American racing driver
NASCAR driver
Johnny O'Connell
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Born
| (
1962-07-24
)
July 24, 1962
(age 61)
Poughkeepsie
,
New York
, U.S.
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|
1 race run over 1 year
|
2013
position
| 65th
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Best finish
| 65th (
2013
)
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First race
| 2013
Johnsonville Sausage 200
(
Road America
)
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Wins
|
Top tens
|
Poles
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
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4 races run over 2 years
|
Best finish
| 9th (
1996
)
|
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First race
| 1996
Indy 200
(
Orlando
)
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Last race
| 1996-97
Las Vegas 500K
(
Las Vegas
)
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|
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Statistics current as of November 16, 2013.
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Years
| 1994
,
1998
?
2010
,
2016
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Teams
| Clayton Cunningham Racing,
Panoz
Motorsports,
Corvette Racing
, Team AAI
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Best finish
| 5th
(
1994
,
2000
)
|
---|
Class wins
| 4
(
1994
,
2001
,
2002
,
2009
)
|
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|
Johnny O'Connell
(born July 24, 1962) is the most successful GM factory racing driver from the
United States
. He currently drives for Cadillac in the
Pirelli World Challenge
, winning the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 GT driver's championship.
Career
[
edit
]
Born in
Poughkeepsie, New York
, O'Connell started racing in the
Formula Atlantic
series in 1987, winning the Championship and Rookie of the Year. He also spent 1996 in the
Indy Racing League
, racing in the
Indianapolis 500
and finishing in the top 10 in half of his 4 starts. He has seven class wins in the
12 Hours of Sebring
, more than any other driver, and an overall title in 1994 when racing for Nissan. Driving for Corvette Racing, he has also won a number of class victories at the
24 Hours of Le Mans
and the
24 Hours of Daytona
. With his teammate
Ron Fellows
he won the 2003 GTS class driver's championship.
O'Connell was also featured in
Chevy
's 2007,
Super Bowl
ad, "Ain't We Got Love" also featuring
Mary J. Blige
, rapper
T.I.
,
Big & Rich
, and
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In 2013, O'Connell competed in the
Johnsonville Sausage 200
at
Road America
in the
NASCAR
Nationwide Series
for
JR Motorsports
, driving the No. 5
Chevrolet Camaro
;
[1]
he finished 12th in the event.
Motorsports career results
[
edit
]
NASCAR
[
edit
]
(
key
) (
Bold
? Pole position awarded by qualifying time.
Italics
? Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * ? Most laps led.
)
Nationwide Series
[
edit
]
1
Ineligible for series points
24 Hours of Le Mans results
[
edit
]
Indy Racing League results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position)
Indy 500 results
[
edit
]
Heritage
[
edit
]
The O'Connell family, principally of Derrynane, are a Gaelic Irish noble family of County Kerry in Munster. O'Connell comes from the Irish word "O'Conaill," meaning 'strong as a wolf'. Johnny O'Connell is related by blood to the Belanger Family, including Jackson Louis Belanger the First.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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- run as the Daytona 3 Hour Continental (1962?63)
- Daytona 2000 (1964?65)
- 6 Hours of Daytona (1972)
- 24 Hours of Daytona (1966?71 / 1973 / 1975?present)
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Five-time
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Four-time
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Three-time
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Two-time
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One-time
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Six-time
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Five-time
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Four-time
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Three-time
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Two-time
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One-time
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