Remembering Jim Crawford, Indy 500 Specialist

Posted by Kevin Guthrie Feb 16, 2009

February 13th 2009 would have been Jim Crawford's 61st birthday. He was a hero to me growing up, having been born just four miles from where I live in Scotland. Remarkably, his achievements are virtually unknown around these parts. Jim's racing career was interesting to say the least. After starting out at Chevron, where his smooth driving style was used to run in new engines, he graduated to a race seat. That was late in 1973. By the end of the following season he was a Formula Atlantic champion.

Jim's Formula 1 career amounted to outings at the 1975 British and Italian Grands Prix for Lotus. The Lotus 72 was nearing the end of its life by then and there was little chance for Jim to shine. The rest of the decade was spent struggling in lower formulae, more often than not in underfunded machinery.

In 1982 Jim's career was resurrected, when he won the British Formula 1 series in an Ensign entered by Robert Fernley. The partnership moved stateside in the latter half of that year, finishing second in the Can-Am championship in both 1983 and 1984.

The Indy 500 was to become synonymous with Jim, as he competed there for a decade. His finest moment came in 1988. One year on from a devastating crash at the speedway Jim turned up for the annual race, still walking with a stick. There had been fears he would never walk again, but Jim showed tremendous courage to finish the 1988 race in sixth place. He may well have finished second, but for a late race puncture.

I have so many memories of watching Jim at Indy. The Buick engines he used were powerful, but fragile. Poor reliability prevented any more impressive finishes. Still, in 1992 he set an unofficial lap record of over 233 mph. After retiring from racing Jim captained a fishing boat in Florida. Showing a wicked sense of humour he named the vessel Turn One , after the corner at Indy where he'd shattered his feet.

It was with great shock that I learned of Jim's death in 2002, at the age of just 54. He was one of bravest and most tenacious drivers of his generation.