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Danny Sullivan

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For other people with the same name, see Daniel Sullivan.
Danny Sullivan
Sullivan in 2015
BornDaniel John Sullivan III
(1950-03-09) March 9, 1950 (age 74)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Championship titles
CART Championship Car (1988)
Major victories
Pocono 500 (1984, 1989)
Indianapolis 500 (1985)
Michigan 500 (1988)
Long Beach Grand Prix (1992)
Champ Car career
171 races run over 12 years
Best finish1st (1988)
First race1982 Stroh's 200 (Atlanta)
Last race1995 Michigan 500 (Michigan)
First win1984 Cleveland Grand Prix (Cleveland)
Last win1993 Detroit Grand Prix (Belle Isle)
Wins Podiums Poles
17 40 19
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited States American
Active years1983
TeamsTyrrell
Entries15
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points2
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1983 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry1983 South African Grand Prix
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 2 years
Best finish74th (1994)
First race1994 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1988, 1994, 1996, 2004
TeamsTWR-Jaguar, Porsche, Bigazzi, Barron Connor
Best finish3rd (1994)
Class wins0

Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Championship, and placed third in points in 1986. Sullivan also scored a victory in IROC. He competed in the 1983 Formula One season with Tyrrell, scoring 2 championship points.

Before racing

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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.[1]

Formula One

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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 and Formula Two before returning to race in the United States.

In 1980–81, he drove for Garvin Brown Racing in the SCCA Can-Am Series, scoring one victory in 1981 at the season-ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

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, seeing off an early race challenge from 1980 World Champion Alan Jones, before finishing second behind reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg, finishing only half-a-second behind the Williams after 40 laps of racing.

Nevertheless, he was somewhat overshadowed by his more experienced teammate, Michele Alboreto (who won the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix for the team, its last F1 victory), and was not retained at the end of the season.

CART career

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Sullivan's Lola T800 at Laguna Seca in 1984.
Sullivan during time trials as the 1988 Indianapolis 500.

For 1984, Sullivan returned to North America, where he competed in the CART PPG Indy Car series. He first landed at Shierson Racing, winning three races including the Pocono 500, and placing 4th in points. In 1985, he moved to Penske Racing, winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500. His victory at Indy, known in auto racing lore as the "spin and win" is one of the most legendary moments in Indy 500 history.

Sullivan would set the pace at Indy again in 1988, qualifying second and leading 91 of the first 101 laps. Sullivan was part of the all-Penske front row with teammates Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. A wing adjuster broke on Sullivan's car just after the halfway mark, and his car hit the outside wall in turn one, ending his day. Nevertheless, he rebounded, posting finishes of 4th or better over the next six races, winning at Portland and the Michigan 500. The win at Michigan completed a career Indy car Triple Crown (Indianapolis, Michigan, Pocono). He finished the season with five top-5 finishes over the final five races, including two wins. At the second-to-last race of the season at Laguna Seca, Sullivan won the pole position, led the most laps, and won the race. With still one race remaining, Sullivan clinched the 1988 CART championship, holding an insurmountable 35-point lead. It was Sullivan's first championship title and Penske's first since 1985.

In 1989, Sullivan suffered a broken arm in a crash during practice for the Indy 500, and would miss two races. He rebounded to win the Pocono 500 in August - his second win in that event - and one other race to place a respectable 7th in points. Sullivan's last season with Penske Racing was 1990. He won two races in 1990, including the season finale at Laguna Seca. He won the pole and led wire-to-wire in his final start for Roger Penske.

In 1991, Sullivan switched to the Patrick Racing Alfa Romeo team. After going winless in 1991 in a very uncompetitive machine, he parted ways with Patrick. Sullivan won two more CART races between 1992 and 1993, driving for Galles-Kraco Racing. He scored the first win for the Galmer chassis at Long Beach. It came after he bumped teammate and race leader Al Unser Jr. on the backstretch with less than four laps to go. The incident sparked friction within the team. His later years were plagued with inconsistency, leading to a semi-retirement in 1994. His brief tenure at Galles was described as particularly toxic.[2]

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.

Also in 1991, the Leland Corporation released the arcade game Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat, featuring his likeness.

After Indy

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Danny Sullivan - Alfa Corse - Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI 94, Donington 1994 DTM
Sullivan (#99) at the 1994 NASCAR Brickyard 400

In 1994, Sullivan took a sabbatical from Indy car racing. After being released from Galles Racing very late after the 1993 season, Sullivan was unable to find a new ride as most seats at that point had already been filled. He joined ABC/ESPN as a color commentator. He also attempted to run selected events in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series that season.[3] However, he failed to qualify for several events;[4] he qualified for only 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,[5] 2010 Singapore Grand Prix,[6] 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix,[7] 2013 Australian Grand Prix,[8] 2014 Spanish Grand Prix,[9] 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix,[10][11] 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix,[12] 2018 Chinese Grand Prix,[13] and 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.[14]

Sullivan and Michael Andretti were inducted into the Motorsports Walk of Fame on April 5, 2010, along the route of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which both men have won.[15]

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.[16]

Awards

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Sullivan was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2012,[17] and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2022.

Racing career results

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Indianapolis 500 results

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Complete Formula One World Championship results

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(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
11 		USW
8 		FRA
Ret 		SMR
Ret 		MON
5 		BEL
12 		DET
Ret 		CAN
DSQ 		GBR
14 		GER
12 		AUT
Ret 		NED
Ret 		ITA
Ret 		17th 2
Tyrrell 012 EUR
Ret 		RSA
7

Non-Championship Formula One results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1
1983 Benetton Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 011 Cosworth DFV V8 ROC
2

CART career results

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Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
1982 Forsythe Newman March 82C Cosworth DFX PHX ATL
3 		MIL
21 		CLE MIS MIL POC RIV ROA MIS2 PHX2 22nd 28 [18]
1984 Shierson Racing DSR-1 Cosworth DFX LBH
24 		PHX
6 		MIL
16 		4th 110 [19]
Lola T800 INDY
29 		POR
23 		MEA
2 		CLE
1 		MIS
10 		ROA
19 		POC
1 		MDO
3 		SAN
1 		MIS2
9 		PHX2
20 		LS
9 		LVG
18
1985 Team Penske March 85C Cosworth DFX LBH
3 		INDY
1 		MIL
4 		POR
27 		MEA
18 		CLE
27 		MIS
14 		ROA
13 		POC
5 		MDO
2 		SAN
5 		MIS2
8 		LS
8 		PHX
4 		MIA
1 		    4th 126 [20]
1986 Team Penske March 86C Cosworth DFX PHX
4 		LBH
11 		INDY
9 		MIL
11 		POR
11 		MEA
1 		CLE
1 		TOR
2 		MIS
25 		POC
16 		MDO
3 		SAN
5 		MIS
12 		ROA
6 		LS
2 		PHX2
2 		3rd 147 [21]
Penske PC-15 Chevrolet 265A MIA
26
1987 Team Penske Penske PC-16 Chevrolet 265A LBH
22 		PHX
11 		POR
11 		MEA
20 		9th 87 [22]
March 86C INDY
13 		MIL
11 		CLE
4 		TOR
2 		MIS
4 		POC
17 		ROA
5 		MDO
3 		NAZ
22 		LS
2 		MIA
12
1988 Team Penske Penske PC-17 Chevrolet 265A PHX
23 		LBH
13 		INDY
23 		MIL
2 		POR
1 		CLE
3 		TOR
2 		MEA
4 		MIS
1 		POC
18 		MDO
5 		ROA
4 		NAZ
1 		LS
1 		MIA
5 		1st 182 [23]
1989 Team Penske Penske PC-18 Chevrolet 265A PHX
3 		LBH
8 		INDY
28 		MIL
10 		DET
24 		POR
 CLE
 MEA
8 		TOR
3 		MIS
23 		POC
1 		MDO
5 		ROA
1 		NAZ
3 		LS
14 		7th 107 [24]
1990 Team Penske Penske PC-19 Chevrolet 265A PHX
6 		LBH
3 		INDY
32 		MIL
8 		DET
14 		POR
4 		CLE
1 		MEA
14 		TOR
4 		MIS
21 		DEN
2 		VAN
2 		MDO
5 		ROA
16 		NAZ
18 		LS
1 		6th 139 [25]
1991 Patrick Racing Lola T91/00 Alfa Romeo Indy V8 SRF
4 		LBH
11 		PHX
7 		INDY
10 		MIL
5 		DET
10 		POR
21 		CLE
9 		MEA
6 		TOR
14 		MIS
18 		DEN
18 		VAN
9 		MDO
17 		ROA
16 		NAZ
20 		LS
9 		11th 56 [26]
1992 Galles Racing Galmer G92 Chevrolet 265A SRF
5 		PHX
12 		LBH
1 		INDY
5 		DET
5 		POR
12 		MIL
12 		NHA
9 		TOR
3 		MIS
8 		CLE
20 		ROA
7 		VAN
7 		MDO
8 		NAZ
17 		LS
7 		7th 99 [27]
1993 Galles Racing Lola T93/00 Chevrolet 265C SRF
13 		PHX
23 		LBH
8 		INDY
33 		MIL
16 		DET
1 		POR
14 		CLE
14 		TOR
3 		MIS
 NHA
22 		ROA
26 		VAN
10 		MDO
27 		NAZ
20 		LS
27 		12th 43 [28]
1995 PacWest Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB MIA
9 		SRF
5 		PHX
27 		LBH
10 		NAZ
18 		INDY
9 		MIL
17 		DET
12 		POR
22 		ROA
25 		TOR
18 		CLE
5 		MIS
16 		MDO NHA VAN LS 19th 32 [29]

NASCAR

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

Winston Cup Series

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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 Ref
1994 Mattei Motorsports 99 Pontiac DAY CAR
DNQ 		RCH 74th 64 [30]
Virtue Racing Chevy ATL
DNQ 		DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND
33 		GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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The Dauer 962 Le Mans Sullivan shared with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen in 1994
Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1988 United States Silk Cut Jaguar
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw Racing 		United States Price Cobb
United States Davy Jones 		Jaguar XJR-9LM C1 331 16th 14th
1994 Germany Le Mans Porsche Team Belgium Thierry Boutsen
Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck 		Dauer 962 Le Mans LMGT1 343 3rd 2nd
1996 Italy Team Bigazzi SRL Venezuela Johnny Cecotto
Brazil Nelson Piquet 		McLaren F1 GTR LMGT1 324 8th 6th
2004 Netherlands Barron Connor Racing Italy Thomas Biagi
Netherlands John Bosch 		Ferrari 575-GTC GTS 163 DNF DNF

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "8W – Who? – Danny Sullivan". 8w.forix.com. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  2. ^ Pruett, Marshall (April 6, 2017). "Danny Sullivan on His 1992 Long Beach IndyCar Win". The Marshall Pruett Podcast. Episode 133. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  3. ^ "Sullivan Puts Stock In NASCAR". The Charlotte Observer. January 18, 1994. p. 2B. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  4. ^ Williams, Charean (August 2, 1994). "Sullivan Both Novice And Veteran At Indy". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  5. ^ "Sullivan joins stewards for Germany". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
  6. ^ "Sullivan joins Singapore stewards' panel". PlanetF1.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  7. ^ "2012 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race Preview". FIA. 2012-07-25. Archived from the original on 2013-10-01.
  8. ^ "Sullivan named as driver steward for Australia". 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  9. ^ "2014 Spanish Grand Prix – Preview". FIA. 2014-05-07. Archived from the original on 2017-05-09.
  10. ^ "2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Stewards' Biographies". FIA. 2017-06-21. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19.
  11. ^ "2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Entry List". FIA. 2017-06-22. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19.
  12. ^ "2018 Bahrain Grand Prix - Stewards' Biographies". FIA. 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  13. ^ "2018 Chinese Grand Prix - Stewards' Biographies". FIA. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  14. ^ "2018 Monaco Grand Prix - Stewards' Biographies". FIA. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-07-21.
  15. ^ "City of Long Beach, CA – News Details". longbeach.gov. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  16. ^ "Executive Team | Tempus – A Premier Aviation Services Provider". tempusjets.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  17. ^ Danny Sullivan at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  18. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  20. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  21. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  22. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  24. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  25. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  26. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  27. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  28. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  29. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  30. ^ "Danny Sullivan – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
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