Bill Alsup

Bill Alsup (July 15, 1938 in Honolulu – August 9, 2016) was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career. His best race finish of third came 3 times and he was the 1981 CART Championship runner-up, putting in a winless but consistent season for Penske Racing, his only effort with a top-level team. He returned to his own team the next year and struggled until leaving Champ Car following the 1984 Sanair Super Speedway race.

Indy driver Bill Alsup (right) at the 2012 Indianapolis 500 Legends Day

CART career

Alsup made his CART debut at the Arizona Republic/Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix International Raceway driving the #41 WASP Racing Mclaren-Offenhauser for WASP Racing starting twenty fourth (last) and finishing eleventh. He attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, first driving the #67 WASP Racing McLaren-Offenhauser, but the car was not fast enough to make a qualifying run. He then attempted the #19 Sta-On Eagle 74-Offenhauser for Gehlhausen Racing but the engine failed. The final car he attempted to qualify was the #68 CAM 2 Motor Oil Penske PC7-Cosworth DFX for Team Penske. He qualified for the race but USAC officials ruled that the car used the engine from Penske teammate Bobby Unser's car and Alsup was disqualified. ^[1] He drove the remainder of the CART season for WASP Racing. He had a best finish of ninth in the second heat of the Trenton Indy at Trenton Speedway, the Kent Oil 150 at Watkins Glen International, the first heat of the Norton Twin 125s and the Gould Grand Prix, the latter two at Michigan International Speedway, and finished the season fifteenth in points to win the first CART Rookie of the Year Award.

In 1980 Alsup purchased the inventory of WASP Racing and started his own team called Alsup Racing, Alsup driving the #41 Polaroid Time Zero Penske PC7-Cosworth DFX. He started the season by finishing sixth in the season opening Dastun Twin 200 at Ontario Motor Speedway. He failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, rebounded to finish third at the Red Roof Inns 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and finished the season seventh in points, earning him the CART Most Improved Driver Award.

In 1981 he drove for Team Penske in a Norton-Spirit sponsored car alongside teammates Bobby Unser and Rick Mears. Driving for Penske in the #7 A.B. Dick Penske PC9B-Cosworth DFX and for himself in the #41 Polaroid Time Zero Penske PC7-Cosworth DFX he had a best finish of third at the Norton Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway where he led for three laps. He also finished third at the Los Angeles Times 500 at Riverside International Raceway and at the AB Dick Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway. He ended the season with a career best second in points in the CART standings but it wasn't enough to keep his ride with TEAM Penske, and he was released from the team at the end of the season.

In 1982 he was back to driving for himself using the #2 A.B. Dick Penske PC9B-Cosworth DFX and had a best finish of fourth at the Stroh's 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He dropped to eleventh in points for the season.

In 1983 he began working with Argo Racing Cars driving the #11 Alsup Racing/Indy Car Annual Argo JM-15-Cosworth DFX. He failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and soon started driving a March 83C-Cosworth DFX. He scored no points that year.

In 1984 he switched between a March 83C-Cosworth DFX and an Argo JM-15-Cosworth DFX. He failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and started his last race at the Molson Indy Montreal at Sanair Super Speedway. He once again failed to score points.

Death

Alsup died in a crane accident near Silverton, Colorado where he was a long-term resident on August 9, 2016.^[2]

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year	Track	Car	Engine	Class	Finish	Start	Status
1973	Road Atlanta	Caldwell	Ford	Formula Ford	15	19	Running

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
1977	Bill Alsup	TRE 7	MIL 14	MOS 7	PIR 2							5th	280
1978	William Alsup, Jr.	PIR1 21	TRE1 2	MOS 1	MIL1 23	TEX 2	MIL2 10	OMS1 1	OMS2 2	TRE2 4	PIR2 12	1st	1046

Formula Super Vee

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
1978	Bill Alsup	Argo JM2	VW Brabham	CLT 1	RAL 1	MDO Ret	CMT 1	WG1 1	BRN 3	ROA 4	WG2 3	1st	114
Source:[3][4][5]

SCCA/CART Indy Car Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
1979	WASP Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	PHX 11	ATL 16	ATL 15	INDY DNQ	TRT 12	TRT 9	MIC 9	MIC 13	WGL 9	TRT 10	ONT 22	MIC 9	ATL 10	PHX 11			15th	400	[6]
	Gehlhausen Racing		Cosworth				INDY DNQ
	Team Penske	Penske					INDY DNQ
1980	Alsup Racing			ONT 7	INDY DNQ	MIL 9	POC 4	MDO 3	MIC 10	WGL 8	MIL 21	ONT 16	MIC 10	MXS 16	PHX 21					7th	1,214	[7]
1981				PHX 5	MIL						MIC 4	WTG 3								2nd	175	[8]
	Team Penske					ATL 8	ATL 8	MIC 4	RIR 3	MIL 11			MXC 5	PHX 17
1982	Alsup Racing			PHX 11	ATL 5	MIL 16	CLE 12	MIC 13	MIL 9	POC 13	RIV 8	ROA 16	MIC 6	PHX 8						11th	70	[9]
1983		March Argo		ATL DNS	INDY DNQ	MIL 21	CLE 20	MIC 16	ROA	POC 20	RIV	MDO 19	MIC 22	CPL	LAG 27	PHX 14				38th	0	[10]
1984				LBH DNQ	PHX DNQ	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE DNQ	MIC 16	ROA	POC 24	MDO	SAN 14	MIC	PHX	LAG	CPL	40th	0	[11]

References

1. "Indy Chaos; Penske Driver Caught Cheating". Spokesman Review. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
2. "Bill Alsup dies in backcountry crane accident". Silverton Standard. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
3. "1978 ARGO JM-2 Formula Super Vee Chassis 20". formulasupervee.com. Formula Super Vee. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
4. "1978 SCCA U. S. Formula Super Vee Championship Bill Alsup - Champion". champcarstats.com. Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
5. "Formula Super Vee". autosport.com. Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
6. "Bill Alsup – 1979 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
7. "Bill Alsup – 1980 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
8. "Bill Alsup – 1981 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
9. "Bill Alsup – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
10. "Bill Alsup – 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
11. "Bill Alsup – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.

External links

• Bill Alsup driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Bob Lazier	US Formula Super Vee Champion 1978	Succeeded by Geoff Brabham
Preceded by Tom Bagley	USAC Mini-Indy Series Champion 1978	Succeeded by Dennis Firestone
Preceded by None	CART Rookie of the Year 1979	Succeeded by Dennis Firestone