It’s not that far off to say Davey Hamilton was born to race. He was just two years old when his father Ken started racing cars and was in elementary school when he himself started racing motorcycles. And later in his career, he was born again to race, recovering from career-threatening injuries to his feet and legs to make a dramatic return to the cockpit after a six-year layoff.

Inspired by his father’s pursuits, Hamilton left motocross in 1979 to become a racecar driver and won the six-cylinder Firebird Raceway championship and rookie of the year honors in Boise, ID in his first season. He made the jump to supermodifieds a year later and earned Rookie of the Year honors in the CAMBRA supermodified series in 1981.

Hamilton finished 13th in USAC supermodified points after winning five features at Meridian (ID) Raceway in 1986. He posted three consecutive Northwest Supermodified Racing Association titles from 1987-89, earning three feature wins in 1987, seven top three finishes in 1988 and six wins in 1989. He also won the Copper World Classic supermodified race in Phoenix and made his sprint car debut in Bakersfield in 1989.

The Idaho native claimed more hardware in 1990 by winning the Western States Supermodified Tour championship and also made his USAC Silver Crown Series and NASCAR Southwest Tour debuts that season. A year later, Hamilton won two supermodified series championships – Injected Fire & Fury and Super Modified Racing Association – and his second consecutive Copper World Classic in Phoenix. In 1992, he won supermodified Nationals in Florida and Colorado, added California SMRA and WSST series titles to his trophy case in 1993 and won the Copper World Classic for a third time in 1994.

After competing in the USAC Silver Crown and midget series in 1995, Hamilton made the jump to IndyCars, joining A.J. Foyt Enterprises in 1996 and finished ninth in points during the inaugural season of the Indy Racing League. He competed in all three events, including his first Indianapolis 500 where he started 10th and finished 12th. In 1997, Hamilton finished second in the IRL point standings, just six back of Tony Stewart (278-272) for the League title. He posted seven top 10s and four top 5 finishes and led the league with 1,806 laps. He had a string of five consecutive top 10 finishes, including sixth place at the Indy 500.

Hamilton left Foyt and joined Nienhouse Motorsports in 1998 and once again finished second in the championship behind Kenny Brack. With nine top 10s, including eight in a row, and six top 5s in 11 races, Hamilton finished with a career best 292 points. He led three laps and finished fourth in the Indy 500 and finished a career-best second at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hamilton joined Galles Racing in 1999 and finished fourth in the league standings after posting six top 10s and three top 5s, including two second-place finishes. A year later he was on his fourth IndyCar team, Team Xtreme, and finished 23rd overall.

In 2001, in the fifth race of the season for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Hamilton’s career took a dramatic turn. A horrific crash on lap 73 at Texas Motor Speedway sent him into early retirement with severe injuries to his feet and legs. He spent a year in a wheelchair and underwent 21 surgeries to reconstruct his feet. Doctors predicted his racing career was over, but they failed to convince Hamilton. While going through intensive physical therapy, Hamilton maintained his connection to the sport as a color commentator for IMS Radio Network broadcasts and later, in 2003, started driving for the Indy Racing Experience 2-seater program.

In 2007, Hamilton became the subject of one of the most remarkable comeback stories in all of sports when he returned to the cockpit after six years of surgeries, rehab and therapy to race in the Indianapolis 500 for Vision Racing. The story got even better as he started 20th and finished ninth in his first race in six years.

In 2010, Hamilton will race three times for de Ferran Dragon Racing, including a fourth consecutive Indy 500 and a dramatic return to Texas Motor Speedway.

Career Highlights

Previous Series
1996-2001 IndyCar Series
2007-2010 IndyCar Series

Championship Standings
1996 Foyt 9th
1997 Foyt 2nd
1998 Nienhouse 2nd
1999 Galles 4th
2000 TeamXtreme 23rd
2001 Schmidt 26th
*2007 Vision 24th
*2008 Vision 36th
*2009 Dreyer & Reinbold 40th

*Competed in Indy 500 only

Indy 500 Results
Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
1993 Lola Buick Failed to Qualify Senter Sculley
1995 Reynard Ford-Cosworth Failed to Qualify Hemelgarn
1996 Lola Ford-Cosworth 10th 12th Foyt
1997 G-Force Oldsmobile 8th 6th Foyt
1998 G-Force Oldsmobile 8th 4th Nienhouse
1999 Dallara Oldsmobile 11th 11th Galles
2000 G-Force Oldsmobile 28th 20th TeamXtreme
*2001 Dallara Oldsmobile 26th 23rd Schmidt
2007 Dallara Honda 20th 9th Vision
2008 Dallara Honda 18th 14th Vision
2009 Dallara Honda 22nd 29th Dreyer & Reinbold

*Earned Scott Brayton Drivers Trophy as the driver who exemplifies the character and racing spirit of the late IndyCar Driver

2009 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Indianapolis 500 HP Dreyer & Reinbold D/F 22 29 0 Contact

2008 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Indianapolis 500 HP Vision Racing D/F 18 14 0 Running

2007 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Indianapolis 500 HP Vision Racing D/F 20 9 0 Contact

2001 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Phoenix D/F 20 12 Running
Homestead D/F 13 19 0
Atlanta D/F 12 18 0
Indianapolis 500 D/F 26 23 0
Texas D/F 22 24 0 Contact

2000 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Disney World G/F 17 26 0
Phoenix G/F 10 18 0
Las Vegas G/F 28 20 0
Indianapolis 500 Hewlett Packard G/F 28 20 0 Running
Texas 1 G/F 22 24 0
Pikes Peak G/F 8 14 0 Running
Atlanta G/F 17 15 0
Kentucky G/F 9 16 0
Texas 2 G/F 7 19 0

1999 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Disney World D/F 20 8 0 Running
Phoenix D/F 27 27 0
Indianapolis 500 D/F 11 11 0 Running
Texas 1 D/F 15 7 0 Running
Pikes Peak 1 D/F 9 3 Running
Atlanta D/F 7 7 0 Running
Dover Downs D/F 8 23 0
Pikes Peak 2 D/F 5 2 Running
Las Vegas D/F 26 13 0
Texas 2 D/F 6 2 Running

1998 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Disney World G/F 19 3 Running
Phoenix G/F 7 26 0
Indianapolis 500 G/F 8 4 0 Running
Texas 1 G/F 15 7 0 Running
New Hampshire G/F 22 4 0 Running
Dover Downs G/F 2 4 Running
Charlotte G/F 8 7 0 Running
Pikes Peak G/F 7 5 0 Running
Atlanta G/F 10 2 Running
Texas 2 G/F 6 9 0 Running
Las Vegas G/F 13 19 0

1997 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
New Hampshire 1 G/F 17 5 0 Running
Las Vegas 1 G/F 5 11 0 Running
Disney World G/F 7 7 0 Running
Phoenix G/F 14 3 Running
Indianapolis 500 G/F 8 6 0 Running
Pikes Peak G/F 4 3 Running
Charlotte G/F 4 14 0
New Hampshire 2 G/F 12 17 0
Las Vegas 2 G/F 2 7 Running

1996 RACE BY RACE RESULTS

Track Entrant C/T SP FP Laps Status
Led
Disney World L/F 6 12 0
Phoenix L/F 9 17 0
Indianapolis 500 L/F 10 12 0

IRL CAREER SUMMARY

Year Series Starts Wins Top Top Poles Laps Points
5 10 Led (Rank)
1996 IndyCar Series 3 0 0 0 0 2 192 (9th)

1997 IndyCar Series 10 0 4 7 0 5 272 (2nd)

1998 IndyCar Series 11 0 6 9 0 67 292 (2nd)

1999 IndyCar Series 10 0 3 6 0 2 237 (4th)

2000 IndyCar Series 9 0 0 0 0 0 98 (23rd)

2001 IndyCar Series 5 0 0 0 0 0 54 (26th)

2007 IndyCar Series 1 0 0 1 0 0 22 (26th)

2008 IndyCar Series 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 (35th)

2009 IndyCar Series 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 (40th)

Career 51 0 13 23 0 76 1,193