Jeff Simmons (driver)

Infobox racing driver
name = Jeff Simmons


pixels =
caption =
nationality = USA
date of birth = Birth date and age|1976|8|5
place of birth = Hartford, Connecticut
date of death =
retired =
related to =
last series = IRL IndyCar Series
years active = 2004, 2006-2008
teams = Mo Nunn Racing
Patrick Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
starts = 26
wins = 0
poles = 0
fastest laps =
best finish = 16th
year = 2006
prev series = Indy Lights
Indy Pro Series
prev series years = 2000
2003-2006
titles =
title years =
awards =
award years =

Jeff Simmons (born August 8, 1976, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American race car driver, most recently driving open wheel cars in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series.

Early career

Simmons began his professional career in Indy Lights in 2000, finishing 7th. He was the Infiniti Pro Series runner up in 2003, capturing 2 wins. In 2004, Mo Nunn gave him a chance to qualify his second car for the Indianapolis 500, which he did and finished 16th in the race. He made one additional start that year for Patrick Racing after the retirement of Al Unser, Jr.. Unable to find a ride in IndyCars for 2005, he returned to the Pro Series, finishing second in the series championship with 4 victories.

IndyCar Series

Expecting another season in the Pro Series in 2006, those plans were turned upside down when Paul Dana was killed in a practice crash before the first IndyCar series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on a weekend where Simmons won the IPS race.

Simmons was rewarded for his resilience when Rahal Letterman Racing announced April 4, 2006, he would drive the No. 17 Ethanol-sponsored Panoz-Honda effective April 22 in Motegi and was eligible to compete for the Rookie of the Year award, although he was no longer an Indy 500 rookie due to his start in 2004. He contested the remainder of the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series season and finished 16th in series points despite missing the first two races. His best finish in 2006 was 7th place at Nashville Superspeedway and Infineon Raceway.

For the 2007 season, Simmons was joined at Rahal Letterman by IRL veteran Scott Sharp. On July 19, after 11 races, Simmons was let go from the team, who replaced him with fellow American Ryan Hunter-Reay.

In February 2007, Jeff became engaged to WTHR Sunrise reporter, Stephanie Soviar.

Simmons returned to the Indy Lights Series (formerly the Indy Pro Series) at the beginning of the 2008 season, driving for Team Moore Racing. He was given a chance to return to the IndyCar Series, albeit temporarily, to drive a second entry for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2008 Indianapolis 500 and qualified 24th. In the race he hit the wall during a caution period and retired from the race in the 28th position.

Motorsports Career Results

American Open-Wheel

() (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"! Years! Teams! Races! Poles! Wins! Podiums
(Non-win)! Top 10s
(Non-podium)! Indianapolis 500
Wins! Championships
-
4
4
26
0
0
0
11
0
0