Jimmy Bryan Memorial Explained

Race Title:	Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
Series Long:	IndyCar Series
Venue:	Arizona State Fairgrounds (1915, 1950–63) Phoenix Raceway (1964–2005, 2016–2018)
First Race:	1915
Last Race:	2018
Distance:	255.5miles
Laps:	250
Previous Names:	Phoenix 100/150/200: 1964, 1973-1974, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1997 Jimmy Bryan Memorial: 1965-1968 Jimmy Bryan 150: 1969-1972, 1976-1978 Bricklin 150: 1975 Arizona Republic/Jimmy Bryan 150: 1979 Kraco Car Stereo 150: 1981-1982 Dana-Jimmy Bryan 150: 1984 Dana 200: 1986 Checker 200: 1987-1988 Checker Autoworks 200: 1989 Autoworks 200: 1990 Valvoline 200: 1991-1993 Slick-50 200: 1994-1995 Dura-Lube 200: 1996, 1998 MCI WorldCom 200: 1999-2000 Pennzoil/Copper World Indy 200: 2001 Bombardier ATV Indy 200: 2002 Purex/Dial Indy 200: 2003 Copper World Indy 200: 2004 XM Satellite Radio 200 presented by Argent Mortgage: 2005 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix: 2016-2018
Most Wins Driver:	Johnny Rutherford (3) Bobby Unser (3) Rick Mears (3)
Most Wins Manufacturer:	Chassis: Dallara (10) Engine: Chevrolet (10)

The Jimmy Bryan Memorial was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 1964. The race became a CART event in 1979, and joined the Indy Racing League in 1996. It was held continuously through 2005.

After a hiatus of eleven years, the race was revived by the IndyCar Series in 2016. It was held on Saturday night under the lights. Long considered a popular Indy car track, Phoenix saw the final career victory for Mario Andretti (1993).

History

During its time on the USAC Championship Car circuit, Phoenix International Raceway typically held two races annually, one in the spring, and one in the fall. During the CART years, two races were scheduled through the mid-1980s, but the track dropped down to one race per year starting in 1987. In many years, Phoenix served as the CART season opener. After a feud between the track ownership and CART series officials, the track was dropped from the CART schedule after 1995, and immediately switched to the Indy Racing League beginning in 1996.

Citing low attendance, the race was put on hiatus after the 2005 season. In 2007, the Grand Prix Arizona for the Champ Car series was planned on a street circuit in downtown Phoenix nearby to the original course used for the United States Grand Prix. The event was cancelled four months before the event due to insufficient sponsorship funding.^[1]

After a long hiatus, the track returned to the IndyCar Series schedule in 2016. The race was the only 1-mile oval on the schedule. The race was scheduled for a twilight start, and raced into the night under the lights. With the reconfiguring of the track in 2011, the circuit measured 1.022 miles in length, and the race was scheduled for 255.5 miles. Desert Diamond West Valley was announced as the title sponsor of the race for 2016 on March 23.^[2] Following the 2018 race the raceway announced the series would not return for 2019, citing poor attendance.^[3]

Past winners

Phoenix International Raceway

Season	Date	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine/Aero Kit	Tires	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
							Laps	Miles (km)
USAC Championship Car history
1964	March 22	A. J. Foyt	Anstead-Thompson Racing	Watson	Offenhauser		100	100 (160.934)	0:55:48	107.536
1965	March 28	Don Branson	Leader Card Racing	Watson	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)	1:24:33	106.456
1966	March 20	Jim McElreath	John Zink Company	Brabham	Ford		150	150 (241.401)	1:31:05	98.828
1967	April 9	Lloyd Ruby	Gene White Firestone	Mongoose	Ford		150	150 (241.401)	1:44:18	86.296
1968	April 7	Bobby Unser	Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)	1:29:10	100.938
1969	March 30	George Follmer	George Follmer Racing	Cheetah	Chevrolet		150	150 (241.401)	1:21:55	109.8
1970	March 28	Al Unser	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	P.J. Colt	Ford		150	150 (241.401)
1971	March 27	Al Unser	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	P.J. Colt	Ford		150	150 (241.401)	1:20:40	111.565
1972	March 18	Bobby Unser	All American Racers	Eagle	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)	1:27:32	102.805
1973	March 17	Race postponed by rain and eventually cancelled due to infrastructure damage and scheduling conflicts.
1974	March 17	Mike Mosley	Agajanian-Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)	1:17:08	116.663
1975	March 16	Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren	McLaren	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)	1:21:06	110.971
1976	March 14	Bobby Unser	Bob Fletcher Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser		150	150 (241.401)
1977	March 27	Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren	McLaren	Cosworth DFX		150	150 (241.401)	1:20:48	111.395
1978	March 18	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	Wildcat	Drake Goosen Sparks		150	150 (241.401)	1:17:05	116.757
CART Championship Car history
1979	March 11	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	Penske	Cosworth DFX		150	150 (241.401)	1:15:23	119.389
1980	March 2	Race cancelled due to Salt River floods
1981	March 22	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Chaparral	Cosworth DFX		150	150 (241.401)	1:17:08	116.681
1982	March 28	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Penske PC-10	Cosworth DFX		150	150 (241.401)	1:15:48	118.727
1983	March 20	Race cancelled due to Salt River floods
1984	April 14	Tom Sneva	Mayer Racing	March 84C	Cosworth DFX		150	150 (241.401)	1:14:39	120.555
1985	March 31	Race postponed due to general deterioration of the track; it was held on the originally discontinued fall date
1986	April 6	Kevin Cogan	Patrick Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX		200	200 (321.868)	1:39:42	120.345
1987	April 12	Roberto Guerrero	Granatelli Racing Team	March 87C	Cosworth DFX		200	200 (321.868)	1:26:56	138.02
1988	April 10	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T8800	Chevrolet Indy 265A		200	200 (321.868)	1:38:22	121.992
1989	April 9	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Penske PC-18	Chevrolet Indy 265A		200	200 (321.868)	1:35:09	126.112
1990	April 8	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Penske PC-19	Chevrolet Indy 265A		200	200 (321.868)	1:35:01	126.291
1991	April 21	Arie Luyendyk	Granatelli Racing Team	Lola T9100	Chevrolet Indy 265A		200	200 (321.868)	1:32:18	129.988
1992	April 5	Bobby Rahal	Rahal/Hogan Racing	Lola T9200	Chevrolet Indy 265A		200	200 (321.868)	1:31:56	130.529
1993	April 4	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T9300	Ford-Cosworth XB		200	200 (321.868)	1:36:53	123.847
1994	April 10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	Penske PC-23			200	200 (321.868)	1:51:41	107.437
1995	April 2	Robby Gordon	Walker Racing	Reynard 95i	Ford-Cosworth XB		200	200 (321.868)	1:29:33	133.98
Indy Racing League history
1996	March 24	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	Reynard 95i	Ford-Cosworth XB		200	200 (321.868)	1:42:14	117.368
1997	March 23	Jim Guthrie	Blueprint Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile		200	200 (321.868)	2:14:33	89.19
1998	March 22	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile		200	200 (321.868)	2:02:19	98.11
1999	March 28	Scott Goodyear	Panther Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile		200	200 (321.868)	1:56:40	102.856
2000	March 19	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile		200	200 (321.868)	1:47:11	111.957
2001	March 18	Sam Hornish Jr.	Panther Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile		200	200 (321.868)	1:35:57	125.072
2002	March 17	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet XG		200	200 (321.868)	1:43:00	116.504
2003	March 23	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda HI3R Indy V8		200	200 (321.868)	1:59:55	100.073
2004	March 21	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda HI4R Indy V8		200	200 (321.868)	1:33:46	127.981
2005	March 19	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	Dallara	Toyota Indy V8		200	200 (321.868)	1:30:24	137.753
2006 – 2015	Not held
IndyCar Series history
2016	April 2	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet Indy V6 Chevy Aero Kit 16		250	255.5 (411.186)*	1:49:39	139.822
2017	April 29	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet Indy V6 Chevy Aero Kit 16		250	255.5 (411.186)	1:46:25	144.058
2018	April 7	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet Indy V6 Universal Aero Kit 18		250	255.5 (411.186)	1:44:00	147.395

• 2016 race at PIR, after 2011 reconfiguration, is measured at 1.022 miles.
• = Firestone
• = Goodyear
• Bold denotes this was the drivers first ever IndyCar win

Support races

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
ARS / Indy Lights Series
	April 6			Buick
	April 12			Buick
	April 9			Buick
	April 8			Buick
	April 7			Buick
	April 21			Buick
	April 5			Buick
	April 4			Buick
	April 10			Buick
	April 2			Buick
	March 22			Infiniti
	March 20			Infiniti
	March 20			Infiniti
	April 2			Mazda-AER MZR-R

Season	Date	Winning Driver
SCCA Super Vee Series
1982	March 28	Michael Andretti
1984	April 15	Ludwig Heimrath Jr.
1987	April 12	Ken Johnson
1988	April 10	Ken Murillo
1989	April 9	Robbie Groff
1990	April 8	Stuart Crow

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
USAC Mini Indy Series
1978	March 18		Lola	Volkswagen
Formula Atlantic
	April 20	John Tanner	Swift DB-4	Toyota
	April 4		Reynard 92H	Toyota
	April 3	Stuart Crow		Toyota
	April 9		Ralt RT-41	Toyota
	April 2	Class C1: David Empringham Class C2: Bernie Schuchmann	Ralt RT-41 Swift DB-4	rowspan:2	Toyota

Season	Date	Winning Driver
USAC Silver Crown Series
2017	April 29	Bobby Santos III
2018	April 7	Bobby Santos III

Selected race summaries

CART Championship Car

• 1986: Michael Andretti led 78 laps, but his engine started smoking on lap 163. Kevin Cogan took the lead on lap 164, and won his first (and only) career Indy car race. Cogan finished a lap ahead of second place Tom Sneva.^[4]
• 1987: Roberto Guerrero qualified third, but failed post-qualifying inspection for being 2.5 pounds underweight. He was forced to start last on the grid. Guerrero quickly charged through the field, and was in the top five by lap 46. He dueled with Bobby Rahal for the lead on lap 62, and dominated the second half. Even a stop-and-go penalty for hitting a tire in the pits did not slow Guerrero's run. Guerrero won by 8 seconds over Rahal, becoming only the fourth driver in modern Indy car history to win a race from the last starting position and the first Colombian to win a racing career in history.
• 1988: Polesitter Rick Mears led the first 22 laps, and stretched out to a large, dominating lead. Coming out of turn four on lap 22, however, Mears tangled with Randy Lewis, spun down the main stretch, and came to rest with a broken suspension. Mario Andretti led the final 135 laps to win.
• 1989: Danny Sullivan held the lead late, but his Penske teammate Rick Mears blew by him on lap 183. Sullivan pitted for tires, but his pitside tank had no more fuel to take on. Mears had a lap on the entire field as he stretched his fuel to the victory. At the line, Al Unser Jr. barely held off Sullivan for second place.
• 1990: Rick Mears made it back-to-back victories at Phoenix, this time in dominating fashion. Mears led the final 132 laps, nearly lapping the field at one point. The attention focused on the battle for second between Galles-Kraco Racing teammates Bobby Rahal and Al Unser Jr. On lap 189, Rahal was able to weave through lapped traffic and pass Unser for second, as Mears cruised to victory.
• 1991: Arie Luyendyk, driving for the fledgling Bob Tezak UNO/Granatelli Racing, took the lead on lap 143. Luyendyk pulled out to a large lead while Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Michael Andretti battled wheel-to-wheel for second. Fittipaldi and Rahal were side-by-side when Danny Sullivan's Alfa Romeo engine blew, bringing out the yellow and white flag. Fittipaldi passed Rahal, but it was after the yellow light came on. Luyendyk won his second Indy car race, and Rahal was restored to second.
• 1992: Bobby Rahal led wire-to-wire, leading all 200 laps en route to victory. Rahal became the first driver to accomplish that feat at Phoenix since A. J. Foyt in 1964. Michael Andretti qualified for the pole position, the first pole for the Ford-Cosworth XB engine, but his car didn't even pull away from the starting grid. He was pushed to the pits due to fouled spark plugs, and started the race four laps behind the field.
• 1993: Rookie Nigel Mansell arrived at Phoenix anticipating his first open wheel oval race, but crashed during practice and sat out with a back injury. Mansell's teammate Mario Andretti won the race, and became the oldest winner of an Indy car race (53 years, 34 days). It was Mario Andretti's final Indy car victory.
• 1994: Hiro Matsushita touched wheels with Teo Fabi in turn three on lap 63. The two cars crashed and collected leader Paul Tracy. Seconds later, rookie Jacques Villeneuve came upon the scene in the high groove, and t-boned Matsushita's car, splitting it in two, and sending it spinning wildly to the infield. Matsushita escaped with no injuries besides a sore shoulder. Later in the race, Mario Andretti crashed on the backstretch, and Michael Andretti clipped another car, which sheared off his left front wheel, which bounced into a spectator area. No injuries were reported. Emerson Fittipaldi won, with his Penske teammate Al Unser Jr. second. After sitting out the race a year before, Nigel Mansell placed third.
• 1995: In the closing laps, Paul Tracy and Emerson Fittipaldi battled for the lead. Both had to pit though for a "splash-and-go" to make it to the finish. With 7 laps to go Fittipaldi's pit stop handed the lead to Michael Andretti, but Andretti did not realize he had inherited the lead. Andretti allowed Robby Gordon to pass him for the lead with five laps to go, and Gordon won his first career CART series race. It would be the final CART series race at Phoenix.

IndyCar Series

• 1996: The race switched to the new Indy Racing League. On lap 128, Foyt Racing drivers Scott Sharp and Mike Groff (running 1st-2nd) ducked into the pits for their final stop. However, they did not see that the yellow flag had come out, and were penalized one lap for pitting while the pits were closed. Arie Luyendyk cruised over the final 66 laps to victory. During a practice run, Buddy Lazier suffered a fractured back after a crash. Lazier would come back to win the Indy 500 two months later.
• 1997: Independent owner/driver Jim Guthrie authored one of the biggest underdog wins in Indy Racing League/IndyCar history. On lap 180, a crash involving Sam Schmidt and Kenny Brack brought out a lengthy yellow flag. Guthrie stayed out, looking to stretch his fuel over the final 82 laps. Guthrie held off a hard-charging Tony Stewart over the final ten laps to secure his lone Indy car victory. Going into the race, Guthrie was forced to take out a second mortgage on his home to purchase his chassis.
• 1998: On lap 59, Eliseo Salazar spun and collected Dave Steele and Robbie Buhl. Trying to avoid the crash, Arie Luyendyk touched wheels with Salazar, and slid through turn 2 upside down. On lap 169, the leaders pitted under caution, but Scott Sharp stayed out, gambling on track position. On lap 186, Kenny Brack and Mike Groff touched wheels, crashing hard. The long yellow allowed Sharp to conserve fuel. With two laps to go, the green came out with Sharp leading. Tony Stewart and Billy Boat were caught up behind the slow car of Mark Dismore, allowing Sharp to hold on for the win. After the race, Dismore was fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Sharp was fined $15,000 when he failed post-race inspection with an oversized fuel tank.^[5]
• 2001: In preparations for their return to the Indianapolis 500, Penske Racing enters their CART regulars Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran for the IRL season opener at Phoenix.^[6] Both Penske cars, however, would drop out. Sam Hornish Jr., driving in his first start for Panther Racing, won his first career Indy car race. Hornish beat the leaders out of the pits with 73 laps to go, and dominated the rest of the way.
• 2005: Tomas Scheckter brushed the outside wall in turn four on lap 193, bringing out the caution, and setting up a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Sam Hornish Jr. led Dario Franchitti and Hélio Castroneves. Hornish got a good jump on the restart, while Franchitti slipped high in turn two, whitewalling the tires. Hornish won the race, while Franchitti fell back to 4th. Tony Kanaan, who finished third, started 21st and passed half the field on the first lap.^[7]
• 2016: After an eleven-year hiatus, the IndyCar Series returned to Phoenix for a race under the lights. The track had been slightly reconfigured since the last race in 2005, and now was measured at 1.022 miles in length. In addition, the race length was lengthened to 250 laps. Hélio Castroneves broke the track record during qualifying, setting a new one-lap record of 192.631 mph. Passing was difficult during the race, and tire wear was a major factor. Penske teammates Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya both suffered tire failures while leading in the first half. Scott Dixon took the lead and led the final 155 laps to victory.

External links

• Champ Car Stats: Fairgrounds archive, PIR archive, Indy Lights archive
• Ultimate Racing History: Fairgrounds archive, Phoenix archive

Notes and References

1. Berry, Jahna (29 August 2007). "Grand Prix Arizona canceled". The Arizona Republic.
2. Web site: PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY NAMES DESERT DIAMOND WEST VALLEY TITLE SPONSOR OF APRIL 2 PHOENIX GRAND PRIX. 3 April 2016. 8 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108143748/http://www.phoenixraceway.com/Articles/2016/03/PIR-NAMES-DESERT-DIAMOND-WEST-VALLEY-TITLE-SPONSOR-OF-APRIL-2-PHOENIX-GRAND-PRIX.aspx. dead.
3. Ayello, Jim (22 June 2018) IndyCar will not return to Phoenix in 2019 Indystar. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
4. News: Auto Racing Roundup : Cogan Gets a Break and Beats Sneva for First Indy-Car Win. March 13, 2016. Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. April 7, 1986. Avondale, Arizona.
5. Web site: Sharp/Dismore Fined for Phoenix Infractions. The Auto Channel. 2015-07-29.
6. News: Glick. Shav. Penske CART Team Using Phoenix Race as Indy 500 Tuneup. March 13, 2016. Los Angeles Times. March 16, 2001. Avondale, Arizona.
7. Web site: IRL: Hornish secures lucky 13th win at PIR. Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc.. March 13, 2016. March 22, 2005.