Tom Bagley (born December 3, 1939,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

), is a former driver in the USAC,

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

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 ...

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club ...

, and

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of ...

. He raced Indycars in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career starts, including the 1978-1980

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

,Utterback, Bill (1989)
His career ran out of gas, but memories keep going
, ''

Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'', formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'', was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for over a century, from 1884 to 1992. At the height of its popul ...

'', October 16, 1989, retrieved 2010-10-03 finishing in the top ten 23 times, with a best finish, three times, of 4th position. He was USAC Rookie of the Year in 1978, and did not finish worse than 11th in points during his three full-time seasons. He did not begin wheel-to-wheel racing until age 31, after earning a master's degree in Physics from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. While in college, Bagley became interested in fuel mileage competitions and then

autocross Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioni ...

, rising to the attention of Bill Scott, operator of the racing school at

Summit Point Motorsports Park Summit Point Motorsports Park is a road racing and driver training facility located in Jefferson County, West Virginia about two hours west of Washington, D.C. in the state's Eastern Panhandle. Current status Summit Point Motorsports Park fea ...

. Scott lent Bagley a

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

car to begin his career. Bagley and

Janet Guthrie Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938) is an American former racing driver. She is the first female to qualify and race in either the Indianapolis 500, or the Daytona 500, both of which she competed in during 1977. She had first attempted to enter th ...

were the only physicists to compete in Indycar in the 1970s. Bagley rose to fame driving

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe w ...

cars, winning the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, High Performance Driver Education, HPDE, Time trial, Time Trial, Road racing, Road Racing, Regularity rally, R ...

championship in 1976, and was USAC co-champion in 1977. Bagley owned and maintained his own race cars in this part of his career. He next joined the Indycar ranks with sponsorship from Kent Oil, driving for Longhorn Racing and

Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in United States Auto Club, USAC, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, Champ Car World Series, Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick (auto racing), U.E. "Pat" Patri ...

. After retiring from racing full-time, Bagley worked as a physicist for longtime series sponsor

PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By ...

, developing new methods for creating powder paints. From 2004 to 2020 he worked at

Autobahn Country Club Autobahn Country Club is an auto racing road course located in Joliet, Illinois, operated as a country club, while also hosting many outside events. Autobahn was the first purpose-built motorsports country club in the United States, and has ins ...

as the Director of Racing Instruction, responsible for designing the safety features at the track and overseeing the instruction, licensing, and racing activities. Bagley still competes in club and endurance races in his

Spec Miata Spec Miata is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), National Auto Sport Association (NASA), Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC) road racing, and other club events. The Spec Miata (SM) class is intended to ...

and vintage events including the

Indy Legends Charity Pro–Am race The Indy Legends Charity Pro–Am race is a Historic motorsport, vintage Sports car racing, sports car race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race takes place on the Oval track racing#Combined road course, combined r ...

on occasion. Bagley was described by the

SVRA The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) is an American Car club, automobile club and Sports governing body, sanctioning body that supports Historic motorsport, vintage racing in the United States. The organization was founded in 1981, and ...

in 2019 as a "driver who accomplished much with limited resources" and "the driver to beat in

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Formula Super Vee

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Indy 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagley, Tom 1939 births Atlantic Championship drivers Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Living people Racing drivers from Pittsburgh Trans-Am Series drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers Formula Super Vee Champions SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Can Am drivers Formula Ford drivers IMSA GT Championship drivers Eberly College of Science alumni American physicists