2015 “Indy Legends” Charity Pro-Am Champ Bob Lazier and Son Jaques Back At IMS
The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) today announced that Bob Lazier, the 2015 winner of the “Indy Legends” Charity Pro-Am, will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the June 16 feature race of the Brickyard Invitational. Jaques Lazier has also entered the contest joining his father during the Father’s Day weekend event, June 14-17. This will be the fifth consecutive Brickyard Invitational for both Laziers, who have competed since the inaugural event in 2014.
“Last year Bob’s co-driver Jim Caudle and his SVRA team crewed for the Lazier Partners entry in the Indianapolis 500,” said SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella. “That’s just one of several examples of business relationships that have developed as a result of bringing racers together for the Indy Legends Pro-Am. That’s always gratifying to me personally. Besides, having a father and son enter our Father’s Day Weekend Pro-Am is special.”
Bob Lazier, the patriarch of the famous Lazier racing family, last raced in the Indianapolis 500 37 years ago. A skilled road racer, he earned three top-five finishes on his way to winning the Indy car Rookie-of-the-Year Award in 1981. A self-made man, he is the founder of the highly acclaimed Tivoli Lodge in Vail. Action-oriented and an avid skier he started racing cars in 1969 and cut his teeth in SCCA road racing. He progressed steadily through the open-wheel ranks in VW Gold Cup, Formula Vee, Super Vee, Formula 5000 and on to Indy cars.
Jaques Lazier is a six-time starter of the Indianapolis 500 and holds the distinction of being the race’s most recent relief driver when he filled in for Robby Gordon who had to depart for the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte after rain delays in 2004. Lazier, the brother of 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier, drove for a number of top teams during his Indy car career including Target-Chip Ganassi, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and Team Menard. He won the Chicagoland Speedway Indy car race in 2001 for Menard.
The Pro-Am feature is a 45-minute race of American muscle cars on the Speedway’s 2.43-mile Grand Prix road course on Saturday, June 16. The cars are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs of the “Group 6” SVRA class. As in the previous three years, the professionals will be paired with amateur drivers, splitting stints at the wheel at their discretion. Drivers who have announced entries include Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Willy T. Ribbs and Max Papis. Additional Indy 500 drivers will be announced as they enter the Pro-Am in the coming weeks.
In addition to the Pro-Am, there will be a festival of other activities at the Brickyard Invitational including the Sunday, June 17 feature race by the professional Trans Am series headed by 2017 champion and emerging superstar, 20-year-old Ernie Francis Jr. The weekend also presents the Hagerty Insurance “shine and show” car corral, vintage motorcycle racing, and 500+ vintage racers ranging over 100 years of automotive history racing in SVRA Groups 1 through 12. An oval exhibition featuring a racecar show of judged competition for the A.J. Watson and Sir Jack Brabham trophies led by track historian Donald Davidson will also take place. Also, the Pre-1920 Race Exhibition cars will be on track along with a paddock area full of in-period equipment displays. The National that finished seventh in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 will be driven at speed.
Brickyard Invitational ticket information: Fans can order Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational tickets for all or any one of the four days of the event online through the Speedway or by calling 800-822-INDY or 317-492-6700 between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday. Fans can also visit the ticket office at the IMS Administration Building at 4790 West 16th Street between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are available. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. Children 15 and under are admitted free each day when accompanied by an adult. Tent camping passes in the IMS infield start at $30 and are available all four days.