Wikipedia

Mike Groff

Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961, in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.

Mike Groff
NationalityAmerican
Born (1961-11-16) November 16, 1961 (age 62)
Van Nuys, California
Retired1999
Related toRobbie Groff
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active1996-1998
TeamsA. J. Foyt Enterprises
Walker Racing
Byrd-Cunningham Racing
Starts12
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish6th in 1996
Mike Groff
CART Championship Car
Years active1990-1994, 1996
TeamsEuromotorsport
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Walker Racing
Rahal-Hogan Racing
Starts54
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish16th in 1991
Previous series
1986-1989
1985		American Racing Series
American Formula Super Vee
Championship titles
1989American Racing Series champion

Racing career

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Formula Super Vee and Indy Lights

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Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert Bosche Formula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In 1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America and finished third in points. In 1987 he won at Nazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988 he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989 he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

CART Champ Car

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Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Euromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at the Detroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In 12 starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished 17th in points.

In 1991 Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished 16th in points. He also competed in his first Indianapolis 500.

Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car for Walker Racing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driver Scott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (2 races), Walker (1 race), and Foyt (3 races) and finished 23rd in points.

In 1993 Groff joined Rahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.

1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment with Honda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchase Ilmor-powered cars from Team Penske to make the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Groff only finished 20th in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.

In 1995, Groff was left without a ride. During the third day of qualifications for the 1995 Indianapolis 500, he was tabbed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the back-up car for Bryan Herta, who had crashed and was not cleared to drive during the weekend. As Herta risked being bumped from the field, Groff was tasked with qualifying the car if such a situation had happened. To prepare for the situation, Groff did start an official qualifying attempt, which was aborted after two laps. However, Herta was not bumped, and Groff did not drive at all during Bump Day.

IRL IndyCar

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In 1996 Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race at Phoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished 14th and qualified 11th for the 1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.

For the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured 3 straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a second at Walt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series new naturally aspirated cars). He finished 12th in the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in 1998. After finishes of 7th, 15th, and 15th to start the season, he was replaced at the Texas Motor Speedway race by John Paul Jr. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.

Groff attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Team Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

Racing record

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American open–wheel racing results

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(key)

Indy Lights

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Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1986 Groff Motorsport PHX1
12 		MIL
1 		MEA
12 		TOR
2 		POC
2 		MDO
13 		ROA
1 		LS
7 		PHX2
7 		MIA 5th 89
1987 Patrick Racing PHX
4 		MIL
3 		MEA
10 		CLE
12 		TOR
2 		POC
10 		MDO
3 		NAZ
1 		LS
5 		MIA
11 		3rd 96
1988 Agapiou Racing PHX MIL POR CLE TOR MEA
15 		POC MDO ROA
5 		13th 26
Leading Edge Motorsport NAZ
2 		LS MIA
1989 Leading Edge Motorsport PHX
1 		LBH
9 		MIL
1 		DET
4 		POR
5 		MEA
1 		TOR
7 		POC
13 		MDO
2 		ROA
4 		NAZ
1 		LS
2 		1st 163

CART

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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
1990 Euromotorsport Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8t PHX LBH INDY
DNQ 		MIL DET
15 		POR
23 		CLE
9 		MEA
26 		17th 17 [1]
Lola T90/00 TOR
11 		MIS
11 		DEN
14 		VAN
22 		MDO
10 		ROA
17 		NAZ
7 		LS
15
1991 Euromotorsport Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8t SRF
8 		LBH
23 		PHX
16 		INDY
24 		MIL
18 		DET
22 		POR
11 		CLE
10 		MEA
11 		16th 22 [2]
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8t TOR
8 		MIS DEN
DNS 		VAN MDO
20 		ROA
8 		NAZ LS
15
1992 Walker Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8t SRF PHX LBH INDY
 DET
DNS 		POR ROA
24 		VAN 25th 5 [3]
Euromotorsport Cosworth DFS V8t MIL
14 		NHA
13 		TOR MIS CLE
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 265A V8t MDO
15
Lola T92/00 NAZ
16 		LS
8
1993 Rahal-Hogan Racing Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8t SRF PHX LBH INDY
 MIL
19 		DET
11 		POR
9 		CLE TOR MIS NHA
11 		23rd 8 [4]
Lola T93/00 ROA
18 		VAN MDO
22 		NAZ LS
1994 Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola T93/00 Honda HRX V8t SRF
8 		20th 17 [5]
Lola T94/00 PHX
6 		LBH
27 		MIL
19 		DET
27 		POR
11 		CLE
19 		TOR
22 		MIS
27 		MDO
26 		NHA
25 		VAN
14 		ROA
20 		NAZ
11 		LS
15
Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8t INDY
31
1995 Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t MIA SRF PHX LBH NAZ INDY
QL† 		MIL DET POR ROA TOR CLE MIS MDO NHA VAN LS NC - [6]
1996 Walker Racing Reynard 96i Ford XD V8t MIA RIO SRF LBH NAZ
14 		500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIS MDO ROA VAN LS 34th 0 [7]
† – Made an aborted qualifying attempt in Bryan Herta's back up car, as Herta was not cleared to drive after a crash and was in risk of being bumped.

Indy Racing League

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Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points Ref
1996 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/00 11 Ford XB V8t WDW
6 		6th 228 [8]
41 PHX
3
Walker Racing Reynard 95i 60 INDY
20
1996-97 Byrd-Cunningham Racing 10 NHM
4 		LVS
3 		14th 169 [9]
G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDW
2 		PHX
6 		INDY
12 		TXS
DNS 		PPI NH2
DNS 		LV2
Oldsmobile Aurora V8 CLT
14
1998 G-Force GF01B WDW
7 		PHX
15 		INDY
15 		TXS NHM DOV CLT PPIR ATL TX2 LVS 30th 56 [10]
1999 Team Xtreme Dallara IR9 46 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 WDW PHX CLT INDY
DNQ 		TXS PPI ATL DOV PP2 LVS TX2 NC - [11]

Indianapolis 500

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Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Tean
1990 Lola T89/00 Cosworth DFS V8t DNQ Euromotorsport
1991 Lola T91/00 Cosworth DFS V8t 18 24 Euromotorsport
1992 Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 265A V8t Raced by S. Goodyear Walker Racing
1993 Rahal-Hogan RH-001 Chevrolet 265C V8t No Attempt Rahal-Hogan Racing
1994 Penske PC-22 Ilmor 265C V8t 31 31 Rahal-Hogan Racing
1995 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t Raced by Bryan Herta Chip Ganassi Racing
1996 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8t 11 20 Walker Racing
1997 G-Force GF01 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 18 12 Byrd-Cunningham Racing
1998 G-Force GF01B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 32 15 Byrd-Cunningham Racing
1999 Dallara IR9 Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 DNQ Team Xtreme

References

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  1. ^ "Mike Groff – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Mike Groff – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Mike Groff – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Mike Groff – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "Mike Groff – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Mike Groff – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "Mike Groff – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. ^ "Mike Groff – 1996 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  9. ^ "Mike Groff – 1997 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  10. ^ "Mike Groff – 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  11. ^ "Mike Groff – 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by American Racing Series Champion
1989 		Succeeded by
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