Jeff Simmons (driver)

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Jeff Simmons
Nationality	United States
Date of Birth	August 5, 1976 (1976-08-05) (age 31)
Place of Birth	Hartford, Connecticut
IRL IndyCar Series
Years active	2004, 2006-2007
Teams	Mo Nunn Racing Patrick Racing Rahal Letterman Racing
Starts	25
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	16th in 2006
Previous series
2000 2003-2006	Indy Lights Indy Pro Series

Jeff Simmons (born August 8, 1976, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American race car driver, most recently driving open wheel cars in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series.

Contents 1 Early Career 2 IndyCar Series 3 Motorsports Career Results 3.1 American Open-Wheel 3.1.1 IndyCar

[edit] Early Career

Simmons began his professional career in Indy Lights in 2000, finishing 7th. He was the Infiniti Pro Series runner up in 2003, capturing 2 wins. In 2004, Mo Nunn gave him a chance to qualify his second car for the Indianapolis 500, which he did and finished 16th in the race. He made one additional start that year for Patrick Racing after the retirement of Al Unser, Jr.. Unable to find a ride in IndyCars for 2005, he returned to the Pro Series, finishing second in the series championship with 4 victories.

[edit] IndyCar Series

Expecting another season in the Pro Series in 2006, those plans were turned upside down when Paul Dana was killed in a practice crash before the first IndyCar series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on a weekend where Simmons won the IPS race.

Simmons was rewarded for his resilience when Rahal Letterman Racing announced April 4, 2006, he would drive the No. 17 Ethanol-sponsored Panoz-Honda effective April 22 in Motegi and was eligible to compete for the Rookie of the Year award, although he was no longer an Indy 500 rookie due to his start in 2004. He contested the remainder of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series season and finished 16th in series points despite missing the first two races. His best finish in 2006 was 7th place at Nashville Superspeedway and Infineon Raceway.

For the 2007 season, Simmons was joined at Rahal Letterman by IRL veteran Scott Sharp. On July 19, after 11 races, Simmons was let go from the team, who replaced him with fellow American Ryan Hunter-Reay.

In February 2007, Jeff became engaged to WTHR Sunrise reporter, Stephanie Soviar.

Simmons returned to the Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) at the beginning of the 2008 season, driving for Team Moore Racing. He was given a chance to return to the IndyCar Series, albeit temporarily, to drive a second entry for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2008 Indianapolis 500 and qualified 24th. In the race he hit the wall during a caution period and retired from the race in the 28th position.

[edit] Motorsports Career Results

[edit] American Open-Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

[edit] IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
2004	Mo Nunn / Patrick	HMS	PHX	JPN	IND 16	TXS	RIR	KAN Ret	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPIR	NZR	CHI	CAL	TX2		29th	26
2006	Rahal Letterman	HMS	STP	JPN Ret	IND Ret	WGL Ret	TXS 15	RIR Ret	KAN 10	NSH 7	MIL 9	MIS 10	KTY 14	SNM 7	CHI 8				16th	217
2007	Rahal Letterman	HMS Ret	STP 14	JPN 8	KAN 10	IND 11	MIL 10	TXS 6	IOW Ret	RIR Ret	WGL 10	NSH 14	MDO	MIS	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	18th	201
2008	Foyt	HMS	STP	JPN	LBH	KAN	IND Ret	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	36th*	10*

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
4	4	24	0	0	0	9	0	0

Sporting positions
Preceded by Derek Hill	Barber Dodge Pro Series Champion 1998-1999	Succeeded by Nilton Rossoni