PDM Racing was a racing team in the IndyCar Series and USAC Silver Crown series owned by Paul Diatlovich. Almost always a low budget team and affectionately dubbed "Poor Dumb Mechanics" by Diatlovich,[1] it was known to make the most out of mediocre equipment. The team was founded in 1996 with the inception of the Indy Racing League and ran full seasons until 2002 when rising costs forced the team to scale back to a part-time venture. The team is most known for bringing three-time champion Sam Hornish Jr. into the league in 2000. Hornish earned the team's best finish that season, a 3rd at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

PDM driver Jimmy Kite practicing for the 2007 Indianapolis 500

The team fielded a USAC Silver Crown team with its car driven by Thiago Medeiros whom they also fielded a car for in the 2006 Indianapolis 500. The team entered the 2007 Indianapolis 500 with driver Jimmy Kite returning to the team, but they were unable to come within 3 mph (4.8 km/h) of the speed necessary to make the field and failed to qualify. During the 2008 season the team partnered with American Spirit Racing to field Cyndie Allemann in the Firestone Indy Lights Series providing technical support and a base of operations. PDM Racing entered the Indy 500 but did not make an appearance. PDM Racing continued working with ASR to field the Indy Lights car[2] driven by Junior Strous until the Freedom 100 when the program folded.[3] The team has returned to Indy Lights in 2010 under its own banner with driver Rodrigo Barbosa.

Drivers that have driven for PDM

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IRL IndyCar Series

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Indy Lights

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Complete IRL IndyCar Series results

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(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
1996 WDW PHX INDY
Lola T93/00 Menard V6t G   John Paul Jr. 18 9 14 31
1996–97 NHA LSV WDW PHX INDY TXS PPIR CLT NHA LSV
Lola T93/00 Menard V6t G   John Paul Jr. 18 10 15
G-Force GF01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 12
Dallara IR7 18 9 Wth 11 7
  Billy Boat 19
  Tyce Carlson (R) 19 14
Lola T93/00 Menard V6t 28 11 23
1998 WDW PHX INDY TXS NHA DOV CLT PPIR ATL TXS LSV
G-Force GF01B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 G   John Paul Jr. 18 10 19
  Jack Hewitt (R) 12 DNP 25
  Steve Knapp (R) 13 14 14 18 9
  Tyce Carlson 11
1999 WDW PHX CLT INDY TXS PPIR ATL DOV PPIR LSV TXS
G-Force GF01C Oldsmobile Aurora V8 G   Steve Knapp 18 7
  Mike Borkowski (R) C1 DNQ
2000 WDW PHX LSV INDY TXS PPIR ATL KTY TXS
Dallara IR-00 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 F   Sam Hornish Jr. (R) 18 20 17 3 24 20 19 9 27
2001 PHX HMS ATL INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH KTY GAT CHI TXS
G-Force GF05B Oldsmobile Aurora V8 F   Jeret Schroeder 18 26 14 19 20 15
  Jon Herb (R) 15 9
2002 HMS PHX FON NAZ INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MCH KTY GAT CHI TXS
Dallara IR-02 Chevrolet Indy V8 F   Tyce Carlson 18 11 DNS
  Jeret Schroeder 27
  John de Vries (R) 11
  Cory Kruseman (R) 26
2003 HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MCH GAT KTY NAZ CHI FON TXS
Dallara IR-03 Chevrolet Indy V8 F   Scott Mayer 18 21 19 24
  Jimmy Kite 13
  Ed Carpenter 13 13 21
2004 HMS PHX MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY PPIR NAZ CHI FON TXS
Dallara IR-04 Chevrolet Indy V8 F   Robby McGehee 18 22
2006 HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY SNM CHI
Panoz GF09C Honda HI6R V8 F   Thiago Medeiros (R) 18 31
2007 HMS STP MOT KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO MCH KTY SNM DET CHI
Panoz GF09C Honda HI7R V8 F   Jimmy Kite 18 DNQ
  1. ^ The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.

Sources

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  1. ^ "What does Indy mean?". Crash. 2004-05-29. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  2. ^ 2009 ASR Indy Lights Driver Program[permanent dead link], American Spirit Racing
  3. ^ 2009 IndyCar Program[permanent dead link], American Spirit Racing
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