Derek Higgins (; born June 12, 1964) is an Irish former race car driver. He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Career

He was a two-time winner of the Mexican Formula 3 championship in 1995 and 1997 before moving to the American

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 ...

series in 1998. After two successful seasons where he racked up four wins and finished 5th and 7th in series points, he completed 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 at

Walt Disney World Speedway Walt Disney World Speedway was a racing facility located on the grounds of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. It was built in 1995 by IMS Events, Inc., a subsidiary of the Indian ...

with

McCormack Motorsports McCormack Motorsports is a former IndyCar, Indy Racing League team owned by Dennis McCormack that operated from 1996 to 2001. Based in Avon, Indiana, the team debuted at the 1996 Indianapolis 500, 1996 Indianapolis 500 with a car for Randy Tolsma, h ...

, expecting to find a ride in the series. However, he was unable sign a deal with a team and returned to Indy Lights for a partial season in 2000 and a complete season in 2001, the series' last. After Indy Lights he competed in a few

Toyota Atlantic The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

races in 2002 and has not competed in a notable professional race since. Derek then became the Assistant Team Manager to

Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team based in Indianapolis, United States that currently competes in the Ferrari Challenge North America as well as the GTD Pro and GTD classes of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. They previously competed in ...

which races in the

.Conquest Racing Official Website
Team Section He then moved on to work for

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was ...

. Higgins has also worked as a spotter, notably spotting for driver

Townsend Bell Townsend Lorenz Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for FOX Sports’ I ...

in the

2013 Indianapolis 500 The 97th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 26, 2013. It was the premier event of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Tony Kanaan, a native of Brazil, was victorious on a record-set ...

and driver

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...

in the

2014 Indianapolis 500 The 98th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 25, 2014. It is the premier event of the 2014 IndyCar Series season, 2014 IndyCar Series, Verizon IndyCar Series season. Tony Kanaan entered ...

Racing record

Complete American Open Wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Lights

References

1964 births Irish racing drivers Indy Lights drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Mexican Formula Three Championship drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Living people Formula Ford drivers {{Ireland-autoracing-bio-stub RSM Marko drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Paul Stewart Racing drivers Motorsport people from County Dublin