Galles Racing

Al Unser, Jr.'s 1992 Indy 500 winning Galmer.

Galles Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Rick Galles that competed in the CART series, Can-Am and the Indy Racing League. The team won the 1990 CART championship as well as the 1992 Indianapolis 500 with driver Al Unser, Jr. The team won a total of 21 Indy car races along its history. In addition to Unser's 1992 victory, the team finished second at Indianapolis on three separate occasions (1989, 1990, 1996).

In 1992, the team notably fielded their own in-house Galmer chassis. The team achieved two victories with the car during its very brief foray into the sport.

History

1980s

The team first competed in a partial CART season in 1980, then was away from CART until 1983 when it fielded a car for rookie Al Unser, Jr.. Unser left the team after the 1984 season.

For 1985, Galles fielded the Buick V-6 engine at the Indy 500, with driver Pancho Carter winning the pole position. Carter, however, dropped out early and finished last.

In 1986-1987, Galles Racing became the primary support team for the new Brabham-Honda engine (later known as the Judd AV). Geoff Brabham and Jeff MacPherson fielded the engine at Indy in 1987, with MacPherson finishing a respectable 8th. Later in the season, Brabham scored second-place finishes at the Pocono 500 and at Road America.

In 1988, Al Unser, Jr. returned to the team, and the entry was granted a lease for the Ilmor Chevrolet Indy-V-8 engine. In 1989, Unser, Jr. then driving his familiar Valvoline-sponsored Chevy machine, nearly won the Indy 500, finishing second after crashing out with just over a lap to go in a famous duel with Emerson Fittipaldi.

Bobby Rahal driving the Galles-Kraco car at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1991

Championship years

After the 1989 season, Galles merged teams with Maurice Kranes (who had fielded Kraco-sponsored cars for Michael Andretti and then Bobby Rahal). Kranes brought Rahal and Kraco with him, while Unser, Jr. remained in the Valvoline-sponsored machine. The team competed as Galles-Kraco Racing from 1990 to 1992 and Unser won the 1990 CART Championship with five wins. The Galles-Kraco duo of Unser and Bobby Rahal was one of the top teams in CART during that period. Unser and Rahal teamed up for three 1-2 finishes, including the 1990 Michigan 500. The two drivers finished on the podium in the same race six times. Rahal himself earned an impressive, yet frustrating, eleven second-place finishes for the team in 1990-1991. Rahal finished fourth in the championship in 1990 and second in the championship in 1991, winning one race in 1991.

Unser, Jr. finished third in points in both 1991 and 1992.

Rahal was replaced in 1992 by veteran Danny Sullivan as the team introduced their new proprietary Galmer chassis. Unser won the 1992 Indianapolis 500 in a Galmer in what would be the closest finish in race history. Despite winning, the Galmer chassis was scrapped after only one season. Sullivan won the race at Long Beach, after being involved in a controversial incident with less than four laps to go. Unser Jr. was leading the race, and Sullivan was running second. The two cars tangled, and Unser was sent spinning into a tire barrier, while Sullivan went on to win. The incident created friction inside the team.

Unser and Sullivan retained their seats in 1993, and were joined by Kevin Cogan and Mexican rookie Adrián Fernández, who would share a third car for selected races throughout the season. At the 1993 Indy 500, Sullivan was the first to retire from the race after a crash, but Unser finished in 8th place and Cogan finished 14th. After a lackluster season that saw only three podium finishes, Unser would leave for Penske Racing, and Sullivan moved into semi-retirement (he raced stock cars in 1994, and raced for PacWest in 1995). Sullivan won the final two races of his career, but it was later revealed that internal friction inside the team led to Sullivan being fired.

For 1994, Fernández was the team's lone entry, as the team reverted to its Galles Racing name. Fernández was joined by Brazilian journeyman Marco Greco for 1995, with a 3rd place for Fernández at the Michigan 500 being their best finish for the season.

Transition to IRL

1996 saw several drivers in Galles cars as the team was one of the few CART teams to cross over and compete in the rival Indy Racing League's first Indianapolis 500 with driver Davy Jones who finished second. Jones also drove a partial schedule in CART while rookie and former Motorcycle champion Eddie Lawson drove Galles' full-time CART entry. In 1997 the team moved full-time to the IRL with rookie Kenny Bräck. Bräck switched to A. J. Foyt Enterprises for 1998 and the team again ceased operations. Galles returned in 1999 with veteran Davey Hamilton. Hamilton was replaced in 2000 by a returning Al Unser, Jr., who was switching over from CART after being released from Penske Racing. Unser was one of the first CART stars to switch full-time to the IRL. The team's final year was 2001 where Unser was joined by rookies Didier André and Casey Mears.

Summary

Throughout the team's 22-year history, their drivers captured 21 wins - 18 by Al Unser, Jr. (6 in 1990, 4 in 1988, 2 in 1991 and 1 each in 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993, 2000, and 2001), two by Danny Sullivan (1 each in 1992 and 1993), and one by Bobby Rahal in 1991 in addition to capturing the 1990 CART championship and 1992 Indianapolis 500 with Unser.

Former drivers

CART

Geoff Brabham (1985-1987)
Pancho Carter (1984-1986)
Kevin Cogan (1993)
Dick Ferguson (1980)
Adrián Fernández (1993-1995)
Tom Gloy (1984)
Marco Greco (1995)
Davy Jones (1996)
Eddie Lawson (1996)
Jeff MacPherson (1987)
Roberto Moreno (1985-1986)
Bobby Rahal (1990-1991)
Danny Sullivan (1992-1993)
Al Unser, Jr. (1983-1984, 1988-1993)

IRL

Didier André (2001)
Kenny Bräck (1997)
Marco Greco (1997)
Davey Hamilton (1999)
Davy Jones (1996)
Casey Mears (2001)
Al Unser, Jr. (2000-2001)
Jeff Ward (1997)

Racing Results

Complete CART results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pts Pos	Pos
Galles Racing
1983						ATL	INDY	MIL	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MCH	CPL	LAG	PHX
	Eagle 83	Cosworth DFX V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	17	6			9	7	2		4*	18	10	10	4	8					7th	89
	Eagle 83				19		10
	March 83C				17			13				2
1984						LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	PHX	LAG	CPL
	March 84C	Cosworth DFX V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	1*	4	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	Ret	6	6	2	4	4		6th	103
				Tom Gloy	77			17			Ret	Ret											40th	0
				Pancho Carter	77								6		7						11		21st	22
1985						LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	LAG	PHX	MIA
	March 85C	Buick 3300 V6 t	G	Pancho Carter	6	13	33																16th	37
		Cosworth DFX V8 t		Pancho Carter				5	13		16	16		12		2	10		7				16th	37
				Roberto Moreno						28			16		25			16		5			28th	10
				Geoff Brabham	7	6	19	12	14	24	2	29	15	19	13	4	16	10	12	22			15th	41
1986						PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	ROA	LAG	PHX	MIA
	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX V8 t	G	Geoff Brabham	8	10	3	12	21								11	11		6	8	5	12th	64
		Brabham-Honda V8 t		Geoff Brabham	8					7	22	14	14	4	12	20			22				12th	64
		Cosworth DFX V8 t		Roberto Moreno	9	20	6	19	13	18	18	25	18	6	10	16		6	16	20	10	17	16th	30
				Pancho Carter	9												15						19th	28
				Pancho Carter	15			16						3	3								19th	28
1987						LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LAG	MIA
	March 87C	Brabham-Honda V8 t	G	Jeff MacPherson	11	10	13	8	8	13	21	17	22	23									19th	21
	March 87C	Cosworth DFX V8 t													20			9	9	24
	Lola T86/00	Brabham-Honda V8 t														25	21
	March 87C	Brabham-Honda V8 t		Geoff Brabham	15	16	8	24	12	9	4	22	DNS	8	2	2	7	12	5	3			8th	90
1988						PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA
1988	March 88C	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	3	18	1*	13	20	4	4	1*	1	21	2	4	7	19	6	1*			2nd	149
1989						PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
1989	Lola T89/00	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	2	2	1*	2	8	21	10	7	5	20	4	9	2	20	4	3			5th	136
Galles-Kraco Racing
1990						PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T90/00	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	5	3	1*	4	1	27	3	15*	11	1*	1	1*	1*	3	4	16	2		1st	210
	Lola T90/00	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Bobby Rahal	18	2	12	2	4	2	11	2	25	22	2	3	8	6	7	3	5		4th	153
1991						SFR	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T91/00	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	1	16*	1*	6	4	19	4	4	4	2	23	3	1*	3	5	2	4	2	3rd	197
	Lola T91/00	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Bobby Rahal	18	2	2	2	19	4	2	3	3	1*	3	11	20	2	3	4	2	24	2nd	200
1992						SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MCH	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Galmer G92	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	3	4	5	4*	1	9	3	7	8	7	4	3	2	2	3	11	9		3rd	169
	Galmer G92	Chevrolet 265A V8 t	G	Danny Sullivan	18	5	12	1	5	5	12	12	9	3	8	20	7	7	8	17	7		7th	99
Galles Racing
1993						SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG
	Lola T93/07	Chevrolet 265C V8 t	G	Al Unser, Jr.	3	15	4	21	8	5	6	5	19	5	8	8	25	1	8	25	5		7th	100
				Danny Sullivan	7	13	23	8	33	16	1*	14	14	3	Wth	22	26	10	27	20	27		12th	43
				Adrian Fernández	7										DNS								24th	7
				Adrian Fernández	11			23		21	7					29							24th	7
				Kevin Cogan	11				14			27	13	15									35th	0
1994						SFR	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG
1994	Reynard 94i	Ilmor 265D V8 t	G	Adrian Fernández	7	13	10	8	28	16	23	10	7	13	23	6	8	22	5	21	7		13th	46
1995						MIA	SFR	PHX	LBH	NAZ	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	ROA	TOR	CLE	MCH	MDO	NHA	VAN	LAG
	Lola T95/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8 t	G	Adrian Fernández	10	11	26	12	18	9	21	10	6	9	6	7	12	3	4	26	22	10	12th	66
	Lola T95/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8 t	G	Marco Greco	55				13	21	DNQ		13	11	23	20	15		22	20	25	23	29th	2
1996						MIA	RIO	SFR	LBH	NAZ	500	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG
	Lola T96/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8 t	G	Eddie Lawson	10	15	21	7	9	17	6	20	6	15	24	15							20th	26
	Lola T96/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8 t	G	Davy Jones	10												12	16	24	14	14		31st	1

Indy Racing League results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pts Pos	Pos
1996						WDW	PHX	INDY
1996	Lola T95/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8 t	G	Davy Jones	70			2											26th	33
1996–97						NHA	LSV	WDW	PHX	INDY	TXS	PPIR	CLT	NHA	LSV
	G-Force GF01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	G	Davy Jones	4			Wth											—	0
				Jeff Ward				16											30th	69
				Kenny Bräck					11	33	18	14	5	5	20				19th	139
				Marco Greco	70							13	9	20	10				3rd	230
1999						WDW	PHX	CLT	INDY	TXS	PPIR	ATL	DOV	PPIR	LSV	TXS
	G-Force GF01C	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	G	Davey Hamilton	9	8													4th	237
	Dallara IR9	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	G	Davey Hamilton	9				11	7	3	7	23	2	13	2			4th	237
2000						WDW	PHX	LSV	INDY	TXS	PPIR	ATL	KTY	TXS
2000	G-Force GF05	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	F	Al Unser, Jr.	3	25	9	1	29	3*	10	3	27	17*					9th	188
2001						PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS
	G-Force GF05	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	F	Al Unser, Jr.	3	23	6	17	30	8	11	3	20	14	4	1	8	6	7th	287
				Casey Mears	31	20	11	23	DNQ										31st	36
				Didier André	32	27	10	13	DNQ	17	19	4	16	21	11	12	13	15	20th	188

External links

Galles Racing statistics at Race Database