Dick Simon

American racing driver

Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record as the oldest driver in Indy 500 history (54 years, 251 days), a record that was later broken by A. J. Foyt. Simon was a longtime car owner, founding Dick Simon Racing, helping to begin the Indy car careers of Stéphan Grégoire, Arie Luyendyk, Raul Boesel, Lyn St. James, and many others. Simon had a notable record at the Indy 500. Of the many rookies he entered at Indy over the years, not a single one failed to qualify for the race. Simon never won a race as a driver or as an owner. His best finish as a driver was 3rd at Ontario, and as an owner he had six second place finishes. Simon had a best finish at the Indianapolis 500 of 6th in 1987 (as a driver), and 4th in 1993 as an owner with Boesel. Simon sold his race team to Andy Evans who formed Team Scandia in 1997. He returned to Indy car racing in the late 1990s and entered cars in 2000 and 2001.

Simon was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother developed multiple sclerosis, and died at a relatively young age, while Simon's father later left the family. This forced Simon to take over the upbringing of his younger siblings. After completing his primary education in Seattle, Simon received a skiing scholarship that enabled him to attend the University of Utah. He logged his best CART season in 1987 when he made 11 starts and logged two top tens including a 6th place at the Indy 500, good enough for 20th in the CART championship. A partial season in 1988 where Simon logged a solid 9th place finish in the Indy 500 was his last as a driver. Simon's driving career includes 183 starts (115 in USAC, 78 in CART) over 19 seasons spanning from 1970 to 1988. Among those starts are 17 Indianapolis 500 appearances. He completed 1,954 laps in the Indianapolis 500 without leading any, the second highest such total ever.

Dick Simon fielded his own race team beginning in 1983 and shortly thereafter began fielding cars for pay drivers, Dick Simon Racing being one of the most competitive teams offering race seats to such drivers almost always fielded current year March and Lola chassis and had a competitive engine package. Simon himself retired from driving in 1988, one of the motivations being his difficulty in finding sponsors for himself as opposed to younger, up and coming drivers, saying in later that sponsors did not "want to sponsor somebody’s hobby, and that’s what they consider when an owner’s out there racing.” In 1989 the team fielded two fully funded drivers in Scott Brayton and Arie Luyendyk as the team moved towards the front of the pack. Simon fielded a car in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 for Lyn St. James who became the second woman to drive in the race. Raul Boesel finished 5th in points with three runner up finishes in 1993, the team's best season result. At 61 years old, Simon stepped behind the wheel of Davy Jones' car for shakedowns ahead of the 1995 Indianapolis 500, as Jones was in California for a NASCAR event.

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

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 Pts Ref 1973 Faustina Racing 5 Dodge RSD DAY RCH CAR BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL7 NSV CLT DOV TWS RSD MCH DAY35 BRI ATL TAL NSV DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR NA 0 1974 RSD DAY31 RCH CAR BRI ATL DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH DAY BRI NSV ATL POC TAL MCH DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ONT NA 0