Christopher Bingham (born December 15, 1971) is an American professional racing driver from

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

. He is a noted sports car driver but also competed in stock cars, with eleven

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

starts and one ARCA start in his career.

Racing career

Early career

Bingham started in motocross at the age of 10, and ventured into car racing after completing an advance driving course at the Jim Russell Racing School in 1991. He began his professional racing career in 1994 at the last round of the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

championship, finishing 15th at the 2 hours of Phoenix driving a Tiga DBIV for Bobby Brown Racing. In 1997, Bingham participated in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

in a GT3-class

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and made four

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

starts, with a best finish of 11th at

Nazareth Speedway Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing facility in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Nazareth Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which operated from 1910 to 2004. The racing facility operated in two distinct co ...

. He returned to Daytona and made his

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

debut in 1998. In 1999 and 2000 Bingham was the #2 driver for the Hybrid R&D

Riley & Scott Riley & Scott Cars Inc. was an American auto racing, racing constructor and racing team that primarily provided chassis for various forms of motorsport, but worked primarily in sports car racing. It was founded in 1990 by Bob Riley and Mark Scott. ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Le Mans Prototype team in the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

. He also passed his

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

rookie test with Mid-America Motorsports but decided not to pursue an entry into the IRL. In 2001 and 2002 Bingham drove the works

Saleen S7R The Saleen S7 is an American hand-built, high-performance sports car designed and built by American automobile manufacturer Saleen Automotive Inc. Developed jointly by Steve Saleen for the initial concept, direction and engine, Hidden Creek Indu ...

in the Grand-Am Series' GTS class to back to back championships, including 11 class victories.

NASCAR Busch Series

Bingham decided to foray into

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

in 2003, when Bingham signed a deal to drive for

Jay Robinson Racing Premium Motorsports (formerly Jay Robinson Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team last fielded the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 LE full-ti ...

in the

. He made his debut at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, starting 38th and finishing 34th after transmission issues. DNFs would plague his season, as Bingham fell out of seven of his eleven starts. Even when he did not fall out, Bingham struggled, earning just a career-best finish of 26th at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. After his inconsistency, Bingham was released following a 33rd at Charlotte.

Return to sports cars

Bingham returned to the Grand Am Series' Daytona Prototype class in 2004 and began fielding his own entry in 2005. In 2006 he drove

Derhaag Motorsports Derhaag Motorsports is a professional sports car racing team. Founded by former driver Jim Derhaag, the team currently competes in the Trans-Am Series. The team formerly competed in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, using Pontiac engines ...

' Daytona Prototype but resigned from the team in August after poor finishes. Earlier that season he was involved in a fistfight with competitor J. C. France after the two collided at

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Autodromo or Autódromo is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish word for race track. It may refer to: * Autódromo de Benguela, Benguela, Angola * Autódromo Chiapas, Berriozábal, Chiapas * Autódromo Ciudad de Concordia, Concordia, Entre Río ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and was suspended for one race and placed on probation.Grand-Am drivers Bingham, France issue apologies after Mexico City altercation
, FeedMeSportsCars.com, March 9, 2006 He did not make any appearances in the series in 2007.

Motorsports career results

Complete American Open Wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

ARCA Re/Max Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Chris Sportspeople from Kirkland, Washington NASCAR drivers 1971 births Living people Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Indy Lights drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Racing drivers from Seattle ARCA Menards Series drivers