Ernie Francis Jr. (born January 23, 1998) is an American sports car racing and stock car racing driver who currently competes in Indy NXT driving for Force Indy.[1] He previously ran full time in the Trans-Am Series, running the 98 car for Breathless Racing, where he is a seven-time champion. In 2021, he competed in the Formula Regional Americas Championship running the 98 car for Future Star Racing, and in the inaugural Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 2 car. He became the youngest winner in the SRX series when he won at Lucas Oil Raceway. He secured 2nd place in the SRX championship. When he is not racing, he works at the family race shop - Breathless Racing Team - run by his father (Ernie Francis Sr.) and stepmother (Monica Zima Francis) in Davie, FL. He has also competed part-time in NASCAR in the past in both the Xfinity Series and the East Series.
| Ernie Francis Jr. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Francis at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2018 | |||||||
| Born | January 23, 1998 Davie, Florida, United States | ||||||
| Indy Lights career | |||||||
| 16 races run over 2 years | |||||||
| Team(s) | No. 99 (HMD Motorsports with Force Indy) | ||||||
| First race | 2022 Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg) | ||||||
| Last race | 2023 Indy NXT Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Previous series | |||||||
| 2013–21 2021 2021 2018 2017 2017 2013–17 | Trans-Am Series Superstar Racing Experience Formula Regional Americas Championship NASCAR K&N Pro Series East SprintX GT Championship Series NASCAR Xfinity Series Pirelli World Challenge | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| 2014–2020 | Trans-Am Series | ||||||
Racing career
editNASCAR Xfinity Series
edit
In 2017, Francis Jr. made his NASCAR debut, driving the No. 13 Toyota for MBM Motorsports in a partnership with NextGen Motorsports[2] at Road America. He started 38th and finished 39th due to engine problems.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
edit
In 2018, Francis Jr. began racing in the Pro Series East, driving the No. 42 Toyota for Max Siegel's Rev Racing team.[3][4] He began on the pole position at Millville and finished second to Will Rodgers. He returned for the Watkins Glen race, where he started 19th and finished 11th.[5]
In 2019, Francis Jr. returned to Siegel's Rev Racing team as part of the Drive for Diversity driver development program.[6]
Trans Am Series
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2021) |
Francis Jr. has won seven consecutive Trans-Am Series championships.[7]
Indy Lights
editFor the 2022 racing season, Francis Jr. signed to drive for the Force Indy team in the Indy Lights series. Francis Jr.'s hiring came as part of an initiative by the Force Indy team to give African-American drivers and mechanics opportunities to enter open-wheel racing.[1]
Motorsports career results
editCareer summary
edit| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Trans-Am Series - TA3 | Breathless Performance | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 18th |
| Pirelli World Challenge - GTS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 43rd | ||
| Pirelli World Challenge - TCB | 14 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 1345 | 3rd | ||
| 2014 | Trans-Am Series - TA3A | Breathless Performance | 9 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 316 | 1st |
| Pirelli World Challenge - GTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40th | ||
| Pirelli World Challenge - TCA | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1366 | 3rd | ||
| 2015 | Trans-Am Series - TA3A | Breathless Performance | 12 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 249 | 1st |
| Pirelli World Challenge - TC | 18 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 1621 | 2nd | ||
| 2016 | Trans-Am Series - TA3 | Breathless Performance | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 54 | 16th |
| Trans-Am Series - TA4 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 338 | 1st | ||
| Pirelli World Challenge - GTS | Breathless Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 268 | 21st | |
| Pirelli World Challenge - TC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 32nd | ||
| 2017 | Trans-Am Series - TA | Breathless Pro Racing | 13 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 386 | 1st |
| NASCAR Xfinity Series | MBM Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 84th | |
| Pirelli World Challenge - GTS | PF Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 59 | 19th | |
| SprintX GT Championship Series - GTS Pro-Am | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 3rd | ||
| 2018 | Trans-Am Series - TA | Breathless Racing | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 279 | 1st |
| Trans-Am Series - TA2 | ECC Motorsports | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 88 | 15th | |
| NASCAR K&N Pro Series East | Max Siegel | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 28th | |
| 2019 | Trans-Am Series - TA | Breathless Racing | 11 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 316 | 1st |
| 2020 | Trans-Am Series - TA | Breathless Pro Racing | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 253 | 1st |
| 2021 | Formula Regional Americas Championship | Future Star Racing | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 160 | 3rd |
| Trans-Am Series - TA | 11 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 257 | 3rd | ||
| SRX Series | N/A | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 192 | 2nd | |
| 2022 | Indy Lights | Force Indy | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 299 | 10th |
| SRX Series | N/A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 11th | |
| 2023 | Indy NXT | HMD Motorsports with Force Indy | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 300 | 9th |
| SRX Series | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| 2024 | Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America - Pro | TR3 Racing | 6 | 2 | 1 | ? | 5 | 70* | 2nd* |
SCCA National Championship Runoffs
edit| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | VIR | Ford Mustang | Ford | GT-1 | 1 | 2 | Running |
| 2020 | Road America | Ford Mustang | Ford | GT-1 | 12 | 1 | Retired |
NASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Xfinity Series
edit| NASCAR Xfinity Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NXSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2017 | MBM Motorsports | 13 | Toyota | DAY | ATL | LVS | PHO | CAL | TEX | BRI | RCH | TAL | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | IOW | DAY | KEN | NHA | IND | IOW | GLN | MOH | BRI | ROA 39 |
DAR | RCH | CHI | KEN | DOV | CLT | KAN | TEX | PHO | HOM | 84th | 1 | [8] |
K&N Pro Series East
edit| NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | NKNPSEC | Pts | Ref |
| 2018 | Rev Racing | 42 | Toyota | NSM | BRI | LGY | SBO | SBO | MEM | NJM 2 |
TMP | NHA | IOW | GLN 11 |
GTW | NHA | DOV | 28th | 76 | [9] |
Superstar Racing Experience
edit(key) * – Most laps led. 1 – Heat 1 winner. 2 – Heat 2 winner.
| Superstar Racing Experience results | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | SRXC | Pts |
| 2021 | 2 | STA 6 |
KNX 3 |
ELD 8 |
IRP 1* |
SLG 6 |
NSV 6 |
2nd | 161 |
| 2022 | 5 | FIF 11 |
SBO 7 |
STA | NSV | 11th | 58 | ||
| 99 | I55 6 |
SHA | |||||||
| 2023 | STA | STA II | MMS | BER | ELD | IRP 11 |
25th | 01 | |
American open-wheel racing results
edit(key)
Indy Lights/Indy NXT
edit| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Force Indy | STP 7 |
ALA 8 |
IMS 9 |
IMS 10 |
DET 9 |
DET 10 |
RDA 10 |
MDO 11 |
IOW 8 |
NSH 11 |
GTW 9 |
POR 8 |
LAG 11 |
LAG 13 |
10th | 299 |
| 2023 | HMD Motorsports with Force Indy | STP 6 |
ALA 8 |
IMS1 |
DET 3 |
DET 7 |
RDA 12 |
MDO 13 |
IOW 8 |
NSH 18 |
IMS2 14 |
GTW 8 |
POR 7 |
LAG 7 |
LAG 8 |
9th | 300 |
* Season still in progress
References
edit- ^ a b Furst, Dave (January 27, 2022). "African American-led Force Indy rises to Indy Lights with Francis". IndyCar.com. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
- ^ "Ernie Francis Jr. set for NASCAR Xfinity Series debut". Speedsport.com. August 24, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "Trans-Am champ Ernie Francis Jr. set for NASCAR K&N race". June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ Spencer, Reid (November 7, 2017). "Unveil of 2018 NASCAR Drive for Diversity class marks emphasis on seat time". Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ Segal, Davey (August 3, 2018). "Late-race heroics earn Brett Moffitt Watkins Glen NASCAR K&N East victory". Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "NASCAR announces Drive for Diversity program's Class of 2019". December 6, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ James, Richard (February 27, 2019). "Storylines building ahead of 2019 Trans Am curtain-raiser". Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "Ernie Francis, Jr. – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "Ernie Francis, Jr. – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
External links
edit
- Ernie Francis Jr. driver statistics at Racing-Reference