User:Rick Knoop/sandbox

Rick Knoop

Frederick William "Rick" Knoop (born July 8, 1953 in Atherton ) is an American former racing driver.

His career in motorsports started in 1975 when he drove a McLaren M6B GT coupe at the Laguna Seca historic event. That ignited his racing bug and soon after Rick attend the Bob Bondurant School of Performance Driving to acquire his racing license and hone his racing skills.

An accomplished and versatile driver that has consistently won and placed in the world’s most challenging and prestigious sports car races. He contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice. At Le Mans in 1978, together with Jim Busby and Chris Cord, he finished sixth overall and first in class in a Porsche 935/77.

In 1984 he finished 12th overall and 3rd in class in a Lola T616 powered Mazda with BF Goodrich livery. Among winning the 1983 Daytona 24 hours race in the GTO class, Rick has participated in NASCAR and has a class win at the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Challenge.

Almost 5 decades later Rick continues to amass a stunning driving record that has earned him rides with factory teams including Toyota, Mazda, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, and BF Goodrich. His smoothness, competitiveness, and experience make him among the most accomplished drivers currently competing in professional road racing.

After the end of his professional career, Knoop continues to drive in historic Formula 1, and Vintage Can-Am races as well as teaching his race craft to the next generation of aspiring racers.

Personal Life: Rick is the son of Fred Knoop, a former top West Coast SCCA driver and racer of historic cars. During his youth, Rick helped operate his family business breeding and boarding racehorses in Grass Valley, California. Rick graduated from Ojai Valley’s Villanova Prep School in 1971, where he competed in tennis, cross-country, and football.

The USC graduate earned Bachelor’s degrees in economics and business administration. His business career includes experience in gray market auto importing, construction, and as a trucking subcontractor for building contractors and operations manager at Jim Busby Racing.

FIRST RACE: Historic 1975 car race at Laguna Seca in McLaren M6B GT coupe, followed by a racing course at Bob Bondurant School of High-Performance Driving (1976).

RACING RECORD: 1977– Won SCCA Northern California Regional B Sedan title in an Alfa Romero GTV.

1978 – Class victory at Le Mans 24-hour co-driving with Jim Busby & Chris Cord (6th overall). Co-drove a Porsche RSR with Bob Akin and Steve Earle to finish 7th at Daytona 24-hour and 5th in Sebring 12-hour enduro. Drove an AMC Pacer to 15th overall in the Road Atlanta 6-hour. Finished 4th in World Endurance Challenge points.

1979 – Co-drove AMC Concord with Tom Waugh to win IMSA 6-hour at Talladega and set a new lap record. Co-drove Mazda RX-7 with Bob Bergstrom to GTU win at Elkhart Lake (first Mazda victory).

1980 – Co-drove Mazda RX-7 with John Casey to 4th in class at Riverside 6-hour.

1981 – Co-drove Mazda RX-7 with Walt Bohren to win Pocono 500-miler GTU class & 5th in class at 6-hour Riverside. 2nd in class at Mid-Ohio 200 and set track record. Finished 20th at Michigan in his first NASCAR Winston Cup race.

1982 – Drove factory Toyota to 7th in Lime Rock 100, 4th at Summit Point 100, 4th in class at Daytona Paul Revere 250, 5th overall at Portland 100, 2nd in GTU class with Ron Grable at Mosport 6-hour and Road Atlanta 500-miler, 9th in class at Elkhart Lake 500, 3rd in class at Mid-Ohio 500.

1983 – Co-drove factory Mazda RX-7 with Pete Halsmer to win GTO class (3rd overall) at Daytona 24- hour, 8th in class at Sebring 12-hour (21st overall), won GTO class with John Morton at Mosport, 2nd in class at Sears Point, 3rd in class at Charlotte & Lime Rock, 5th in class at Brainerd.

1984 – Co-drove Lola T-616 BFG Mazda with Jim Busby to win Group C2 at Monza, 3rd in class at LeMans and 3rd at Fuji. Placed 6th overall at Miami 3-hour, 5th overall at Watkins Glen. Co-drove Porsche 944 Turbo with Fred Baker and Busby to win in 24 hours of Nelson Ledges.

1985 – Competed in the BFG Porsche 962 throughout the year. Co-drove with Jim Busby and Jochen Mass to 3rd overall in Daytona 24-hour. Drove to 6th overall with Busby in Miami 3-hour; co-drove with Pete Halsmer & Dieter Quester to 3rd overall at Sebring. Co-drove with Busby to capture 7th overall in Road Atlanta 500K, 2nd at Riverside 6-hour, and 5th at Laguna Seca 300-miler. Finished 3rd overall in Charlotte 500K, 5th overall at Lime Rock 2-hour, and Mid-Ohio co-driving with Busby. Earned an 8th overall in Watkins Glen 3-hour with Busby.

1986 – Beginning with the Bud at the Glen in drove at Talladega, Charlotte, Watkins Glen, and Dover; 20th his best final position.

1987 – Short season as a driver for D.K. Ulrich’s Winston Cup team.

1978 –1987 professional racing record: 4 wins, 29 top 5’s, 43 top 10’s in 56 races.

2000 – Drove ex-Terry Labonte Kellogg Lumina in HSC at Laguna Seca (2), Infineon/Sears Point (2), and Thunder Hill; all top-5 finishes. Drove a Corvette in SCCA Pro Racing Speedvision series; started 29th, finished 22nd at Laguna Seca; started 36th, was 22nd when retired to place 34th.

2002 – Drove in Historic GP (Formula 1) series, finished 4th at Thunder Hill, 5th at Sears Point, 4th at St. Jovite, 6th at Elkhart Lake, 2nd at Indianapolis. Reunited with Jim Busby to take the role of operations manager;

2003 – Finished 8th at Long Beach, 2nd at Thunder Hill, and set fastest race lap in Historic GP F1 series. Drove a Porsche 935 to 3rd in the Tribute to Le Mans and 1st at the NASA Willow Springs Enduro. Finished 2nd at St. Jovite (fastest lap), 1st (Aug. 10th;), and 3rd at Laguna (Aug. 17th) in Formula 2.

2004 – Drove in Historic GP F1 series: qualified on the pole & finished 1st at Long Beach (fastest lap); qualified 6th & finished 5th at Montreal Grand Prix; qualified 5th and finished 4th at Road America; captured 3rd at the Sears Point Historic Races; Competed in the Long Beach Grand Prix captured the pole and finished 1st.

2005 – Competed in Historic GP F1 and finished 3rd at St. Jovite 3rd (fastest lap); placed 4th overall at Sears Point Infineon Raceway and 4th at Watkins Glen (fastest lap); Finished 3rd in the “Survival of the Fittest” (Group C) class with a Lola T-616 Mazda at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

2006– Joined the Duncan Dayton Highcroft Racing team to compete in the ALMS GT1 class and race a prototype Grand Am car at Daytona during the 2006 season. Placed 6th in the Sebring Test Days. Competed in Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 54th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring races, however both were unfinished due to an accident followed by a mechanical failure in the other. Piloted Tyrrell Racing F1 to a 3rd place finish in the Glenora Wine Cellars U.S Sportscar Vintage Racing at Watkins Glen. Finished 2nd in the Monterey Historic Grand Prix.

2007 – Competed in the Watkins Glen 200 Miles and placed 15th, three-1st place finished in Tyrrell F1 car during the Phillip Island historic Grand Prix. Participated in exhibition laps prior to F1 Melbourne Grand Prix.

2008 – Competed in the Walter Mitty Historic at Road Atlanta, Competed in historic Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, qualified 3rd, finished 2nd.

2010 – Piloted Group 44 Jaguar to 1st place finish in the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca.

2011 – Piloted Group 44 Jaguar to 2nd place finish in the Monterey Motorsports Reunion; Nominated into Legends of Riverside. Finished 1st in 2011 NASA National Champion super-unlimited class, Piloted KMS to 1st place at Fontana Speedway. Drove KMS to 2nd place during NASA S U championship race, ultimately finishing 2nd in NASA SU Championship standings.

2012 – Captured class win at the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Challenge. Placed 2nd at the Super Unlimited NASA Championships. Finished 3rd in the Rolex Race at the Monterey Motor Sports Reunion in group 44 Jaguar. Piloted Knoop-Mann Special to 1st place in the Exhibition Class at Pikes Peak.

2013 – Drove the Knoop-Mann Special to 2nd place in the season championship of the NASA SU Race. Piloted McLaren M8F9-72 to 4th place at Road America.

2014 – Piloted McLaren M8F9-72 to 2nd place at Sonoma Raceway. Drove the McLarenM8F9-72 to 2nd place finish at Road America. Consistently finished in the top five during the Monterey Motorsports reunion weekend at Laguna Seca in McLaren M8F9-72. Piloted the Knoop-Mann Special to 2nd place in the Unlimited Division at Pikes Peak. Drove the Knoop-Mann Special to two 1st place finishes at Watkins Glen International Speedway.

Rick Knoop Road Racing Drivers Club Rick Knoop Historic Grand Prix American Hot Dodder who won the 24 hours of Le Mans Race data Base Stockcar racing Wiki Le Mans Profile Cars Rick Knoop has raced over the years