Jeff Simmons (born August 5, 1976) is an American former race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League.

Early career Born in Hartford and grew up in East Granby, Simmons began his professional career in the Barber Dodge Pro Series in 1998. In his first season, he won the rookie of the year and the series championship, becoming only the second rookie ever to win the title. The "Career Enhancement Award" of $250,000 that went with the title was not enough to secure him a ride at the next level, Indy Lights, so he returned to Barber Dodge in 1999. He successfully defended his championship and in so doing became the only person ever to win the championship twice. With two "Career Enhancement Awards" ($500,000) behind him he moved up to the Indy Lights with Team Green in 2000, finishing sevemth overall. When Michael Andretti joined Team Green to form Andretti Green Racing, the Indy Lights effort was disbanded. Simmons tested at the end of that year with the 2000 Indy Lights champs, PacWest Racing. However, Simmons’ lack of funding left him without a team for both 2001 and 2002. He made his return to racing in 2003 in the Infiniti Pro Series, leading his first race back and ultimately finishing second in the championship with two wins.

In 2004, Simmons once again lacked the sponsorship needed for a full-time ride, However, A. J. Foyt put him in his Infiniti Pro Series car at Indianapolis where the finished second. That led to Mo Nunn giving him a chance to qualify his second car for the Indianapolis 500, which he did, with just 37 laps ever in an IndyCar, and finished sixteenth in the race. He made one additional start that year for Patrick Racing after the retirement of Al Unser Jr. at Kansas Speedway. He put the Patrick car in the highest position it had seen all year and was set to record a top-ten when he was taken out by two of his competitors. Unable to find a ride in IndyCar for 2005, he returned to the Pro Series, finishing second in the series championship with four victories for Team ISI/Kenn Hardley Racing.

IndyCar Series

Expecting another season in the Pro Series in 2006, those plans were turned upside down when Paul Dana was killed in a practice crash before the first IndyCar series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on a weekend where Simmons won the IPS race.

Simmons was rewarded for his resilience when Rahal Letterman Racing announced April 4, 2006, he would drive the No. 17 Ethanol-sponsored Panoz–Honda effective April 22 in Motegi and was eligible to compete for the Rookie of the Year award, although he was no longer an Indy 500 rookie due to his start in 2004. He contested the remainder of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series season and finished 16th in series points despite missing the first two races. His best finish in 2006 was seventh place at Nashville Superspeedway and Infineon Raceway.

For the 2007 season, Simmons was joined at Rahal Letterman by IRL veteran Scott Sharp. The season saw the team hampered by engineering and mechanical issues ultimately resulting in a lawsuit by Sharp against the team and its owners. Simmons led the Indianapolis 500 that year and ran in the top-five most of the race until rain forced an early end to the event and Simmons to finish in eleventh. On July 19, after eleven races, Simmons was let go from the team, who replaced him with fellow American Ryan Hunter-Reay.

In February 2007, Simmons became engaged to WTHR Sunrise reporter, Stephanie Soviar. They were married in September of that year, but ended up getting divorced in April 2010.

Simmons returned to the Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) at the beginning of the 2008 season, driving for Team Moore Racing. He was given a chance to return to the IndyCar Series, albeit temporarily, to drive a second entry for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2008 Indianapolis 500 and qualified 24th. He quickly moved up the field in the race until a pit lane incident damaged the car. A mechanical failure finally sent him into the wall during a caution period, resulting in a 28th place finish.

Motorsports Career Results

American open–wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete USF2000 National Championship results Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 1997 Falcon Racing Services WDW STP PIR DSC1 DSC2 SAV PPI CHA1 CHA2 MID45 WGI5 WGI6 N.C. N.C.

Barber Dodge Pro Series Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 1997STPSEBSAV27LRPMOHWGI10MINMOHROALS7RENLS?????? 1998SEBLRP10DET1WGI1CLE3GRA2MOH26ROA5LS12ATL1HMS2LS22 1st 158 1999SEB5NAZ2LRP20POR1CLE3ROA1DET24MOH2GRA7LS1HMS4WGI5 1st 152

Indy Lights / Indy Pro Series Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points 2000 Team KOOL GreenLBH4MIL7DET9POR3MIS15CHI7MOH6VAN3LS3STL14HOU11FON67th88 2003 Keith Duesenberg RacingHMS14PHX5INDY4PPIR2KAN14NSH4MIS2STL1KTY1CHI3FON8TXS22nd407 2004 A. J. Foyt EnterprisesHMSPHXINDY2KANNSHMILMISKTY12th150 Kenn Hardley RacingPPIR9CHI2FON10TXS6 2005 Kenn Hardley RacingHMS9PHX12STP12INDY7TXS8IMS13NSH2MIL1KTY5PPIR1SNM3CHI1WGL1FON22nd474 2006 Kenn Hardley RacingHMS1STP12STP24INDYWGLIMSNSHMILKTYSNM1SNM2CHI12th122 2008 Team Moore RacingHMSSTP14STP219KAN7INDY8MIL2IOW6WGL13WGL26NSH15MOH16MOH221KTY23SNM1SNM2CHI13th285 2010 Team ESTPALALBHINDY15IOWWGLTOREDMMOHSNMCHIKTYHMS34th15

IndyCar Series Year Team No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref 2004 Mo Nunn Racing 21HMSPHXMOTINDY16TXSRIR 29th 26 Patrick Racing 20KAN19NSHMILMISKTYPPIRNZRCHIFONTX2 2006 Rahal Letterman Racing 17HMSSTPMOT18INDY23WGL19TXS15RIR19KAN10NSH7MIL9MIS10KTY14SNM7CHI8 16th 217 2007 Rahal Letterman RacingHMS17STP14MOT8KAN10INDY11MIL10TXS6IOW17RIR18WGL10NSH14MOHMISKTYSNMDETCHI18th201 2008 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 41HMSSTPMOT1LBH1KANINDY28MILTXSIOWRIRWGLNSHMOHEDMKTYSNMDETCHISRF239th10 1 Run on same day. 2 Non-points race. Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums(Non-win) Top 10s(Non-podium) Indianapolis 500Wins Championships44260001100

Indianapolis 500 Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 2004 Dallara Toyota2916 Mo Nunn Racing 2006 Panoz Honda2623 Rahal Letterman Racing 2007 Dallara Honda1311 Rahal Letterman Racing 2008 Dallara Honda2428 A. J. Foyt Enterprises

References