James French (racing driver)

James French (born May 21, 1992) is an American professional racing driver.

James French
French at Road America in 2018
Nationality American
Born (1992-05-21) May 21, 1992
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
United SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2014
Current teamPerformance Tech Motorsports
Previous series
2009–2013SCCA C Sports Racer
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2018 position82nd
Best finish82nd (2018)
First race2018 Johnsonville 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 17, 2018.

Racing career

Growing up in Wisconsin French started karting at age five at the Road America Motorplex.[1] In his final season at the Road America Kart Club French finished second in the 80cc Shifter class.[2]

Club racing

French made his debut in the C Sports Racer class at Road America in May 2008.[3] He also raced against his father Brian in the Central Division SCCA championship. The father-son duo also raced at the June Sprints with Brian winning the class, and James finishing in second place.[4] The following season James won the championship in a Swift 014.a with added bodywork.[5] The younger French won also the June Sprints and placed third at the prestigious SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

In 2010 French ran a partial Central Division SCCA club championship in both the CSR and Formula Atlantic classes. He also competed in the SVRA at Road America in a Ralt RT41. The following season French won again the Cen-Div CSR championship.[6] His strong result in the divisional championship earned him a third place in the SCCA Majors Tour.[7] The fast Wisconsin driver also finished third at the June Sprints.[8]

French racing to a third place finish in C Sport Racer at Road America during the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs

French again repeated his divisional championship in 2012.[9] He did not finish on the podium in the Majors Tour. He again won the June Sprints in 2014.[10] But as he did not win the Central Division championship he could not compete for the Majors Tour title. French competed at the SVRA Spring Vintage Festival winning his race in a Jordan 197.[11]

Sportscar racing

French first raced in the American Le Mans Series in 2011. Competing in the LMPC class French ran one race with Intersport Racing. In 2012 he ran again one race, this time landing on the podium. At the 2012 Road Race Showcase French, Kyle Marcelli and Chapman Ducote finished third in class. For 2013 French ran three races with BAR1 Motorsports. At the season finale, the 2013 Petit Le Mans, French, Tomy Drissi and Rusty Mitchell finished third in class.

For 2014 French joined Performance Tech Motorsports for the last five races of the season. He scored a second place at Virginia International Raceway with teammate David Ostella. The following season he raced a full season in the United SportsCar Championship. The team failed to finish at the 2015 24 Hours of Daytona. However, he scored three consecutive third-place finishes after the season opener. He later scored another two podium finishes securing the sixth place in the championship.

Indy Lights

In November 2015 French tested a Dallara IL-15 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. He tested at Circuit of the Americas alongside Heamin Choi. During the Chris Griffis Memorial Test French was faster than Choi during all the sessions.[12] During the 2016 season French made his race debut in Indy Lights. As Belardi Auto Racing driver Felix Rosenqvist had other obligations, French replaced the Swede at the Road America round of the championship. French qualified twelfth in a field of fourteen. In both races he worked his way up to eighth place.[13]

Stock car racing
French racing in 2018 during his first NASCAR start at Road America

In August 2018, French joined JP Motorsports for his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Road America.[14]

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs
YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2009Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaCSR33Running
2010Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaCSR34Running
2011Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaCSR44Running
2012Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaCSR85DNF
2013Road AmericaSwift 014.aToyotaCSR36Running

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Indy Lights
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2016 Belardi Auto Racing STP STP PHX ALA ALA IMS IMS INDY RDA
8		 RDA
8		 IOW
 TOR
 TOR
 MDO
 MDO
 WGL
 LAG
 LAG
 20th 26

Xfinity Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2018 JP Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA
38		 DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM 82nd 1 [15]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points
2017 Performance Tech Motorsports PC Oreca FLM09 LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY
1		 SEB
1		 COA
1		 DET
1		 WAT
1		 MOS
1		 ELK
1		 PET
3		 1st 283
2018 Performance Tech Motorsports P Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY
8		 SEB
13		 LBH
14		 MDO
11		 DET
14		 WGL
14		 MOS
DNS		 ELK LGA PET
14		 21st 112
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References
  1. "Young race driver in "Rush" to go pro – James Hunt look-a-like". CNN iReport. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  2. "Road America Kart Club 2005" (PDF). Road America.
  3. "2008 POINTS FINAL" (PDF). Cen-Div SCCA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  4. "53rd Piggly Wiggly June Sprints Road America" (PDF). June Sprints. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  5. "2009 National Points" (PDF). Cen-Div SCCA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  6. "2011 National Points" (PDF). Cen-Div SCCA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  7. "National Points Championship Final 2011 Points" (PDF). SCCA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  8. "Final Race Results Group 4 - CSR DSR S2000" (PDF). June Sprints. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  9. "2012 National Points" (PDF). Cen-Div SCCA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  10. "Weather Tech 2014 Chicago Region June Sprints" (PDF). June Sprints. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  11. "2014 SVRA Spring Vintage Festival" (PDF). SVRA. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  12. "2015 SEASON CHRIS GRIFFIS MEMORIAL TEST RESULTS". Indy Lights. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  13. "2016 SEASON ROUNDS 9 & 10 RESULTS". Indy Lights. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  14. "9th Annual Johnsonville "180" - NASCAR XFINITY Series - Road America - 8/25/2018" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  15. "James French – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Alex Popow
Renger van der Zande		 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
PC Champion
2017
With: James French		 Succeeded by
None
(Class discontinued)
Preceded by
Tom Kimber-Smith
José Gutiérrez
Robert Alon		 North American Endurance Cup
PC Champion
2017
With: James French & Kyle Masson		 Succeeded by
None
(Class discontinued)
Preceded by
Paul di Resta
Phil Hanson		 Asian Le Mans Series
LMP2 Champion
2019–20
With: Roman Rusinov & Léonard Hoogenboom		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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