John Michael Edwards (born March 11, 1991) is an American professional racing driver, and

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing. The current organisation is a ...

works driver.

Career

Edwards began racing cars at the young age of 12 in 2003 in the Skip Barber Series. To the best of his knowledge he became the youngest open wheel racing driver in history, taking his first win at Daytona International Speedway at 12 years and 238 days of age. In 2005 he went to Europe to compete first in Italian Karting and then after an unexpected early promotion to the world of European motor racing at age 14 he was the youngest to ever hold a FIA racing license racing in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and

Formula Renault 2.0 Germany In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

. He finished 16th in Eurocup in 2006 and 5th with a win at Anderstorp. In 2007 he returned to the United States and drove in the

Atlantic Championship 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 ...

and finished 9th in points for

Forsythe Championship Racing Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The team won th ...

with a second at Toronto. In 2008 he stepped back on the US racing ladder where he won the championship of the

Star Mazda Series The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

in spite of missing the first race of the season. He returned to Atlantics for the 2009 season driving for

Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...

. He captured 4 wins and 3 poles on his way to the championship. He won the championship over Jonathan Summerton and

Simona de Silvestro Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) is a Swiss people, Swiss-Italians, Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Andretti Autosport, Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 seaso ...

, 2nd and 3rd in the

2009 Atlantic Championship season The 2009 IMSA Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-sixth Atlantic Championship, Atlantic Championship season. It was the first full season of the Championship under the sanctioning of the International Motor Sports Associatio ...

. For 2010, he transitioned to sports cars to join the Mazda factory team and Speed Source, racing in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

GT class with co-driver Adam Christodoulou. His 2010 highlights included a GT class win in the Grand-Am race at Lime Rock. Also in 2010, driving along co-drivers Michael Auriemma and Michael Edwards, he secured two Nürburgring VLN Class wins for Schubert Motorsports. For 2011 he joined for Stevenson Motorsports in the Grand-Am Continental GS series. Partnered with Matt Bell, they secured wins at Laguna Seca and Road America. In 2011 he also raced a partial season with Team Sahlen in the Grand-Am GT series, taking the Mazda to the podium several times with co-driver Wayne Nonnamaker. For 2012 he once again drove with Stevenson Motorsports in both the Grand-Am Continental GS and GT series. At the beginning of the season he suffered an off track anterior cruciate ligament injury and missed the first two races of the season. He returned to achieve 4 pole positions in GT qualifying in the remaining 9 races. After a series of podium finishes in GT he and his teammate Robin Liddell secured victories at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock. He and Matt Bell also had a win at Laguna Seca in the GS series. In 2013, Edwards returned with Stevenson Motorsports, finishing 3rd in the

GT class with Robin Liddell and 2nd in the

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

GS class with Matt Bell. In early 2013, John also joined BMW Team

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Zionsville, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 50 ...

part-time, subbing for Joey Hand in the American Le Mans Series GT class, driving the BMW Z4 GTE. He and Dirk Müller achieved one win among 4 podiums. For the 2014 season, Edwards was picked up full-time by BMW, teaming with Dirk Müller to finish 7th in the Tudor

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association ( ...

GTLM class. He also joined Fall-Line Motorsports in the

GS class, teaming with Trent Hindman to win the team championship. Edward returned to BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2015 and 2016 as a BMW Factory driver in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship to compete in the GTLM class with co-driver

Lucas Luhr Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German racing driver. He is a staple of the American Le Mans Series during the 2000s and early 2010s, winning the GT class with Porsche in 2002, the LMP2 category in 2006, and taking the overall LMP1 champion ...

. After a strong drive, Edwards and Luhr won at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as well as podium finishes at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The year 2016 saw tough challenges for the Rahal Letterman Team as the development of the M6 BMW continued with Edwards and teammates securing a solitary podium. For 2017 Edwards drove for BMW for his 6th year teamed with Martin Tomczyk, a seasoned veteran having raced in DTM for 16 seasons and was the DTM Champion in 2011. The pair was joined by Kuno Wittmer and Nicky Catsburg for the endurance events. He and Tomczyk won Laguna Seca 2018. For 2018 John Edwards drove for BMW for his 7th consecutive year teamed with

Jesse Krohn Jesse Kurki-Suonio (born 3 September 1990), more commonly known as Jesse Krohn, is a Finnish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver, currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for BMW M Team RLL. He is notable f ...

and joined by

Augusto Farfus Augusto Celestino Farfus dos Santos Jr. (born 3 September 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco. Early years Born in Curitiba, Farfus first tasted racing in minibike races and wo ...

and Nicky Catsburg for the endurance events. Highlights were limited to podiums and two poles for Edwards driving the new BMW M8. For 2019 BMW factory driver John Edwards is once again paired with Jesse Krohn in the United Sportscar Championship. The pair will be joined with Alex Zanardi and Colton Herta for the endurance events beginning with the 24 hours of Daytona. Edwards will also race the 24 hour races at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

and

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

. Edwards, Nicky Catsburg, and Marco Wittmann began the year with strong start racing for

Rowe Racing ROWE Racing is the motor racing team of the German lubricant manufacturer Rowe Mineralölwerk. Since 2011, ROWE Racing has competed in series such as the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the GT World Challenge Europe (former Blancpain GT Series), th ...

with a victory at the first VLN at the Nurburgring. 2023 saw Edwards embark upon a customer-focused campaign, pairing ST Racing's Samantha Tan in the Pro-Am class of the 2023 GT World Challenge America. Edwards stated that a number of factors contributed to his decision to join the program, including the sprint race focus of the series. Furthermore, he appreciated the developmental role that he undertook, advising the team as their delegated factory driver.

Motorsports career results

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

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

American Open-Wheel Racing Results

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

Atlantic Championship

Star Mazda Championship

Sports car racing results

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge

Rolex Sports Car Series

American Le Mans Series

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, John Living people 1991 births Racing drivers from Louisville, Kentucky 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers American Le Mans Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 21st-century American sportsmen Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers BMW M drivers Forsythe Racing drivers Newman Wachs Racing drivers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Rowe Racing drivers Motopark Academy drivers Schnitzer Motorsport drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers GT World Challenge America drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers