# Dick Simon

Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is an American former auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record as the oldest driver in Indy 500 history (54 years, 251 days), a record that was later broken by A. J. Foyt.
Simon was a longtime car owner, founding Dick Simon Racing, helping to begin the Indy car careers of Stéphan Grégoire, Arie Luyendyk, Raul Boesel, Lyn St. James, and many others. Simon had a notable record at the Indy 500. Of the many rookies he entered at Indy over the years, not a single one failed to qualify for the race. Simon never won a race as a driver or as an owner. His best finish as a driver was 3rd at Ontario, and as an owner he had six second-place finishes. Simon had a best finish at the Indianapolis 500 of 6th in 1987 (as a driver), and 4th in 1993 as an owner with Boesel.
Simon sold his race team to Andy Evans who formed Team Scandia in 1997. He returned to Indy car racing in the late 1990s and entered cars in 2000 and 2001.

## Early life

Simon was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother developed multiple sclerosis, and died at a relatively young age, while Simon's father later left the family. This forced Simon to take over the upbringing of his younger siblings.
After completing his primary education in Seattle, Simon received a skiing scholarship that enabled him to attend the University of Utah. During his collegiate career he was highly decorated, twice winning the Intermountain Ski Jumping championship, and for three consecutive years winning the Landes Memorial Ski Jump, held in Alta, Utah.
Simon began his racing career in 1962, racing super modifieds. Between 1962 and 1967, he won more than 30 races in the western United States, and in 1965 won the South Lake Valley Racing Association championship.

## Championship car career

Simon made his first USAC Championship car appearance at Seattle International Raceway in 1969, failing to qualify for that as well as two other races that season. Simon made his first start in 1970, driving a second-hand Vollstedt chassis at Phoenix International Raceway, where he sidelined by magneto failure after only 4 laps. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut that season and finished 14th position. At Ontario Motor Speedway that September, Simon captured his career-best finish of 3rd place, and he finished 10th in the 1970 USAC National Championship. Simon would continue to be marginally competitive throughout the 1970s, never matching his finishes of the 1970 season.
In 1979, Simon sided with USAC during its split with CART. In being one of the few drivers to complete the USAC schedule, Simon finished 8th in the Championship. In 1980 Simon moved to CART and continued to have little success throughout the 1980s while remaining marginally competitive. In 1982, Simon captured national attention after walking away from a spectacular rollover accident at Riverside, an incident that was later showed on ABC's That's Incredible!. He logged his best CART season in 1987 when he made 11 starts and logged two top-tens including a 6th place at the Indy 500, good enough for 20th in the CART championship. A partial season in 1988 where Simon logged a solid 9th-place finish in the Indy 500 was his last as a driver.
Simon's driving career includes 183 starts (115 in USAC, 78 in CART) over 19 seasons spanning from 1970 to 1988. Among those starts are 17 Indianapolis 500 appearances. He completed 1,954 laps in the Indianapolis 500 without leading any, the second highest such total ever.

## Team ownership

Dick Simon fielded his own race team beginning in 1983 and shortly thereafter began fielding cars for pay drivers, Dick Simon Racing being one of the most competitive teams offering race seats to such drivers almost always fielded current-year March and Lola chassis and had a competitive engine package. Simon himself retired from driving in 1988, one of the motivations being his difficulty in finding sponsors for himself as opposed to younger, up and coming drivers, saying in later that sponsors did not "want to sponsor somebody’s hobby, and that’s what they consider when an owner’s out there racing.” In 1989 the team fielded two fully funded drivers in Scott Brayton and Arie Luyendyk as the team moved towards the front of the pack. Simon fielded a car in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 for Lyn St. James who became the second woman to drive in the race. Raul Boesel finished 5th in points with three runner-up finishes in 1993, the team's best season result.
At 61 years old, Simon stepped behind the wheel of Davy Jones' car for shakedowns ahead of the 1995 Indianapolis 500, as Jones was in California for a NASCAR event. Overall, team had a difficult 1995 and Simon sold the team to Andy Evans who turned it into Team Scandia. Simon returned to ownership in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 1999 but saw little success. The team was shut down after the team's driver Stéphan Grégoire failed to qualify for the 2001 Indianapolis 500.

## Personal life

Simon was an adventurist and enthusiast. He was an experienced skier, scuba diver, registered pilot, sky diver, and parachutist. He was a national champion parachute jumper, and made over 1,600 jumps during the 1960s. In 1970, he left a desk job at an insurance company to pursue a career in auto racing. Simon is married to Dianne. Simon was once questioned by the FBI under the suspicion of being the airplane hijacker D. B. Cooper. He proved that he was discussing sponsorship with the president of General Foods in Upstate New York on the date of the hijack.

## Motorsports career results
### SCCA National Championship Runoffs

| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
| 1968 | Riverside Raceway | Chevrolet Corvette | Chevrolet | B Production | 3 | | Running |

### American open-wheel racing

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

#### USAC Championship Car

USAC Championship Car results :
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pos. | Pts |
| 1969 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 67 | Ford 159ci V8t | PHX | HAN | INDY | MIL | LAN | PPR | CDR | NAZ | TRE | IRP | IRP | MIL | ISF | DOV | DSF | INF | BRN | BRN | TRE | SAC | SIR DNS | SIR | | RSD DNS | NA | - |
| 1969 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 67 | Chevrolet 320 ci V8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | PHX DNQ | | NA | - |
| 1970 | Racing International | Vollstedt 67 | Ford 159ci V8t | PHX 24 | | TRE 9 | INDY 14 | MIL 11 | LAN 9 | | MCH 19 | IRP 13 | ISF | MIL | ONT 3 | DSF | INF | SED | TRE DNQ | | PHX 9 | | | | | | | 10th | 1080 |
| 1970 | John Gregg | Vollstedt 65 | Chevrolet 320 ci V8 | | SON 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10th | 1080 |
| 1970 | Dayton-Walther | Morris 70 | Ford 159ci V8t | | | | | | | CDR 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10th | 1080 |
| 1970 | Ron Burke | Moore 65 D | Offy 252 ci | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SAC DNQ | | | | | | | | | | 10th | 1080 |
| 1971 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T152 | Ford 159ci V8t | RAF 13 | RAF 6 | PHX 12 | | | | POC 17 | MCH 15 | MIL | | TRE 25 | PHX 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 405 |
| 1971 | Dick Simon Racing | Vollstedt 67 | Ford 159ci V8t | | | | TRE 7 | INDY 14 | MIL 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 405 |
| 1971 | Dick Simon Racing | Peat-Lola | Ford 159ci V8t | | | | | | | | | | ONT 22 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 405 |
| 1972 | Dick Simon Racing | Peat-Lola | Ford 159ci V8t | PHX 18 | TRE 14 | INDY 13 | MIL 9 | MCH 7 | POC 16 | | | TRE 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23rd | 200 |
| 1972 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T152 | Foyt 159ci V8t | | | | | | | MIL 12 | ONT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23rd | 200 |
| 1972 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | | | | | | | | | | PHX 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23rd | 200 |
| 1973 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | TWS 6 | TRE 10 | TRE 7 | INDY 14 | MIL 17 | POC 12 | | MIL 22 | ONT | ONT 11 | ONT 22 | MCH | MCH | TRE 23 | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 440 |
| 1973 | Eisenhour-Brayton Racing Team | Coyote 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | | | | | | | MCH 17 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 440 |
| 1973 | Patrick Racing | Eagle 73 | Ford 159ci V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | TWS 21 | PHX 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 440 |
| 1974 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | ONT 8 | ONT | ONT 28 | PHX 13 | TRE | INDY 33 | MIL 4 | POC 29 | MCH 21 | | | | | PHX 15 | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 270 |
| 1974 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 73 | Offy 159 ci t | | | | | | | | | | MIL 11 | MCH | TRE | TRE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 270 |
| 1975 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | ONT | ONT 13 | ONT 24 | PHX 14 | TRE 8 | INDY 21 | MIL 13 | POC 23 | MCH 9 | MIL 17 | MCH 15 | TRE 11 | PHX 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | 22nd | 220 |
| 1976 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 72/75 | Offy 159 ci t | PHX 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 330 |
| 1976 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 72 | Foyt 159ci V8t | | TRE 16 | | MIL 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 330 |
| 1976 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 73/76 | Offy 159 ci t | | | INDY 32 | | POC 10 | MCH 19 | TWS | TRE 13 | MIL 16 | ONT 30 | MCH 21 | TWS | PHX 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21st | 330 |
| 1977 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 73/76 | Offy 159 ci t | ONT 6 | PHX 7 | TWS | TRE | | MIL 13 | | | | | MIL 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24th | 360 |
| 1977 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | | | | | INDY 31 | | POC 16 | MOS | MCH 19 | TWS 14 | | ONT 33 | MCH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24th | 360 |
| 1977 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Lightning Mk1/76 | Offy 159 ci t | | | | | | | | | | | | | | PHX 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24th | 360 |
| 1978 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | PHX 4 | ONT 6 | TWS | TRE | INDY 19 | MOS | | POC 30 | MCH 13 | ATL 18 | TWS 6 | MIL 21 | ONT 14 | MCH | | SIL 12 | BRH 7 | PHX 22 | | | | | | | 18th | 670 |
| 1978 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 73/76 | Offy 159 ci t | | | | | | | MIL 18 | | | | | | | | TRE DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 18th | 670 |
| 1979 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | ONT 7 | TWS | INDY 26 | MIL 13 | POC 5 | TWS 7 | MIL 17 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8th | 766 |
| 1980 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | ONT | INDY 22 | MIL 13 | POC 21 | MDO DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 38th | 38 |
| 1981-82 | Leader Card Racers | Watson PC7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | INDY DNQ | POC 20 | ISF | DSF | INF | INDY DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 40th | 20 |
| 1982-83 | Dick Simon Racing | March 83C | Cosworth DFX V8t | ISF | DSF | NAZ | INDY 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23rd | 25 |
| 1983-84 | Dick Simon Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | DSF | INDY 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 26th | 15 |

#### PPG Indy Car World Series

PPG Indy Car World Series results :
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts | Ref |
| 1979 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | PHX | ATL | ATL | INDY 26 | TRE | TRE | MCH | MCH | WGL | TRE | ONT | MCH | ATL | PHX | | | | NC | 0 | |
| 1980 | Vollstedt Enterprises | Vollstedt 77 | Offy 159 ci t | ONT | INDY 22 | MIL 13 | POC 21 | MDO DNS | MCH 18 | WGL 17 | MIL 7 | ONT 37 | MCH | MEX 23 | PHX 25 | | | | | | 31st | 185 | |
| 1981 | Leader Card Racers | Watson PC7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX 10 | MIL 7 | ATL | ATL | MCH 31 | RIV 6 | | | WGL 11 | MEX 25 | PHX 20 | | | | | | | 16th | 38 | |
| 1981 | Leader Card Racers | Watson 78 | Offy 159 ci t | | | | | | | MIL 22 | MCH 25 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 16th | 38 |
| 1982 | Leader Card Racers | Watson PC7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX DNQ | ATL DNS | MIL 19 | CLE 17 | MCH 21 | MIL 15 | POC 22 | RIV 7 | ROA | | | | | | | | | 25th | 26 | |
| 1982 | Leader Card Racers | Watson 82C | Cosworth DFX V8t | | | | | | | | | | MCH 13 | PHX 19 | | | | | | | | | | 25th | 26 | |
| 1983 | Dick Simon Racing | March 83C | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL DNQ | INDY 15 | MIL 11 | CLE | MCH 14 | | | | | MCH 19 | CPL 14 | LAG | PHX 23 | | | | | 29th | 2 | |
| 1983 | Dick Simon Racing | Eagle 83 | Cosworth DFX V8t | | | | | | ROA 13 | POC | RIV 25 | MDO 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 29th | 2 | |
| 1984 | Dick Simon Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 19 | PHX 4 | INDY 23 | MIL 13 | POR 20 | MEA 24 | CLE DNQ | MCH 12 | ROA 15 | POC 12 | MDO 24 | SAN 12 | MCH 15 | PHX 21 | LAG 14 | CPL DNQ | | 26th | 15 | |
| 1985 | Dick Simon Racing | March 85C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH | INDY 26 | MIL 13 | POR | MEA 17 | CLE | MCH 25 | ROA | POC 10 | MDO | SAN 17 | MCH 19 | LAG | PHX DNQ | MIA | | | 37th | 3 | |
| 1986 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T86/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY 14 | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE 22 | TOR | MCH | POC 23 | MDO | SAN 20 | MCH | ROA | LAG | PHX | MIA | NC | 0 | |
| 1987 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T87/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 20 | PHX 10 | INDY 6 | MIL 20 | POR 18 | MEA 14 | CLE 23 | TOR 23 | MCH 9 | POC 21 | ROA | MDO | NAZ 18 | LAG | MIA | | | 21st | 15 | |
| 1988 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T87/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX 19 | LBH | | | | | | | | POC 19 | MDO | ROA | | | | | | 24th | 11 | |
| 1988 | Dick Simon Racing | Lola T88/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | | | INDY 9 | MIL 12 | POR | CLE | TOR | MEA | MCH 7 | | | | NAZ 20 | LAG | MIA | | | | 24th | 11 |

##### Indianapolis 500

| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
| 1970 | Vollstedt | Ford | 31 | 14 | Racing International |
| 1971 | Vollstedt | Ford | 33 | 14 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1972 | Peat-Lola | Ford | 23 | 13 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1973 | Eagle | Foyt | 27 | 14 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1974 | Eagle | Foyt | 10 | 33 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1975 | Eagle | Foyt | 30 | 21 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1976 | Vollstedt | Offenhauser | 16 | 32 | Vollstedt Enterprises |
| 1977 | Vollstedt | Offenhauser | 30 | 31 | Vollstedt Enterprises |
| 1978 | Vollstedt | Offenhauser | 10 | 19 | Vollstedt Enterprises |
| 1979 | Vollstedt | Offenhauser | 20 | 26 | Vollstedt Enterprises |
| 1980 | Vollstedt | Offenhauser | 29 | 22 | Vollstedt Enterprises |
| 1981 | Watson | Cosworth | DNQ | DNQ | Leader Card Racers |
| 1982 | Watson | Cosworth | DNQ | DNQ | Leader Card Racers |
| 1983 | March | Cosworth | 20 | 15 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1984 | March | Cosworth | 20 | 23 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1985 | March | Cosworth | 14 | 26 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1986 | Lola | Cosworth | 33 | 14 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1987 | Lola | Cosworth | 6 | 6 | Dick Simon Racing |
| 1988 | Lola | Cosworth | 16 | 9 | Dick Simon Racing |

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | NWCC | Pts | Ref |
| 1973 | Faustina Racing | 5 | Dodge | RSD | DAY | RCH | CAR | BRI | ATL | NWS | DAR | MAR | TAL 7 | NSV | CLT | DOV | TWS | RSD | MCH | DAY 35 | BRI | ATL | TAL | NSV | DAR | RCH | DOV | NWS | MAR | CLT | CAR | | | NA | 0 | |
| 1974 | Faustina Racing | 5 | Dodge | RSD | DAY 31 | RCH | CAR | BRI | ATL | DAR | NWS | MAR | TAL | NSV | DOV | CLT | RSD | MCH | DAY | BRI | NSV | ATL | POC | TAL | MCH | DAR | RCH | DOV | NWS | MAR | CLT | CAR | ONT | NA | 0 | |

##### Daytona 500

| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
| 1974 | Faustina Racing | Dodge | 37 | 31 |