Greg Ray
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| Greg Ray | |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Date of Birth | August 3, 1966 |
| Place of Birth | Long Beach, California |
| Retired | 2004 |
| Indy Racing League IndyCar Series | |
| Years active | 1997-2004 |
| Teams | Knapp Motorsports A. J. Foyt Enterprises Team Menard Sam Schmidt Motorsports Access Motorsports |
| Starts | 73 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Poles | 14 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 1st in 1999 |
| Previous series | |
| 1992-1994 1996 |
Toyota Atlantic Indy Lights |
| Championship titles | |
| 1999 | Indy Racing League Champion |
Greg Ray (born August 3, 1966, in Dallas, Texas) is a former IRL IndyCar Series driver.
After winning the SCCA national Formula Atlantic championship in 1993, he moved up to the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic series in 1994.
In 1997 he made his Indy Racing League debut driving for Thomas Knapp in an unsponsored black #97 car. He made his mark on the series a year later during qualifying for the 1998 Indianapolis 500. Driving the same, plain, black #97, he qualified second behind A.J. Foyt's driver Billy Boat. The car attracted sponsorship from local businesses and the national anti-tobacco campaign, and became known as Ash Kicker Racing. Though he failed to finish that race, he scored several good results in subsequent races and caught the eye of successful businessman and team owner John Menard.
In 1999 he won the IRL championship on the strength of three victories. However, 2000 was a difficult season with only one victory. He qualified on pole for the Indianapolis 500 but subsequently finished last (33rd). In 2001 Ray and Menard had split, and his replacement Jaques Lazier won his first victory at the Chicagoland Speedway.
Things continued to go downhill from there, as Ray bounced around three separate cars in 2002 before starting his own team in 2003, Access Motorsports, the lone team utilizing a Panoz chassis with Honda engines. He gained sponsorship from TrimSpa but failed to light up the scoreboard and in 2004, he ran a few races before giving his seat to former Infiniti Pro Series champion Mark Taylor. The team closed at the end of the year from a lack of sponsorship.
Ray had 5 wins in his 74 IRL starts.
[edit] Indy 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 30th | 25th |
| 1998 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 2nd | 18th |
| 1999 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 2nd | 21st |
| 2000 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 1st | 33rd |
| 2001 | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 2nd | 17th |
| 2002 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 31st | 33rd |
| 2003 | G-Force | Honda | 14th | 8th |
| 2004 | G-Force | Honda | 27th | 27th |
| Preceded by Kenny Bräck |
Pep Boys Indy Racing League Champion 1999 |
Succeeded by Buddy Lazier |
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