Personal life

Papis was born on October 3, 1969 in Como, Italy. He was raised in Italy and got an interest in car racing at a young age, winning several go-kart races and several rounds for racing clubs in Italy.

He is married to Tatiana Papis, daughter of the racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi, and has two kids Marco and Matteo Papis.

Formula One

After a spell as the Lotus team's test driver in 1994, Papis replaced Gianni Morbidelli in the Footwork team for seven races in the middle of the 1995 Formula One season, as he brought valuable sponsorship to the cash-strapped outfit. Despite being a race-winner in Formula 3000, he often struggled with the unfamiliar car, and was occasionally outpaced by his much-maligned team-mate, Taki Inoue. He also proved to be an unlucky driver, suffering a spectacular puncture and suspension failure on his début race at Silverstone due to clipping the pit lane wall after a tire change, being left on the grid at Hockenheim due to a transmission failure, and spinning on dust and oil kicked up by David Coulthard at the Ascari Chicane on the first lap of the Italian GP, causing a pile-up and a restart. However, he only missed out on a point in the restarted race when he was overtaken by Jean-Christophe Boullion's Sauber on the last lap. When Morbidelli returned, Papis was out of a drive and headed to America for 1996.

Champ Car

He moved to CART Champ Car racing in 1996 as a replacement for Jeff Krosnoff who was killed in the previous race in Toronto. In 1999 he joined the more competitive Rahal team, almost winning the US 500 before running out of fuel, and finishing 5th in the series. He started the next year by winning the 2000 season-opener, but failed to finish in the championship top 10. In 2001 he won twice and finished 6th overall, but was dropped by the team, mainly due to two collisions with team-mate Kenny Bräck. He started 2002 with the Sigma team before they folded, and did a partial season with PK Racing in 2003, but has mostly concentrated on sportscars since 2001, remarking that "Champ Car needs me more than I need it" as the series struggled to fill its grid for 2003 after many teams defected to the IRL. Papis also raced in the 2002 and 2006 Indianapolis 500 races for Cheever Racing.

IndyCar

Papis raced in the IRL early in his career. He has raced for Roger Penske, Andretti-Green Racing and Panther Racing from 2001-2009. Papis is a long-time friend of drivers Tony Kanaan and Alex Zanardi. In 2013 at the Indianapolis 500, Papis and Zanardi were present in the victory celebration when Kanaan won his first Indy 500.

In 2016, Papis was hired by the IndyCar Series as a race steward along with Arie Luyendyk and Dan Davis.

NASCAR

He made his NASCAR debut in August 2006, competing in the Busch Series race at Watkins Glen International Raceway for McGill Motorsports following the release of Tim Sauter from the ride. He attempted to qualify for the Nextel Cup Series race but failed to qualify.

Papis also announced that he would run 2 races in 2007 for James Finch's Phoenix Racing No. 01 Chevy. In his first race, at Montreal in the inaugural NAPA 200, Papis avoided Marcos Ambrose' crash (caused by a disqualified Robby Gordon), with 2 laps left, to finish in third place. At Watkins Glen the next week, his engine failed on lap 2.

Papis made his Cup Series debut at Infineon Raceway in 2008, piloting the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet in place of regular driver Scott Riggs. He was also scheduled to drive the #64 car for Rusty Wallace, Inc. on three road course races in the 2008 Nationwide Series. Haas CNC Racing hired Papis to drive the No. 70 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the course at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup Series in August 2008. He was announced as the driver of the No. 13 GEICO Toyota in 18 races in the 2009 and a full-time ride in the 2010 Sprint Cup.

In his first Cup season with a dedicated ride, Papis recorded a career best 8th-place finish at Watkins Glen and 15th starting position at Fontana. He also recorded 12th-place finish at Infineon Raceway. In February at Daytona in 2010, Papis had the fastest truck in the truck series event, nearly winning his first Truck series event after leading for some laps. Papis was collected in an accident with 15 laps left in the race, while going towards the lead.

After Watkins Glen in 2010 the team announced that Papis would be replaced by Casey Mears for 2011 and Papis would race in the Truck Series for the team.

Also in 2010, Papis recorded a top-30 finish in the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify at Bristol. He nearly had a top ten running at Talladega but was caught up in an accident. At Montreal in the Nationwide Series, Papis drove for Richard Childress Racing and while leading on the final lap, took too much of a last-turn curb, got passed by Boris Said, and recorded a second-place finish.

In 2011, Papis raced in the Truck Series partly for KHI and Germain, resulting in an 18th-place finish in the standings.

From 2011 to 2013, Papis had good runs on the road-course races but did not win any of them. In 2011 at Road America he had a good car, but he was spun out by Jacques Villeneuve with two laps left. When the race ended, Papis blocked Villeneuve's car on pit road and they argued. In 2012, Papis finished in fourth-place at Road America.

In 2013 at Road America, Papis, who spent nearly the entire race in the top five, found himself being spun out twice in the waning laps. When the race was over, a furious Papis went up to Billy Johnson (who spun him out one of the times) and slapped him. After being separated by officials Papis and Johnson exchanged shouts ending with Papis walking off. When he spoke to reporters, Papis apologized for the slap.

In early August 2013, Papis was named to substitute for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen International after Stewart suffered a broken leg in a sprint car accident. He posted a solid top 15 finish. Papis also competed in the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Richard Childress Racing, finishing in fourth place.

Papis drove for NTS Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series' inaugural race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 250, in September 2013. Finishing 6th in the event, he was slapped following the race by the girlfriend of driver Mike Skeen, who he had crashed with on the final lap, suffering a dislocated jaw.

In 2014, Papis' team fielded the No. 99 car for the NASCAR Whelen Euroseries for Kevin Gilardoni in the Elite Division.

"Mad Max"

Papis earned the nickname "Mad Max" at the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona during his last stint at the end of the race. Although his second-place Ferrari 333SP had been battered due to collisions, some of its bodywork held together by tape, Papis unlapped himself by passing the race leader (the Doyle Racing Riley & Scott-Oldsmobile driven by Wayne Taylor) and proceeded to set some of the fastest laps of the entire race. Taylor was nursing his car around the track due to an overheating problem and otherwise would have been able to cruise to a win, but Papis' pace and the slowing Oldsmobile suggested that Papis could theoretically take the win from him. Papis' speed was achieved at the cost of maximum fuel consumption and although he drove down the pit lane at full speed to re-fuel (pit lane speed limits were imposed the next year), Taylor was still ahead by 64 seconds at the end of the race.

Motorsports career results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

International Formula 3000 results
Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
1993	Vortex Motorsport	Reynard 93D	Cosworth	DON	SIL	PAU	PER	HOC	NÜR	SPA	MAG	NOG	10th	6
1994	Mythos Racing	Reynard 94D	Judd	SIL	PAU	CAT	PER	HOC	SPA	EST	MAG		6th	13

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Formula One results
Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1995	Footwork Hart	Footwork FA16	Hart V8	BRA	ARG	SMR	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	PAC	JPN	AUS	22nd	0

Complete American open wheel results

(key)

CART

CART results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
1996	Team Arciero-Wells	MIA	RIO	SRF	LBH	NAZ	500	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS						26th	4
1997	Team Arciero-Wells	MIA	SRF	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	FON					24th	8
1998	Team Arciero-Wells	MIA	MOT	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	HOU	SRF	FON			21st	25
1999	Team Rahal	MIA	MOT	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	POR	CLE	ROA	TOR	MIC	DET	MDO	CHI	VAN	LS	HOU	SRF	FON		5th	150
2000	Team Rahal	MIA	LBH	RIO	MOT	NAZ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LS	GAT	HOU	SRF	FON		14th	88
2001	Team Rahal	MTY	LBH	FTW	NAZ	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU	LS	SRF	FON	6th	107
2002	Sigma Autosport	MTY	LBH	MOT	MIL	LS	POR	CHI	TOR	CLE	VAN												19th	32
	Fernández Racing											MDO	ROA	MTL	DEN	ROC	MIA	SRF	FON	MXC
2003	PK Racing	STP	MTY	LBH	BRH	LAU	MIL	LS	POR	CLE	TOR	VAN	ROA	MDO	MTL	DEN	MIA	MXC	SRF	FON C			17th	25

IndyCar Series

IndyCar Series results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2002	Team Cheever	HMS	PHX	FON	NZR	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI						43rd	16
	Team Penske															TX2
2006	Cheever Racing	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI						26th	16
2008	Rubicon Race Team	HMS	STP	MOT1	LBH1	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	SRF2	NC	-

1 Run on same day.

2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2002	Dallara	Infiniti	18	23	Cheever
2006	Dallara	Honda	18	14	Cheever
2008	Dallara	Honda	DNQ		Rubicon

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1997	Moretti Racing	Gianpiero Moretti Didier Theys	Ferrari 333 SP	LMP	321	6th	3rd
2003	JML Team Panoz	Olivier Beretta Gunnar Jeannette	Panoz LMP01 Evo-Élan	LMP900	360	5th	3rd
2004	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	GTS	334	8th	2nd
2005	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	347	6th	2nd
2006	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	327	12th	7th
2007	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	22	DNF	DNF
2008	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	341	15th	3rd

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

A1 Grand Prix results
Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2005-06	Italy	GBR SPR	GBR FEA	GER SPR	GER FEA	POR SPR	POR FEA	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	UAE SPR	UAE FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	USA SPR	USA FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	14th	46

NASCAR

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

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint 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	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2006	Furniture Row Racing	78	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-
2008	Haas CNC Racing	66	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC																65th	92
		70																							GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL
	Germain Racing	13	Toyota																																		TEX	PHO	HOM
2009				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	43rd	1047
2010				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	43rd	907
2013	Stewart-Haas Racing	14	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	58th	01

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2010	Germain Racing	Toyota	31	40

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide 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	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts
2006	McGill Motorsports	36	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	97th	164
2007	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	105th	205
2008	Rusty Wallace Racing	64	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	74th	351
2009	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	127th	103
2010	Kevin Harvick Inc	33	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	98th	175
2011				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		123rd	01
2012	Richard Childress Racing			DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM			66th	41
2013				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	IOW	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM			48th	81

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck 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	NCWTC	Pts
2008	SS-Green Light Racing	07	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	69th	158
2009	Germain Racing	9	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	34th	958
2010				DAY	ATL	MAR	NSH	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTY	IRP	POC	NSH	DAR	BRI	CHI	KEN	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	33rd	947
2011				DAY	PHO	DAR	MAR	NSH	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	KEN	IOW	NSH	IRP	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	CHI	NHA	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	HOM	18th	643
2013	NTS Motorsports	14	Chevy	DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM				92nd	01

Touring car racing

V8 Supercar results

V8 Supercars results
Year	Team	Car	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	Final Pos	Points
2012	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford FG Falcon	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	PER R7	PER R8	PER R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HDV R12	HDV R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	SMP R18	SMP R19	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22	SUR R23	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	01

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold - Pole position. * - Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Year	Make	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Points
2005	Pontiac	DAY	TEX	RCH	ATL	10th	30
2006		DAY	TEX	DAY	ATL	6th	46

[ Source: Wikipedia ]