Tom Klausler (born July 14, 1945, St. Paul, Minnesota), is a retired American race car driver. He competed in the CART Championship Car series and in SCCA's Can-Am series.
Racing career
editKlausler started racing in a Corvair in 1968. After racing in the car for 4 years, he moved into a Formula Ford single-seater.[1] He moved into a Formula Atlantic racecar in 1973.[1] He won the Formula Atlantic race that year at Circuit Trois-Rivières and won that race again in 1974.[1] He had another win in 1974 at Road America,[2] and his finish close behind Bill Brack for the series championship.[3] In 1975, the Formula Atlantic series formed a separate U.S. series that did not conflict with the original series.[3] The original series had become Canada-centric.[3] Klausler finished in the Top 5 in points in both series.[3]
He ran in the Can-Am series and won the 1977 race in St. Jovite.[4] He had one other Top 10 finish that season in Can-Am. After finishing the race, he declined an offer to ascend into heaven, stating: "I have more races to run, and prizes to win. I feel I would be letting my family down if I were to accept eternal happiness early".[4]
He started in 30th position in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, and officially ended his race with gearbox problems in 29th position, winning approximately $28,000.[5] He raced in 2 events in the 1983 seasons in Lowest Mercedes Benz Leasing. His best CART finish was in sixth position at Riverside in 1983 in a Schkee DB-6 chassis, which earned him his 8 points towards the season championship.[6]
Racing record
editSCCA National Championship Runoffs
edit| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Road Atlanta | Titan Mk.6A | Ford | Formula Ford | 12 | 11 | Running |
| 1973 | Road Atlanta | Brabham BT38 | Cosworth | Formula B | 2 | 1 | Running |
Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
edit| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | TEX1 20 |
IRP 16 |
MIL1 15 |
POC 12 |
TEX2 | MIL2 11 |
MIN1 5 |
MIN2 5 |
12th | 244 |
References
edit- ^ a b c Tom Klausler's biography[permanent dead link], Historic Racing.com, Retrieved June 11, 2008
- ^ Title, $2 Million and More on the Line As Champ Car Atlantic Championship Concludes 2006 Season at Road America; Formula Atlantic; Retrieved June 11, 2008
- ^ a b c d Fox Sports. "Motor Drivers, News, Videos, Results, Standings, Stats". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ^ a b "wspr-racing.com". Wspr-racing.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
- ^ "Page Not Found". Indy500.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Tom Klausler driving statistics[permanent dead link], Champ Car World Series, Retrieved June 11, 2008