Pat Patrick's team. After going winless in 1991, he was released by Patrick Racing. Though Sullivan won 2 more CART races between 1992 and 1993, driving for Galles Racing, his later years of his career were plagued with inconsistency, leading to his retirement from auto-racing in 1994.

In 1992, Rare released Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

After Indy

In 1994, Sullivan took a sabbatical from Indycar racing, and joined ABC/ESPN as a color commentator. He also attempted to run selected events in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series that season. However, he failed to qualify for several events; he only qualified for one race (the 1994 Brickyard 400), and finished 33rd for a very underfunded team. In 1994, he had some guest starts for Alfa Romeo in the DTM and together with Thierry Boutsen and Hans-Joachim Stuck he was third overall with the Dauer 962 LM at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

He returned to CART racing for one final year in 1995. His season ended early after a serious crash at Michigan International Speedway. While recovering from a broken pelvis and other injuries, he announced his retirement from open-wheel competition. He returned to ABC-TV for 1996-1998.

Sullivan was a paid celebrity endorser for Danny Sullivan Lexus in Jacksonville, Florida. The Lexus Dealership was owned primarily by members of the Davis Family, who were the founders of Winn Dixie supermarkets.

Sullivan was also instrumental in the Red Bull Driver Search program to find an American driver to compete in Formula One. The program successfully promoted American Scott Speed from California, who drove for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team in 2006 and 2007.

He was the drivers' representative on the stewards' panel for the 2010 German Grand Prix and served in the same post for the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix and the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sullivan and Michael Andretti were inducted into the Motorsports Walk of Fame on April 15, 2011, along the route of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which both men have won.

Sullivan serves as a Senior Advisor at Tempus Jets and its parent company, Orion Air Group, LLC. He also has various business relationships with Lexus, ABC/ESPN, CBS, Red Bull, Acura, and Toyota.

Racing career results

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired Team 1982 53 13 196.292 17 14 148 0 Crash T4 Forsythe 1984 30 28 203.567 17 29 57 0 Broken Wheel Shierson 1985 5 8 210.298 8 1 200 67 Running Penske 1986 1 2 215.382 2 9 197 0 Flagged Penske 1987 3 16 210.271 6 13 160 4 Engine Penske 1988 9 2 216.214 2 23 101 91 Crash T1 Penske 1989 1 26 216.027 15 28 41 0 Rear Axle Penske 1990 7 9 220.310 9 32 19 0 Crash T1 Penske 1991 20 9 218.343 17 10 173 0 Turbo Patrick/Alfa Romeo 1992 18 8 224.838 9 5 199 0 Flagged Galles/Kraco 1993 7 12 219.428 19 33 29 0 Crash T3 Galles 1995 17 18 225.496 29 9 199 0 Running PacWest Totals 1523 162

Starts 12 Poles 0 Front Row 2 Best Start 2nd Wins 1 Top 5 2 Top 10 5 Retired 8 Laps Led 162 Races Led 3 Total Laps 1,523 Winnings $2,064,211

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Points
1983	Benetton Tyrrell Team	Tyrrell 011	Cosworth V8	BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL	DET	CAN	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA			17th	2
		Tyrrell 012															EUR	RSA

CART career results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1982	Forsythe Newman	March 82C	Ford Cosworth DFX	PHX	ATL	MIL	CLE	MIS	MIL	POC	RIV	ROA	MIS2	PHX2							22nd	28
1984	Shierson Racing	DSR-1	Ford Cosworth DFX	LBH	PHX		MIL														4th	110
		Lola T800				INDY		POR	MEA	CLE	MIS	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX2	LS	LVG
1985	Team Penske	March 85C	Ford Cosworth DFX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	LS	PHX	MIA			4th	126
1986	Team Penske	March 86C	Ford Cosworth DFX	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS	ROA	LS	PHX2		3rd	147
		Penske PC-15	Chevrolet 265A																	MIA
1987	Team Penske	Penske PC-16	Chevrolet 265A	LBH	PHX			POR	MEA												9th	87
		March 86C				INDY	MIL			CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LS	MIA
1988	Team Penske	Penske PC-17	Chevrolet 265A	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	MIA			1st	182
1989	Team Penske	Penske PC-18	Chevrolet 265A	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS			7th	107
1990	Team Penske	Penske PC-19	Chevrolet 265A	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS		6th	139
1991	Patrick Racing	Lola T91/00	Alfa Romeo Indy V8	SRF	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	11th	56
1992	Galles Racing	Galmer G92	Chevrolet 265A	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MIS	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS		7th	99
1993	Galles Racing	Lola T93/00	Chevrolet 265C	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS		12th	43
1995	PacWest Racing	Reynard 95i	Ford XB	MIA	SRF	PHX	LBH	NAZ	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	ROA	TOR	CLE	MIS	MDO	NHA	VAN	LS	19th	32

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts
1994	Virtue Racing	99	Chevy	DAY			ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	74th	64
			Pontiac		CAR	RCH
1995				DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	NA	-

[ Source: Wikipedia ]