Lazier Partners Racing was an American racing team in the

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 ...

. The team is owned by former driver

Bob Lazier Robert Lazier (December 22, 1938 – April 18, 2020) was an American race car driver. Biography A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he raced in the CART series in 1981 and was CART's Rookie of the Year. He had fourth-place finishes at Watkins Gle ...

, father of Buddy Lazier and Jaques Lazier, along with Corbet Krause, Chris Nielsen, Jason Peters, and others.

History

Initial plans to race began in February 2012 during a ski trip in

Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the num ...

, but the team could not find a car for the

2012 Indianapolis 500 The 96th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 27, 2012. It was the premier event of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season. For the first time since 1996 all entries featured turbocharged en ...

. Lazier Burns Racing (then called Lazier Partners Racing) was formed as a late entry for the 2013 Indianapolis 500. The Dallara DW12 car was a Lotus test chassis bought from

Fan Force United Fan Force United was an American racing team formerly in the Indy Lights series. The team was owned by former driver Tyce Carlson, along with Tim Donahue and Chris Williams. Indy Lights The team purchased assets from Alliance Motorsports, who wer ...

for $250,000, who raced in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 with

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

. The chassis required updates at the

Dallara Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

factory in Indianapolis and engines were leased from Chevrolet. Dennis Lacava was hired as the crew chief along with former crew members from Hemelgarn Racing. To make the race, the team spent an estimated half million dollars.

Advance Auto Parts Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (Advance) is an American automotive aftermarket parts provider. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, it serves both professional installer and do it yourself (DIY) customers. As of July 13, 2019, Advance operated ...

and Peak Motor Oil sponsored the team. To honor victims of the

2013 Moore tornado On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, a large and extremely violent EF5 tornado ravaged through Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, with peak winds estimated at , killing 24 people (plus two indirect fatalities) and injuring 212 others. The torn ...

, the car was renamed "Spirit of Oklahoma." The team ran the least practices laps, qualified 32nd, and finished 31st after running only 44 laps due to a mechanical issue. Planning for 2014 was delayed due to the Lazier family's concentration on its Tivoli Lodge business. The team returned for 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 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Tony Kanaan entered the race as the defending champion. Ed Carp ...

supporting the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

Stephen A. Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn ('' né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construct ...

Institute for Vision Research. Support for the institute was given as Buddy Lazier's daughter Jacqueline suffers from

Aniridia Aniridia is the absence of the iris, a muscular structure that opens and closes the pupil to allow light into the eye. It is also responsible for eye color. Without it, the central eye appears all black. It can be congenital, in which both ey ...

. Team support is being provided by Phillips Energy Partners and Herman Miller, with associate sponsorship from

Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facilit ...

. Buddy Lazier will drive in the next five Indianapolis 500's due to a new sponsorship agreement. David Cripps, ex- Panther Racing engineer, was hired as the lead engineer. The team had trouble finding engineers and mechanics due to a shortage in IndyCar. U.S. Olympians Abe Morlu and Dallas Robinson were members of the pit crew, serving as the right-rear tire changer and refueler. The team ran roughly 77 practices laps, qualified 33rd, and finished 32nd after running 87 laps due to a mechanical (clutch) issue. Due to their engine contract and low budget, the team could not practice for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 until Thursday and missed practice time due to rain. Before qualification the car suffered a broken axle and upright. The team was slow during qualification two even after making radical rear wing changes and did not qualify for the Indianapolis 500. In 2016, the team returned in partnership with Indiana contractor Tom Burns, and the team was rebranded as Lazier Burns Racing. The team also changed their car number to 4 instead of their usual 91, but Buddy Lazier remained as driver. With only 33 entries for the race, the Lazier team was guaranteed a spot in the field. Lazier qualified in 32nd for the race, the slowest car that completed their qualifying run. In the race, the team suffered problems during the parade lap stemming from a stuck throttle. While the car would return to the track after spending about 30 laps in the pits, the car was eventually retired after completing 100 laps when a tire came off the car after a pit stop; the team finished 30th.

History

Racing results

Complete IndyCar Series results

References

External links