# Mike Groff

Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961, in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.

## Racing career
### Formula Super Vee and Indy Lights

Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert Bosche Formula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In 1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America and finished third in points. In 1987 he won at Nazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988 he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989 he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

### CART Champ Car

Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the 1990 Indianapolis 500 for Euromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at the Detroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In 12 starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished 17th in points.
In 1991 Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished 16th in points. He also competed in his first Indianapolis 500.
Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car for Walker Racing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driver Scott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (2 races), Walker (1 race), and Foyt (3 races) and finished 23rd in points.
In 1993 Groff joined Rahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth at Portland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.
1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment with Honda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchase Ilmor-powered cars from Team Penske to make the 1994 Indianapolis 500. Groff only finished 20th in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.
In 1995, Groff was left without a ride. During the third day of qualifications for the 1995 Indianapolis 500, he was tabbed by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the back-up car for Bryan Herta, who had crashed and was not cleared to drive during the weekend. As Herta risked being bumped from the field, Groff was tasked with qualifying the car if such a situation had happened. To prepare for the situation, Groff did start an official qualifying attempt, which was aborted after two laps. However, Herta was not bumped, and Groff did not drive at all during Bump Day.

### IRL IndyCar

In 1996 Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race at Phoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished 14th and qualified 11th for the 1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.
For the 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured 3 straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a second at Walt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series new naturally aspirated cars). He finished 12th in the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in 1998. After finishes of 7th, 15th, and 15th to start the season, he was replaced at the Texas Motor Speedway race by John Paul Jr. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.
Groff attempted to qualify for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for Team Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

## Racing record
### American open–wheel racing results

(key)

#### Indy Lights

| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
| 1986 | Groff Motorsport | PHX1 12 | MIL 1 | MEA 12 | TOR 2 | POC 2 | MDO 13 | ROA 1 | LS 7 | PHX2 7 | MIA | | | 5th | 89 |
| 1987 | Patrick Racing | PHX 4 | MIL 3 | MEA 10 | CLE 12 | TOR 2 | POC 10 | MDO 3 | NAZ 1 | LS 5 | MIA 11 | | | 3rd | 96 |
| 1988 | Agapiou Racing | PHX | MIL | POR | CLE | TOR | MEA 15 | POC | MDO | ROA 5 | | | | 13th | 26 |
| 1988 | Leading Edge Motorsport | | | | | | | | | | NAZ 2 | LS | MIA | 13th | 26 |
| 1989 | Leading Edge Motorsport | PHX 1 | LBH 9 | MIL 1 | DET 4 | POR 5 | MEA 1 | TOR 7 | POC 13 | MDO 2 | ROA 4 | NAZ 1 | LS 2 | 1st | 163 |

#### CART

| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
| 1990 | Euromotorsport | Lola T89/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY DNQ | MIL | DET 15 | POR 23 | CLE 9 | MEA 26 | | | | | | | | | | 17th | 17 |
| 1990 | Euromotorsport | Lola T90/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | | | | | | | | | TOR 11 | MIS 11 | DEN 14 | VAN 22 | MDO 10 | ROA 17 | NAZ 7 | LS 15 | | 17th | 17 |
| 1991 | Euromotorsport | Lola T91/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | SRF 8 | LBH 23 | PHX 16 | INDY 24 | MIL 18 | DET 22 | POR 11 | CLE 10 | MEA 11 | | | | | | | | | 16th | 22 |
| 1991 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T91/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | | | | | | | | | | TOR 8 | MIS | DEN DNS | VAN | MDO 20 | ROA 8 | NAZ | LS 15 | 16th | 22 |
| 1992 | Walker Racing | Lola T91/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY Wth | DET DNS | POR | | | | | | ROA 24 | VAN | | | | | 25th | 5 |
| 1992 | Euromotorsport | Lola T91/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | | | | | | | MIL 14 | NHA 13 | TOR | MIS | CLE | | | | | | | 25th | 5 |
| 1992 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T91/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MDO 15 | | | | 25th | 5 |
| 1992 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T92/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NAZ 16 | LS 8 | | 25th | 5 |
| 1993 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Rahal-Hogan RH-001 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL 19 | DET 11 | POR 9 | CLE | TOR | MIS | NHA 11 | | | | | | | 23rd | 8 |
| 1993 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T93/00 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | | | | | | | | | | | | ROA 18 | VAN | MDO 22 | NAZ | LS | | 23rd | 8 |
| 1994 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T93/00 | Honda HRX V8t | SRF 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 17 |
| 1994 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T94/00 | Honda HRX V8t | | PHX 6 | LBH 27 | | MIL 19 | DET 27 | POR 11 | CLE 19 | TOR 22 | MIS 27 | MDO 26 | NHA 25 | VAN 14 | ROA 20 | NAZ 11 | LS 15 | | 20th | 17 |
| 1994 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Penske PC-22 | Ilmor 265C V8t | | | | INDY 31 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 17 |
| 1995 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 95i | Ford XB V8t | MIA | SRF | PHX | LBH | NAZ | INDY QL$^†$ | MIL | DET | POR | ROA | TOR | CLE | MIS | MDO | NHA | VAN | LS | NC | - |
| 1996 | Walker Racing | Reynard 96i | Ford XD V8t | MIA | RIO | SRF | LBH | NAZ 14 | 500 | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MDO | ROA | VAN | LS | | 34th | 0 |
| $^†$ – Made an aborted qualifying attempt in Bryan Herta's back up car, as Herta was not cleared to drive after a crash and was in risk of being bumped. ||||||||||||||||||||||||

#### Indy Racing League

| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
| 1996 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T95/00 | 11 | Ford XB V8t | WDW 6 | | | | | | | | | | | 6th | 228 |
| 1996 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T95/00 | 41 | Ford XB V8t | | PHX 3 | | | | | | | | | | 6th | 228 |
| 1996 | Walker Racing | Reynard 95i | 60 | Ford XB V8t | | | INDY 20 | | | | | | | | | 6th | 228 |
| 1996-97 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | Reynard 95i | 10 | Ford XB V8t | NHM 4 | LVS 3 | | | | | | | | | | 14th | 169 |
| 1996-97 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | G-Force GF01 | 10 | Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 | | | WDW 2 | PHX 6 | INDY 12 | TXS DNS | PPI | | NH2 DNS | LV2 | | 14th | 169 |
| 1996-97 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | G-Force GF01 | 10 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | | | | | | | | CLT 14 | | | | 14th | 169 |
| 1998 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing | G-Force GF01B | 10 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | WDW 7 | PHX 15 | INDY 15 | TXS | NHM | DOV | CLT | PPIR | ATL | TX2 | LVS | 30th | 56 |
| 1999 | Team Xtreme | Dallara IR9 | 46 | Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 | WDW | PHX | CLT | INDY DNQ | TXS | PPI | ATL | DOV | PP2 | LVS | TX2 | NC | - |

#### Indianapolis 500

| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Tean |
| 1990 | Lola T89/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | DNQ | DNQ | Euromotorsport |
| 1991 | Lola T91/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | 18 | 24 | Euromotorsport |
| 1992 | Lola T91/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | Raced by S. Goodyear | Raced by S. Goodyear | Walker Racing |
| 1993 | Rahal-Hogan RH-001 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | No Attempt | No Attempt | Rahal-Hogan Racing |
| 1994 | Penske PC-22 | Ilmor 265C V8t | 31 | 31 | Rahal-Hogan Racing |
| 1995 | Reynard 95i | Ford XB V8t | Raced by Bryan Herta | Raced by Bryan Herta | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 1996 | Reynard 95i | Ford XB V8t | 11 | 20 | Walker Racing |
| 1997 | G-Force GF01 | Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 | 18 | 12 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing |
| 1998 | G-Force GF01B | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | 32 | 15 | Byrd-Cunningham Racing |
| 1999 | Dallara IR9 | Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 | DNQ | DNQ | Team Xtreme |