Allan Pagan 1955-2025

Allan Pagan, one of the original Indy Racing League entrants whose Pagan Racing team finished second at the Indianapolis 500, died last week at the age of 70.

The Texan (far left, main image), who formed the racing team with his father Jack, got his start in the CART IndyCar Series with an entry for Jeff Andretti at the 1993 Indy 500 and returned the following year with 1992 Indy polesitter Roberto Guerrero for another one-off outing at the Speedway.

Pagan expanded to run three CART races in 1995 – all ovals – and switched to the brand-new IRL championship in 1996. The team took part in the full season that spanned 1996-1997, and featured runs to fifth by Guerrero at the inaugural Walt Disney World race and fifth again for the Colombian in the Indy 500.

A partial season in 1998 with Guerrero and Stevie Reeves was followed by an alliance between Pagan and renowned crew chief Mitch Davis, which brought motocross legend and burgeoning open-wheel driver Jeff Ward into the fold at the second IRL race in 1999, when they finished second Phoenix. The chemistry continued at Indy, where the unheralded Pagan Racing qualified 14th and saw Ward make his way into the lead as the race entered its final 50 laps.

Pagan, Ward, and Davis came close to victory at the sport’s biggest race, taking second to AJ Foyt Racing’s Kenny Brack, and completed the year with Ward in the No. 21 Dallara-Oldsmobile. The team would make one more outing with Richie Hearn at Indy in 2000 before shuttering the program.

Pagan’s knack for finding impressive sponsors like Pennzoil, and later, as the Internet boom continued to grow, with YAHOO! as primary backer with Ward’s 500 effort, underscored the kind of impact he was able to make in a brief period of time with the little Gasoline Alley-based outfit.

Long before he was appointed as president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, Doug Boles could be found high above the Brickyard’s turns spotting for Pagan during Guerrero’s numerous drives with the ambitious family-run effort, where he came to appreciate their passion and achievements facing much bigger CART and IRL rivals.

“Jack, his dad, was a car dealer, and Jack and Allan both loved Indy car racing,” Boles told RACER. “For them as a father and son, to be able to compete together, even getting to do what was basically a full season, was a really cool moment for them. Allan ran the team and they were fast. The 1999 season was one of those dream seasons, the little team that was competing against larger groups, and he really loved the Speedway.

“The focus there to start was going to run at Indianapolis, and then when the Indy Racing started, they said, ‘Let's try and run the whole series', and they did it from a tiny little shop just down the road. Allan was a guy who loved IndyCar racing and got a chance to chase his dream with his dad.”

Veteran race engineer and chassis designer Tino Belli, who serves as IndyCar’s head of aerodynamics, also worked for Pagan.

“He loved the camaraderie and the competition,” Belli said. “A lovely man who really looked after his employees, and whom I always stayed in contact with.”

Ward would go on to drive for Foyt and Chip Ganassi Racing at Indy, but the magical result with the underdog Pagan Racing in 1999 stands as his best day at the Speedway.

“I was pretty fortunate that Allan was available to us, because if he wasn't, then I don't know what I would have done that year,” Ward said.

“It put my career trajectory back on track, because I only done Indy in a few races, and then I was out with nowhere to go. So luckily, Allan was there with a car and he welcomed me in and Mitch Davis, who was really instrumental at putting that together to get the program proper and competitive. So my hat goes off to Allan. It's sad to hear he passed away.”