Dick Simon Racing was a race team owned by racer Dick Simon that competed in the CART Championship Car series from 1983 to 1995 and the Indy Racing League from 1999 to 2001.

CART

The team was founded in 1983 when Simon decided to bring his sponsorship from Vermont American to a new team of his own creation. He saw an immediate boost in performance as he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1980 and was noticeably more competitive than he was with the Leader Card team. In 1985 Simon brought in Brazilian Raul Boesel to drive full-time as he scaled back his own racing to a part-time schedule, occasionally joining Boesel in a second car. Simon only competed in four races in 1986 as Boesel drove the team's primary car to 17th in points and was competitive in nearly every race. A number of other drivers made part-time appearances in Simon's other entry as Dick Simon Racing became one of the premier teams for pay drivers. This trend continued in 1988 which would be Simon's final year of racing as Arie Luyendyk replaced Boesel in the team's full-time entry. In 1989 Scott Brayton joined Luyendyk as the team fielded a pair of full-time fully funded entries for the first time. Luyendyk finished 10th in points while Brayton finished 15th. Luyendyk left the team for 1990 and was replaced by Japanese rookie Hiro Matsushita while Brayton again finished 15th. Matsushita took his Panasonic funding elsewhere for 1991, leaving Brayton to drive a single Simon entry to a respectable 12th-place points finish. Brayton, Matsushita, and Boesel returned to the team in 1992 and Boesel finished 9th in the championship while Brayton finished 15th again. The team also fielded a car in the Indy 500 for female rookie Lyn St. James who became the second woman to compete in the race. St. James returned for a partial schedule in 1993 while Brayton and Boesel drove the full-time cars to 15th and 5th-place points finishes respectively, with Boesel capturing 3 runner-up finishes. In 1994 Matsushita again returned to the team as Boesel continued in the other car, this time finishing 7th in points. In 1995 the team signed Dean Hall and Formula One veteran Eliseo Salazar to drive the team's two cars and they were joined in April by rookie Carlos Guerrero. Hall left the team after failing to qualify for the Indy 500 while Salazar and Guerrero managed 21st and 30th-place points finishes respectively.

The team finished its years in CART without winning a race, but captured two poles, both by Boesel at the Milwaukee Mile in 1993 and 1994. The team had six second-place finishes, one with Arie Luyendyk in 1988, and the rest with Boesel.

As an owner, Simon had a stellar record of his rookie drivers successfully qualifying for the Indy 500. As a tradition, Simon cars frequently made the effort to be "first car(s) on the track" at Indy on the opening day of practice, a popular ceremonial honor.

Indy Racing League

In 1996 Dick Simon sold much of the team's cars and assets to Team Scandia founder Andy Evans and Simon was listed on many of the team's entries in the new Indy Racing League as Simon/Scandia Racing. It was during that year that Scandia set a race record by having 7 of their cars qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Dick Simon returned to the IRL in 1999 with Stephan Gregoire who competed in a full schedule but failed to qualify for the Indy 500 and finished 15th in points. Gregoire returned in 2000 and finished 14th in points and was joined in the Indianapolis 500 by Lyn St. James who began her IndyCar career with Simon 8 years earlier. Both cars made the race and while St. James wrecked early in the race, Gregoire finished 8th. Gregoire was set to return for a full season in 2001, but after the team again failed to qualify for the Indy 500, the team shut down in May of that year.

When his own team failed to qualify at the 2001 Indy 500, on race day Simon was hired to be the team strategist for Robby Gordon at A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

NASCAR At the 1994 Brickyard 400, Dick Simon was the co-owner of Jim Sauter's entry. The car failed to qualify.

Drivers

CART Ian Ashley (1986–1987) Fulvio Ballabio (1988) Raul Boesel (1985–1986, 1992–1994) Gary Brabham (1993) Scott Brayton (1989–1993) Jean-Pierre Frey (1988) Philippe Gache (1992) Bertrand Gachot (1993) Marco Greco (1995) Carlos Guerrero (1995) Maurício Gugelmin (1993) Dean Hall (1995) Ludwig Heimrath Jr. (1987) Jorge Koechlin (1983) Arie Luyendyk (1988–1989, 1995) Hideshi Matsuda (1994) Hiro Matsushita (1990, 1992, 1994) Mike Nish (1984) Tero Palmroth (1988–1990) Tom Phillips (1986) Scott Pruett (1988) John Richards (1987) Chip Robinson (1986) Eliseo Salazar (1995) Dick Simon (1983–1988) Joe Sposato (1990) Lyn St. James (1992–1995) Didier Theys (1988) Dennis Vitolo (1994) Jeff Wood (1987)

IRL Michele Alboreto (1996*) Racin Gardner (1996*) Stephan Gregoire (1999–2001) Joe Gosek (1996*) Michel Jourdain Jr. (1996*) Lyn St. James (1996*, 2000) Fermin Velez (1996*) Alessandro Zampedri (1996*)

* indicates car was entered as Simon/Scandia Racing

Complete Racing Results PPG CART Indycar World Series (key) YearChassisEngineDrivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1983 INDYMarch 83CCosworth DFX Dick Simon22 DNQ 15 11 14 19 14 2329th2Eagle 83 13 25 15 Jorge Koechlin (R)19 1541st0 1984 INDY March 84C Cosworth DFX Dick Simon22 19 4 23 13 20 24 DNQ 12 15 12 24 12 15 21 14 DNQ25th15 Mike Nish (R)23 15 DNQ40th0 1985 INDY March 85C Cosworth DFX Raul Boesel (R)22 20 11 11 12 8 23 20 2330th1023 18 28 Dick Simon22 26 13 25 10 17 19 DNQ36th323 17March 84C Mike Nish DNQNC— 1986 INDY Lola T8600 Cosworth DFX Raul Boesel22 13 19 13 14 8 23 6 7 5 5 7 9 15 8 14 13 1913th54 Dick Simon23 14 22 23 2042nd0 Chip Robinson (R) 14 726th6 Ian Ashley 15 9 2328th4 1987 INDYLola T8700Cosworth DFX Dick Simon22 20 10 6 20 18 14 23 23 9 21 1820th15 Wally Dallenbach Jr. 1237th1 Ludwig Heimrath 2634th523 15 22 30 10 12 17 18 19 25 12 Fulvio Ballabio (R) 2648th0 Jeff Wood 10 15 DNQ 1033rd622 23 John Richards (R) 1338th0Lola T860027 26 13 14 Ian Ashley 2043rd0 1988 INDYLola T8800Cosworth DFX Arie Luyendyk7 9 10 10 15 2* 18 20 20 28 26 25 19 9 22 1414th31 Dick Simon22 9 12 7 2024th11Lola T8700 19 19 Scott Pruett (R) 1838th0Lola T8800 Didier Theys 10 9 18 21 10 23 8 315th29Lola T8700 Fulvio Ballabio23 25 17 1839th0 Tero Palmroth (R) 19 1842nd0 Jean-Pierre Frey (R) 13 1937th0 1989 INDYLola T8900Cosworth DFS Arie Luyendyk7 17 7 6 6 3 9 7 24 6 23 8 4 13 910th759 21 Scott Brayton22 15 12 18 DSQ 13 28 10 14 11 14 15 13 10 2015th17Buick 3300 V6t 6 1990 INDYLola T8900Cosworth DFS Hiro Matsushita (R)10 19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 2331st1Lola T9000 Tero Palmroth DNS33rd123 12Lola T8900 28 27 Johnny Rutherford DNQNC— Joe Sposato (R) 1739th0Lola T9000 Scott Brayton22 13 9 7 20 10 25 22 9 14 16 12 9 8 13 12 2415th28 1991 SFR INDYLola T9000Cosworth DFS Hiro Matsushita7 21 14 10 14 1423rd6Lola T9100 13 14 12 15 19 14 16 14 12 12Buick 3300 V6t 16Chevrolet 265A 20 Scott Brayton22 6 8 13 17 6 9 15 7 9 6 9 16 10 13 11 19 2712th52Lola T9000Cosworth DFS Tero Palmroth23 2348th0 1992 SFR INDY TORLola T9200Chevrolet 265A Hiro Matsushita11 DNQ 16 10 DNQ 24 14 13 18 14 1527th3 Raul Boesel 7 2 9 10 18 39th8023 22 6 8 11 7 6 6 Scott Brayton22 20 9 17 12 22 3 17 17 10 21 12 8 10 8 1015th39Buick 3300 V6t 22Lola T9100Chevrolet 265A Philippe Gache (R)44 2860th0 Lyn St. James (R)90 1133rd1 1993 SFR INDYLola T9306Ford XB Raul Boesel9 8 2 12 4 2* 2 7 7 7 4 21 4 9 4 9 115th132Lola T9200 Scott Brayton22 16 25 1415th36Lola T9306 24 6 6 17 18 19 11 6 7 24 9 15 24Lola T9200 Didier Theys23 1542nd0Buick 3300 V6t Stéphan Grégoire (R)36 1946th0Chevrolet 265A John Brooks44 DNQNC— Gary Brabham (R)90 14 40th0Ford XB Lyn St. James 13 1736th0Lola T9306 25 DNQ 20 23 22 Bertrand Gachot (R) 1234th1 Eddie Cheever 621 Maurício Gugelmin (R) 21 1337th018 24 1994 SFR INDYLola T9400Ford XB Raul Boesel5 27 8 4 21 8 28 23 6 12 9* 8 4 23 6 4 27th90 Hiro Matsushita22 15 27 DNQ 14 23 DNQ 21 15 18 6 18 17 DNQ 14 16 2326th8 Lyn St. James90 19 48th0Lola T9306 Dennis Vitolo79 26 53rd0 Tero Palmroth DNQ NC— Hideshi Matsuda (R)99 24 52nd0 1995 SFR INDYLola T9400Ford XB Eliseo Salazar (R)7 24 21st19Lola T9500 17 10 15 12 4 16 20 15 18 21 10 18 13 13 13 DNQ Arie Luyendyk22 256 Carlos Guerrero 11 33 15 24 24 17 26 18 16 15 1830th2Lola T9400 14 21 19 Lola T9500 Davy Jones77 2343rd0 Lyn St. James90 32 1739th0Lola T9400 20 Tero Palmroth DNQNC—Lola T9500 Dean Hall99 12 12 17 17 16 DNQ31st2 1996 MIA RIO SFR LBH NAZ 500 MIL DET TORLola T9600Ford XB Marco Greco7 25 1223nd1 Eliseo Salazar 21 18 11 1530th2 Carlos Guerrero22 20 20 1433rd0 Michel Jourdain Jr. (R) 23 23 DNS 22 16 2637th0

Indy Racing League results (key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Chassis Engine Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1996 WDW PHX INDY Lola T95Lola T94Lola T93Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth Eliseo Salazar 7 Wth 6 Fermín Vélez 1934 21 Alessandro Zampedri8 4 Michel Jourdain Jr.22 20 13 Michele Alboreto33 4 8 30 Joe Gosek43 22 Lyn St. James 90 8 21 Racin Gardner 25 1999 INDY G-Force GF01COldsmobile Aurora V8 Stéphan Grégoire7 16 10C DNQ 4 11 24 14 14 8 15 2000 INDY G-Force GF05 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 Stéphan Grégoire7 18 8 28 8 11 8 7 5 20 Lyn St. James90 32 2001 INDY Dallara IR-01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 Stéphan Grégoire7 21 22 15 DNQ Roberto Guerrero DNQ 17 DNQ

Run in conjunction with Team Scandia. The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.