"Canadian Hall of Famer" Scott Goodyear Born- December 20, 1959

December 20, 1959

Scott Goodyear

(Photo;"Scott Goodyear 2008 Indy 500 Second Qual Day" by Manningmbd)

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Scott is a Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame member notable for almost winning the Indianapolis 500 on three different occasions.

In 1986, Goodyear won the North American Formula Atlantic East Series championship. In 1988 he was crowned champion of the Rothmans Porsche Turbo Cup series driving the Pop 84/Pfaff 944 Turbo race car, winning 3 of the 8 races. He also co-drove the second of the factory entered Porsche GT1 machines in the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans with Yannick Dalmas and Karl Wendlinger. They finished third behind the other GT1 and the winning WSC-95 of Joest racing.

Goodyear ran the IRL and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994.He is also notable for almost winning the Indianapolis 500 on three different occasions. Goodyear qualified for eleven Indianapolis 500 races from 1990 to 2001, missing only the 1996 race as he was not entered. After starting last (33rd) in the 1992 race he finished 2nd to Al Unser, Jr. by 0.043 seconds. Goodyear's main sponsor was Mackenzie Financial Corporation at the time.

He could have won the 1995 race, but after leading forty-two laps, Goodyear mistakenly passed the pace car on a late restart and was penalized to fourteenth place after ignoring the black flags. Goodyear finished second again in 1997 after being passed by Arie Luyendyk on the back straight at lap 194. He might have won if not for a controversial restart on the last lap, when the green and white flag waved despite the on-track lights still signaling yellow. Goodyear, who had expected the race to finish under caution, was weaving his car to keep his tires warm at the time of the restart. Meanwhile, eventual winner Luyendyk had already begun accelerating away from the field.

He drove in a couple of CART races for Walker Racing in 1996 before a practice accident at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil sidelined him for most of the season. In 1997 he moved to the Indy Racing League with Treadway Racing and in 1998 moved to Panther Racing, where he stayed for three seasons, just losing out for the series title in 2000 to Buddy Lazier. 

He retired from racing following a crash with Sarah Fisher in the 2001 Indianapolis 500 and became a commentator for ABC and ESPN's coverage of the IRL with Paul Page, Jack Arute, Rusty Wallace, Todd Harris, Marty Reid, and currently with Allen Bestwick and Eddie Cheever.

Scott Goodyear was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.