Tony Ave (born 10 November 1968) is an American race car driver born in

Hurley, Wisconsin Hurley is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,558 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located directly across the Montreal River (Wisconsin–Michigan), Montreal River from ...

, USA. He competed in the

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...

Series from 2000 until 2002, in

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 ...

from 1996 until 2001, and in the

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 ...

since 2009. He also made three

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 ...

starts in 1993 and one

Indy Pro Series 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 Road t ...

start in 2003. He also has sporadic starts in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

as a

road course ringer In NASCAR, a road course ringer, also known as road course specialist, road course expert, or a road runner, is a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series team to race specifically on road courses. , current ...

Trans-Am

In 2009, he was a regular competitor in the revived

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 ...

, driving a Chevrolet Corvette. In 2010, he brought Chevrolet its first Trans Am championship since

Paul Gentilozzi Paul Gentilozzi (born February 6, 1950, in Lansing, Michigan) is a race car driver and businessman. His non-racing business interests are real estate development, principally developing office buildings for institutions and government agencies. ...

in 1998. He won the 2010 and 2011 Trans-Am Series Championships. Ave owns Tony Ave Motorsports, which has become one of the most popular race teams amongst fans. However, he mostly drives for Lamers Racing.

NASCAR

In 2004, Ave made his

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

debut when he drove the No. 80 car owned by

Hover Motorsports Hover Motorsports was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team. They last attempted a race at the 2006 in NASCAR, 2006 Daytona 500, when they fielded the No. 8Roadloans.com Ford Taurus for Carl Long, but failed to qualify. They were planning to partner wi ...

, a satellite team of

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...

. Starting 42nd, Ave dropped out after 84 laps with a brake problem, finishing 31st. Ave returned to the Cup Series in 2009, competed at Watkins Glen on August 10, 2009 in the rain-delayed

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen The Go Bowling at The Glen is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Watkins Glen International since 1957. The race is held as a 90 lap, 220.86 mile (355.440 km) race. Chris Buescher is the defending race winner in 2024. History Prior to 1986, three ...

. Ave completed eight laps and finished 43rd in his No. 37 Long John Silver's Dodge owned by

Front Row Motorsports Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a part ...

. Ave also participated in the

NASCAR Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

' NAPA Parts D'Auto 200 presented by Dodge at

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...

as a

. Ave participated in the No. 35 car owned by

TriStar Motorsports TriStar Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that used to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series primarily during the early to mid 1990s, suspending racing oper ...

in the 2010 Bucyrus 200 at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

in his home state of Wisconsin. After racing in the Top 10 for most of the race, he spun out on the final lap and dropped out of the Top 10. He returned to the No. 35 team for the other two road course races, finishing 15th at Watkins Glen and leading one lap in Montreal – his first and only lap led in his Nationwide Series career. In 2011, Ave made his so far last NASCAR attempt at Sonoma, attempting to qualify his No. 38 Long John Silver's car for FRM. He was bumped out of the field by

Andy Pilgrim Andrew Pilgrim (born 18 August 1956) is an American racing driver. He has competed in the SCCA World Challenge, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, and NASCAR. Racing career Having taken a keen interest in motorcycles as a child, Pilgrim ...

and did not qualify.

Other racing

In April 2002, Ave, along with

Andy Hillenburg Andrew Miles Hillenburg (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner and track owner. His race team, Fast Track Racing, fields multiple cars in the ARCA Menards Series and formerly fielde ...

, tested for the

Team Racing Auto Circuit Team Racing Auto Circuit (TRAC) was a proposed American stock car racing organization founded by Hank Durschlag and Charles Jeter that was scheduled to begin operations in 2004. TRAC was proposed by a group called Team Sports and Entertainment Inc ...

series at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

. Four months later, Ave and

Boris Said Boris Said III (born September 18, 1962) is an American professional racing driver. Said has competed in a variety of disciplines including stock car racing, stock cars, sports car racing, sports cars and touring car racing, touring cars. Said la ...

tested for TRAC at

Lowe's Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

. In 2016, Ave made an agreement with Bill Riley to build a prototype chassis for

ELMS The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

for the P3 and

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 ...

for the Prototype Challenge.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Re/Max Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

Tony Ave Racing Products official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ave, Tony Living people 1968 births People from Hurley, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Trans-Am Series drivers NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Indy Lights drivers Atlantic Championship drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Murphy Prototypes drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 21st-century American sportsmen