Josele Garza

Josele Garza^[1] (born March 15, 1962, in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican professional race car driver. He started seven Indianapolis 500 races. Garza was the 1981 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year after starting sixth, leading 13 laps, and finishing 23rd at the age of 19. At 19 years, two months, and nine days, Garza is the second youngest driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and was not surpassed until 2003 by A. J. Foyt IV. USAC rules at the time required drivers to be 21 years of age, but Garza's racing license listed him as being 22 years old. Garza claims he does not know how the error occurred, but he did not notify officials of the error. He finished 10th in the 1984 Indianapolis 500.

Josele Garza
Garza at the 1986 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	Mexican
Born	(1962-03-15) March 15, 1962 (age 62) Mexico City
IndyCar Series
Years active	1981 – 1987
Teams	Garza Racing (22 starts) Machinists Union Racing (66 starts)
Starts	88
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	2nd Michigan 500 in 1986
Awards
1981

Garza was winless in 88 CART races. His best career finish was a second place at the 1986 Michigan 500. In 1986, he tested a Brabham Formula One car, during free practice of the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix. After he finished his career in CART, he tested with Minardi in F1 during 1987-88 but never got the required sponsorship to be awarded a race seat and he never made his debut in F1. He came back to Mexico and later he became a team owner in Mexican F2 and F3000 and sometimes raced when his drivers were not up to standard, or absent for some reason.

Garza qualifying for the 1987 Indianapolis 500

Racing record

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pos	Points
1980	David Psachie	MIL 19	POC 1	MDO 16	MIN1 2	MIN2 2	ONT 24	3rd	532

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1986	Motor Racing Developments Ltd.	Brabham BT55	BMW Straight-4 (t/c)	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	BEL	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	MEX PO	AUS	–	–

CART

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points	Ref
1981	Garza Racing	PHX 21	MIL 14	ATL 12	ATL 18	MCH 19	RIV 12	MIL 8	MCH 23	WGL 24	MEX 18	PHX 6							21st	30	[2]
1982	Garza Racing	PHX 13	ATL 16	MIL 8	CLE 14	MCH 22	MIL 8	POC 15	RIV 13	ROA 4	MCH 9	PHX 18							13th	56	[3]
1983	Machinists Union Racing	ATL	INDY	MIL	CLE 17	MCH 19	ROA 11	POC 9	RIV 20	MDO 23	MCH 17	CPL 11	LAG 12	PHX					22nd	9	[4]
1984	Machinists Union Racing	LBH 23	PHX DNS	INDY 10	MIL DNS	POR 7	MEA 23	CLE 17	MCH 11	ROA 7	POC 25	MDO 11	SAN 4	MCH 10	PHX 8	LAG 13	LVS 10		13th	42	[5]
1985	Machinists Union Racing	LBH 28	INDY 31	MIL 7	POR 12	MEA 27	CLE 6	MCH 19	ROA 18	POC 26	MDO 11	SAN 6	MCH 6	LAG 7	PHX 10	MIA 9			12th	46	[6]
1986	Machinists Union Racing	PHX 23	LBH 7	INDY 18	MIL 7	POR 17	MEA 8	CLE 7	TOR 23	MCH 2	POC 7	MDO 14	SAN	MCH	ROA	LAG	PHX	MIA 24	14th	45	[7]
1987	Machinists Union Racing	LBH 5	PHX 6	INDY 17	MIL 22	POR 6	MEA 24	CLE 16	TOR 17	MCH 12	POC 11	ROA 11	MDO 8	NAZ 8	LAG 8	MIA 18			11th	46	[8]

Indianapolis 500 results

Josele Garza at the 2016 Brickyard SVRA Pro-Am race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1981	Penske	Cosworth	6th	23rd
1982	March	Cosworth	33rd	29th
1983	Penske	Cosworth	18th	25th
1984	March	Cosworth	24th	10th
1985	March	Cosworth	18th	31st
1986	March	Cosworth	17th	18th
1987	March	Cosworth	25th	17th

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tim Richmond	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1981	Succeeded by Jim Hickman

References

1. Biography,
2. "Josele Garza – 1981 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
3. "Josele Garza – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
4. "Josele Garza – 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
5. "Josele Garza – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
6. "Josele Garza – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
7. "Josele Garza – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
8. "Josele Garza – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.