In RACER Magazine: Seen Both Sides

Not every racecar driver gets to compete in the Indy 500, but many ex-racers are enjoying the challenge from the other side of the pit wall.

Chris Simmons and Eddie Jones engineer two of the fastest guys in the series, while Blair Julian and Derek Davidson prepare their cars. Mike Hull has been managing Chip Ganassi Racing for 25 years. and Ricky Davis is a 15-year chief mechanic with CGR. Meanwhile, high above the track, Lee Bentham keeps an eagle eye on Ed Carpenter Racing.

They are some of the most talented, knowledgeable and respected people in the Verizon IndyCar Series paddock, but at one time they were all on the other side of the pit wall – driving open-wheel cars for all they were worth.

Bentham and Simmons were agonizingly close to scoring CART rides, Davidson’s prowess in a sprinter earned him an Indy Racing League test, and Jones’ upward trajectory was stopped cold against Pocono’s walls.

Hull showed potential, but realized it was an uphill battle and turned in his helmet, while Davis and Julian raced for the sheer joy of throwing a sprint car into a cushion of dirt.

They’ve all carved out careers in IndyCar, share an insider’s grasp of what happens at speed, and wouldn’t trade their racing memories for anything. But a couple of them will always wonder, “What if?”

“It takes talent, money and luck, and I had all three for a while,” says Simmons, who engineered Dario Franchitti’s very successful second chapter in IndyCar and currently collaborates with one of the sport’s top guns, Scott Dixon. “I drove for Barry Green in Indy Lights and ran pretty well, but I didn’t win, so I didn’t move up. But I definitely had my chance.”

Hull, 67, grew up going to Riverside Raceway, Calif., and developed an immediate knack for all things mechanical, while also possessing some natural driving talent.

“I started in Formula Ford with a Lotus 61 in 1971, and by ’72 I was working as an instructor at Jim Russell’s driving school at Willow Springs,” says Hull, who then went from a Titan to a Merlyn chassis and won SCCA features with all three. “I didn’t make a lot of money at the school, but part of my deal was I got to drive for 30 minutes at the end of every day.

“In ’75 I quit Russell to go to work for ADF [Automotive Development Ford] and got hooked up with David Bruns. I took care of the car when he raced; he did the same for me and we had a great time.”

Brit Jones, 62 (pictured below), started out driving saloon cars around his London home when he was 20, and then went from Formula Vee to FF2000 to Super Vee.

“I never could afford a new set of tires, but we ran pretty well and I designed and built my own Super Vee with full ground effects in 1982,” recalls the man who helped Graham Rahal regain his confidence at Rahal Letterman Lanigan.

“I decided to come to America and to run SCCA and a man was nice enough to loan me a Ford van with a single-axel trailer, but he lived in Philly, so we had to tow from there to Long Beach for the first race. There were 43 cars and Michael Andretti won the race, but I finished fifth and felt pretty good.”

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