Rolando Quintanilla (born September 17, 1977) is a Mexican former racing driver from Nuevo Laredo.
After a youth in motocross and amateur racing in SCCA Formula Continental and Formula Ford 2000, Quintanilla made his Indy Lights debut in 1999 for Conquest Racing.Callahan, Terry. INDY LIGHTS: Rolando Quintanilla to make debut at California, The Auto Channel, October 28, 1999, Retrieved 2021-07-06 He competed full-time in 2000 for the same team and finished 16th in points. In 2001 Quintanilla became the youngest team owner in the history of the Dayton Indy Lights championship support series in 2001 at the age of 20, when he founded and fielded his own racing team Roquin Motorsports (also associated with Escudería Telmex). He switched teams to his ownEsper, Darin. Quintanilla, 20, Finds Own Way to Make Racing Career Work Los Angeles Times, January 21, 2001, Retrieved 2021-07-06 Roquin Motorsports/Escudería Telmex in 2001 and moved up to tenth in points in the series' final year of operation. He took Roquin Motorsports to the Infiniti Pro Series (now called Indy NXT) in 2002Craighead, Allan. ROQUIN MOTORSPORTS TO RACE IN INFINITI PRO SERIES, Roquin Motorsports PR/The Auto Channel, February 14, 2002, Retrieved 2021-07-06 and finished eleventh. He made two IPS starts in 2003 and returned full-time in 2004 and finished a career best seventh in points. In the combined Indy Lights series and Indy Car he had 42 starts with a best finish of third in 2004 at Kansas Speedway and a best Indy finish of fourth in 2004. During his career, Quintanilla also tested for numerous teams in the CART and Indycar series logging miles for chassis and tire development. Teammates & Early Career: Quintanilla, who was already and established driver teamed up with and helped mentor a young Sergio Pérez during his early racing days in the United States as Quintanilla carried the banner for Telmex's push to elevate Mexican talent internationally. The "Quintanilla's Car" Meme: Within Spanish-speaking racing fandom, the pairing is famously remembered through a nostalgic throwback video shared by Pérez titled "Lavándole el coche a Quintanilla" ("Washing Quintanilla's Car"). The clip shows a very young, humorous "Checo" Pérez alongside his brother Toño, helping clean Quintanilla's racing car while discussing his early dreams of climbing the motorsport ladder.
Quintanilla resided in Calabasas, California and attended Pepperdine University. Racing record
American open–wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
CART Indy Lights / Infiniti Pro Series Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref 1999 Conquest Racing HMS LBH NAZ MIL POR CLE TOR MIS DET CHI LAG FON 24th 0 2000 Conquest Racing LBH MIL DET POR MIS CHI MOH VAN LAG GAT HOU FON 16th 16 2001 Roquin Motorsports MTY LBH TXS MIL POR KAN TOR MOH GAT ATL LAG FON 10th 62 2002 Roquin Motorsports KAN NSH MIS KTY GAT CHI TXS 11th 137 2003 Bowes Seal Fast Racing HMS PHX INDY PPR KAN NSH MIS GAT KTY CHI FON 19th 48 Roquin Motorsports TXS 2004 Roquin Motorsports HMS PHX INDY KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY PPR CHI FON TXS 7th 264
References
External links Indy Lights results at ChampCarStats.com