Chris Menninga (born October 21, 1974 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

), is a retired racecar driver who has raced in

open wheel racing An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have th ...

. Menninga started in the Barber Dodge Pro Series where he raced from 1995 to 1997, winning a race and finishing fourth in points his final year. He then moved to

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progr ...

driving for

Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series and the Atlantic Championship. Formerly it competed in the Champ Car World Series. History It is owned by former series competitor Éric Bachelart. The team ran in Indy L ...

in 1999 finishing 14th in points. He returned to the team and series in 2000 and finished 9th in points with a best finish of 4th at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

. In 2001 he competed in three late-season IRL

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

races for

Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing is an American auto racing team owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team debuted in 1985, and competed in the CART and Indy Racing League ranks until the team originally shut down in 2010. The team returned to competition in 2015, and cur ...

, dropping out of two before the finish and finishing 16th at

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval Oval track racing, speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has als ...

. In 2005 he competed in one Toyota Atlantic race at

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Ch ...

for ArmsUp Motorsports.Chris Menninga
''Champ Car Stats'', Retrieved 2010-07-20 He was later a spotter for Conquest Racing in the

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Team ...

series. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

IRL IndyCar Series

References

1974 births Living people IndyCar Series drivers Indy Lights drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Racing drivers from Austin, Texas Racing drivers from Texas Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Barber Pro Series drivers {{IndyCar-bio-stub Conquest Racing drivers