Jeffrey John Krosnoff (September 24, 1964 – July 14, 1996) was an American race car driver. A competitor in the

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

PPG Indy Car World Series, he was killed in a racing accident during the

1996 Molson Indy Toronto The 1996 Molson Indy Toronto was a CART race held on the street course at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 14, 1996. The race was won by Adrian Fernandez, driving the #32 Lola/Honda for Tasman Motorsports, but was marred by ...

Early life and career

Krosnoff was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, but grew up in

La Cañada, California LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

, where he attended Flintridge Preparatory School, a private high school. He then attended the University of California, San Diego for one year beginning in September 1982. Afterward, he transferred to UCLA, where he majored in Business. Throughout his college career, Krosnoff was focused on pursuing his dream of professional racecar driving. Krosnoff competed in Japan in

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

, where he was active from 1989 to 1995. Krosnoff also competed in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

several times, scoring 2nd in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

. In the 1996 season, he made 11 starts in the CART Champ Car Series, driving a

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

for Arciero-Wells Racing.

Death

On July 14, 1996, with four laps to go in the

Molson Indy Toronto The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 t ...

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

, Krosnoff's car made wheel-to-wheel contact with the car of

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...

, sending it into the air, over a concrete barrier, and into the catch fencing lining the street course. The fence did not stop the car enough to keep it from hitting a tree which was outside the fence, which turned the car into a light post which was located inside the fence. The violence of the accident left the car broken in half and sent the cockpit section back across the track. Even though the paramedics were there almost immediately, Krosnoff was already dead after striking the tree and light post. A track official, Gary Avrin, was also killed in the accident when he was struck by the right front wheel of Krosnoff's then-airborne car.Gary Avrin memorial
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Career results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Japanese Top Formula Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete JGTC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

American Open-Wheel racing results

( key)

CART

References

External links

Jeff Krosnoff Scholarship Fund
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krosnoff, Jeff 1964 births 1996 deaths Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Racing drivers from Oklahoma 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Champ Car drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Ontario Filmed deaths in motorsport World Sportscar Championship drivers People from La Cañada Flintridge, California Nismo drivers Japanese Sportscar Championship drivers Jaguar Racing drivers