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Richie Hearn
Hearn practicing for the 2007 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	American
Born	(1971-01-04) January 4, 1971 (age 53) Glendale, California, U.S.
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	1996, 2000–2005, 2007
Teams	Della Penna Motorsports Pagan Racing A. J. Foyt Enterprises Team Menard Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals
Starts	25
Wins	1
Poles	2
Best finish	4th in 1996
CART Championship Car
Years active	1996–1999
Teams	Della Penna Motorsports
Starts	59
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	16th in 1998
Previous series
1994–1995	Toyota Atlantic
Championship titles
1995	Toyota Atlantic Series

Richard Edward Hearn (born January 4, 1971) is an American former racing driver.

Hearn was born in Glendale, California. He ran in the Toyota Atlantic championship for two seasons, winning the title in 1995. In 1996, he began driving for John Della Penna in both the IRL and Champ Car ranks. He won an IRL race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to cap off the year and was the highest finishing rookie at the Indianapolis 500, finishing 3rd.

Hearn moved full-time into Champ Car in 1997 for Della Penna with high-profile sponsor Budweiser but failed to post significant results and by 2000 was surplus for sponsored driver Norberto Fontana. He contested a few more Indy 500s, with a best result of 6th in 2002. In 2005 following the Indy 500 he retired as a driver and started Hearn Motorsports LLC that ran in the Star Mazda series. He planned to move the team into Toyota Atlantic competition in 2006. Hearn returned from retirement to qualify on Bump Day of the 2007 Indianapolis 500 in a car jointly entered by Racing Professionals and Hemelgarn Racing.

Hearn is currently a driving instructor at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch's Ron Fellows driving school.

Early life

Hearn's parents were also racecar drivers, racing in amateur Sports Car Club of America events on the West Coast. They belonged to the Corvette club, and owned two Corvettes. His father owned a go-kart shop. When he was nine years old, he began racing go-karts. By the time he was 20, he owned seven International Karting Federation titles.

Hearn then attended the Winfield Racing School at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France, whose alumni included Alain Prost. His go-kart competitors helped pay for his tuition. He became the only American to qualify for Winfield's school competition. He managed to win, and was able to earn a year of sponsored racing on the Formula Renault circuit, which is several tiers below the Formula One class.

Professional career

Toyota Atlantic

In 1995, Hearn won the Toyota Atlantic championship.

Indy Racing League IndyCar Series

In 1996, Hearn won a pole at New Hampshire, won a race at Las Vegas, finished third in his Indianapolis 500 debut (the best rookie finish for that race) and was fourth in series points.

CART Championship Car

In 1997, Hearn and team owner John Della Penna moved full-time to the CART FedEx Championship Series. That season, he had 17 starts, but his best finish was ninth.

The following season, his team made upgrades and he was able to improve in his finishes. In a race in Rio de Janeiro, he finished in a career-best seventh place.

In 1999, Hearn crashed coming off turn two on lap four of the Marlboro 500, bringing out the first caution flag of the race. He was not injured, but several laps later, Greg Moore crashed in the exact same spot and was killed.

Hearn did not return for the 2000 season, as he didn't have a sponsor, and Norberto Fontana replaced him.

Return to Indy Racing

In 2002, he finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500, his best finish since his rookie season. In 2003, he was hired by Menard Racing, winning the pole for that year's Indy 200.

In 2007, Hearn got a last-minute ride with Jon Herb's backup car with Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals, even though he hadn't raced since the 2005 Indy 500. With it, he qualified 32nd for the Indianapolis 500. That would be the final Indianapolis 500 he competed in. In seven seasons, he drove in 84 races.

Later life

After retiring from racing, he started a racing team. One of its drivers was Alexander Rossi, who would go on to win the 2016 Indy 500. However, the team became unsustainable during the Great Recession. Due to this, he became bankrupt and did odd jobs such as driving a forklift, and coached a successful flag football team. He then got a job at Bobby Flay’s restaurant at Caesars Palace. However, this wasn't satisfying for him, so he became a part-time instructor at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch's Ron Fellows driving school, and eventually lead instructor once he quit his job at the restaurant.

Hearn still races. In 2014, he competed in the 18th SKUSA SuperNationals. From 2016-17, he competed in the “Indy Legends” Charity Pro-Am. In his free time, he does iRacing, a virtual reality racing video game

Personal life

Hearn was married, but they divorced when he got bankrupt. He has a daughter.

Hearn attended college classes at Citrus College. Years later, after seeing a commercial for the Cordon Blue Culinary School, he enrolled and earned an associate’s degree in the culinary arts in two years.

Motorsports Career Results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key)

CART

IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500

References

1. "Richard E Hearn from Pahrump, NV". Radaris.com. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
2. ^ Harris, Mike (21 May 1998). "Richie Hearn was destined to be a racer". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
3. "Richard Hearn Obituary (2008) - Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Review-Journal". Legacy.com. 6 July 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
4. ^ Antoine, Arthur St (7 October 1991). "Putting the Kart Before the Course". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
5. ^ Klein, Gary (14 January 1993). "Hoping to Be the Hottest Things on Wheels : Racing: Richie Hearn and Kimball Williams are attempting to steer their careers from karts to cars". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
6. ^ "SVRA Heroes & Friends: Indy Car | SVRA". Retrieved 20 February 2024.
7. "ESPN.com - Auto Racing - Moore, 24, killed in horrifying CART crash". www.espn.com. 3 November 1999. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
8. "Hearn out, Fontana in at Della Penna. | IndyCar | Crash". www.crash.net. 18 March 2000. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
9. "PLUS: AUTO RACING; Hearn Surprises, Winning I.R.L. Pole". The New York Times. 7 September 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
10. Schwarb, John (21 May 2007). "Notebook: Hearn hangs around, makes Indy field". ESPN.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
11. ^ Kantowski, Ron (22 August 2020). "Former Indy 500 driver finds new, quiet life in Pahrump". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
12. Lewandowski, Dave (18 November 2014). "Notes: Power, Andretti headline karting event". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
13. "SVRA: Hearn, Lloyd, Manning join Brickyard Invitational field". RACER. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
14. "Lloyd, Hearn, Treadway join SVRA Indy Legends field". RACER. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
15. "Richie Hearn – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
16. "Richie Hearn – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
17. "Richie Hearn – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
18. "Richie Hearn – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
19. "Richie Hearn – 1996 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
20. "Richie Hearn – 1997 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
21. "Richie Hearn – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
22. "Richie Hearn – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
23. "Richie Hearn – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
24. "Richie Hearn – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
25. "Richie Hearn – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
26. "Richie Hearn – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
27. "Richie Hearn – 2007 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 2 August 2023.

External links

• Richie Hearn career summary at DriverDB.com

• 1971 births
• Atlantic Championship drivers
• Champ Car drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Glendale, California
• Racing drivers from California
• International Kart Federation drivers
• Arrow McLaren SP drivers
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers