Champ Car World Series
Remembering Greg Moore
1975 - 1999
Enter The Official Greg Moore Foundation Website
Talented and promising CART driver Greg Moore was killed in a horrifying crash on the 10th lap of the Marlboro 500 on October 31, 1999. He was 24.
Moore displayed championship potential and a veteran's maturity at a very young age.
The popular Maple Ridge, B.C. driver won early and often before breaking into the CART series in 1996. The following year, at age 22, he became the youngest driver to win a series race -- a victory at Milwaukee in his 23rd start.
He captured another checkered flag that year, plus two more in 1998 and another this season, despite spotty reliability from his underpowered Mercedes Reynard.
"He was an unbelievably talented driver and a really smart driver, smart and mature for a guy his age," said friend Ross Bentley of Vancouver, a former Indy-car racer.
"He rarely made mistakes. He was just really good and really fast."
Moore was seen as a champion in waiting. CART CEO Andrew Craig called him one of the sport's young tigers.
Not surprising, since he displayed the kind of potential that marked one of his sports idols -- Wayne Gretzky, whose number 99 he took for his car.
Like hockey's Great One, Moore's career was nurtured by his father.
Ric Moore, a Vancouver-area auto dealer and former Can-Am racer, bankrolled his son's expensive climb up auto-racing's ladder until commercial sponsors recognized his potential.
"He had a God-given talent that probably came from his dad," said Andy Field, a former Vancouver racer and promoter who hired Moore at age 17 to test racing tires a client tire company.
But what separates champions like Moore from other naturally talented drivers is the help they get to reach the highest levels, said Field.
Moore's father, who largely had custody of Greg after divorcing in 1991, acted as coach and manager.
Steve Challis of North Vancouver, Moore's racing engineer until last September, was also an important mentor as Moore developed, said Field.
Challis, who met the family when Ric Moore raced in the Player's Challenge series, gave up his Vancouver speed shop in 1991 to work full time with Greg.
He could be a typical know-it-all teenager but was also very receptive to coaching, Challis said during Moore's stint in Indy Lights.
Challis was fired by the Player's-Forsythe team after announcing he would join Team Kool Green next season. Moore would be driving for Roger Penske, who runs the winningest team in CART and Challis elected not to follow him.
"How sadly ironic that they parted company at this point in time," Field reflected.
Although he was a talented hockey player -- at 13 he played goal on the same Burnaby team as future NHL star Paul Kariya -- he took to go-karting at age 10.
A consistent front-runner when the car was working, Moore finished seventh in the series in 1997 and fifth last season. But after a victory at the inaugural race in Miami, the 1999 season had become a frustrating one. Observers felt the move to Penske Racing for 2000 season would have given Moore a sold shot at the championship.
In 72 CART races, Moore had five wins and 17 podium finishes.
Fellow drivers recognized his early maturity.
"I think Greg at his age is more level-headed than I was," said fiery fellow Canadian Paul Tracy during Moore's rookie year.
But Moore had his share of crashes. In his first CART season, a shunt with Christian Fittipaldi at the Long Beach Grand Prix ended with the Brazilian driver grabbing Moore by the throat. Moore coolly walked away.
Ironically, Moore's last accident happened while testing at California Speedway in August.
"The engine broke just as I was entering Turn 1 and I hit the wall at 210 miles an hour backwards," he said a few days later. "I'm feeling a little sore. It's probably the biggest one I've ever had in my career."
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
In 1999, Moore started on the pole in the season opening race in Miami and eventually went on to win the race.
In 1998, Moore became the youngest driver to sit on the pole at the Miami race. He went on to capture two victories that year, at Rio de Janeiro and the U.S. 500. He finished the year fifth in the championship with 140 points.
In 1997, Moore became the youngest driver in CART history to win a race at the age of 22 when he captured the checkered flag at the Milwaukee Mile. He posted his second win that season in Detroit and finished seventh in the championship standings with 111 points.
In 1996, Moore joined the Player's Forsythe Racing team. He posted a third place finish in only his third career start, ultimately finishing ninth in the drivers championship with 84 points and was runner up to Alex Zanardi for the Jim Truman Rookie of the Year award.
In 1995, Moore won the PPG-Firestone Indy Lights Championship. In fact, he broke fellow Canadian Paul Tracy's 1990 record with five consecutive wins while driving for the Player's Ltd. Indy Lights team. In the season finale at Laguna Seca, Moore scored his 10th Indy Lights win, a new record. It was his 13th Indy Lights win in total, also a record.
In 1994, Moore became the youngest driver ever (18) to win an IndyCar-sanctioned event with an Indy Lights victory in the season-opener at Phoenix. As the youngest competitor in the series, Moore earned a total of three victories and two pole positions to finish third.
In 1993, as a rookie Moore started in all 12 PPG-Firestone Indy Lights events and finished ninth in points with eight top-10 finishes.
In 1992, Moore won the USAC Formula 2000 West title in his rookie season with four wins and four poles. Not surprisingly, he was named the USAC Formula 2000 West Rookie-of-the-Year.
In 1991, Moore moved into the ESSO Protec Formula 1600 series where he registered one win and two poles. He was named the series' Rookie-of-the-Year.
In 1990, Moore won the Spenard-David Racing School's year-long student trials. He also won the North American Enduro go-kart championship.
In 1989, Moore won the North American Enduro kart-racing championship in only his third year at the age of 14.
In 1986, Moore began his racing career racing go-karts.
MEMORIES OF GREG
"The loss of Greg is a hard thing to try and stomach. That guy had more talent in his pinky finger than most guys. But I've talked to a lot of drivers now and we all just remember Greg on the grid. He was sitting there in his car with a gimp hand, smiling and ready for the race, ready to go out there and try to win it. His spirit was that way. He wouldn't give up a chance to get in the car, even if his leg was hanging off." - Paul Tracy, fellow Canadian and CART driver
"He definitely was one of the best guys I've ever seen driving a race car." - Gil de Ferran, who would have been Moore's teammate at Penske Racing
"He's out there in the sky. These are messages that God sent to us. I'm so sad. There's no word, there is nothing. There is nothing... no satisfaction would pay this back. We need to understand why things happen. Now my prayers are with Ric and all of Greg's family. There is no word. You just have to understand why things happen. And don't accept them." - CART driver Max Papis
"I would give up this whole title just to have Greg back. Greg was a great guy. He didn't deserve to die. I never think about anything like that. You just want to go as quick as you can. That's the way Greg thought, too." - Juan Montoya
"I lost one of the best friends I ever had in Greg Moore. In the last couple of years, ever since I've known him, we shared a lot of good times together. He was the guy I competed the hardest with on the track, and he was the guy that I had the most fun with away from the track. The guy was going to be a champion, many, many times over. He was my friend. With what 's happened, nothing else matters." - Dario Franchitti
"It has been a flood of memories and stories and tears and questions, and I haven't gotten any farther than that. I've been a bowl of spaghetti inside... The thing I keep going back to is his passion. He had a passion for his friends, and he had a passion for life... He was always smiling. The lesson to be learned is that he taught us to be passionate, to love, and not to waste a single day of your life... Every time I get done crying, it makes me feel beautiful. Greg, I'm going to miss you. Everybody knows he was one hell of a race-car driver, and 10 times a human being." - Jimmy Vasser
"We both had made it in our sports and it's sad. We spent some time together at the All-Star game in Vancouver (in 1998). He was in a dangerous sport and unfortunately, sometimes those things happen. It's just a tragedy." - Paul Kariya, Anaheim Mighty Ducks forward
"I would have raced if he hadn't. I think two things about that. If I had, Greg would be alive today. And if I had, I wouldn't have had the accident he did because I wouldn't have attempted the passes he was making." - Former driver Roberto Moreno
"I don't think you can replace a guy like Greg Moore. You know, we were so happy to win at Michigan because Greg was kind of the king of that racetrack. We're really happy, but, yeah, I don't think you can replace him. I was just kind of the senior guy on the team, as Greg was, and Greg played that role very well... So I'm really happy about it, but I still think you cannot replace a guy like Greg Moore." - Patrick Carpentier, after scoring Player's first win since Moore's death