Vítor Meira

Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a Brazilian former auto racing driver. He formerly competed in the IndyCar Series and has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500.^[1][2]

Vítor Meira
Meira in 2008
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1977-03-27) March 27, 1977 (age 47) Brasília, DF, Brazil
IRL IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2002
Current team	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Years active	10
Car number	2, 4, 14, 17, 22
Former teams	Panther Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Team Menard
Starts	112
Wins	0
Podiums	15
Poles	2
Best finish	5th in 2006
Championship titles
2000	Formula Three Sudamericana
Awards
2008	Scott Brayton Trophy

IndyCar Series

2002

After participating in an open test for Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002, Meira made his IndyCar debut with Team Menard on August 11, 2002, at Kentucky Speedway. A little over a month later, Vitor won his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway after just four starts,^[3] and finished in third place.^[4]

2003

In 2003, Meira ran his first start of the year for Team Menard at the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 12th as a rookie.^[1] Meira then ran the next seven races in the #2 Johns Manville powered Dallara Chevrolet, until a practice crash at Kentucky Speedway sidelined him for the next three races. After recovering from his wrist injury he suffered at Kentucky, Vitor ran the final two races of the season.

2004

In 2004, Meira missed the first two races of the season before a race-by-race deal was presented to Meira by Rahal-Letterman Racing. After Vitor's disappointing finish of 17th in Indy Japan 300, where he suffered a clutch problem, he ran the rest of the season in the #17 G-Force sponsored by Centrix Financial. At The Milwaukee Mile, on July 25, 2004, Meira earned his second career pole.^[5]

2005

Rahal-Letterman Racing signed Meira to a three-year contract in 2005, with backing from longtime supporter, Johns Manville and Menards. One notable race finish during the year was a second place to Dan Wheldon at the Indianapolis 500.^[1] Meira gave Rahal-Letterman Racing their best final point standing finish of seventh as well as recording seven top five and eleven top ten finishes for the team. After losing a majority of the funds for the #17 car, Rahal-Letterman needed a driver who had sponsorship with them. For Meira, that meant losing his ride to Paul Dana, who brought Ethanol sponsorship.

2006

Going into 2006, Meira was looking to moving back to Brazil and run stock cars for fellow Brazilian and IndyCar competitor, Hélio Castroneves' team. But just as he was getting ready to pack his bags for Brasília, he received a phone call from Panther Racing owner, John Barnes. Even though Panther had lost their longtime sponsor, Pennzoil, as well as engine supplier, Chevrolet, the owners (John Barnes, Mike Griffin, Jim Harbaugh, and Doug Boles), sold off old cars, parts, and equipment to keep the team running. After much speculation of the team closing its doors in Indianapolis, the news came on February 10, 2006, that Panther Racing and Meira signed a deal to run the famous #4 for the 2006 IndyCar season. Throughout 2006, Panther Racing and Meira had a plethora of sponsors on the side of their Honda powered Dallara, including Econova, Network Live, Harrah's, Lincoln Tech, and Revive Energy Mints all adorned the sidepods of the brightly colored orange car during the 2006 season. Despite not winning a race in 2006, Meira finished a career best of fifth in the IndyCar point standings after finishing the season with seven top five and twelve top ten finishes. Even though he has not won a race in over 50 starts, he has finished second seven times in his career.

2007

After signing a three-year contract with Panther Racing in 2008, Meira was sponsored by longtime IndyCar participant, Delphi Corporation, who signed a two-year deal with the team.

Meira, who became engaged to longtime girlfriend, Adriana, in March 2006, was married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on March 22, 2008.

Meira testing at Barber Motorsports Park during the 2007-2008 off-season

2008

Meira returned to Panther Racing in 2008 where the United States National Guard became the car's primary sponsor and Delphi became a secondary one. However, the team again contracted to a single car in the IndyCar Series as the Aguri and their sponsorship took Mutoh to the IndyCar Series with Andretti Green Racing rather than Panther.

Meira finished second in the 2008 running of the Indianapolis 500 matching his second-place finish in 2005. Meira chased the eventual winner, Scott Dixon, closing the gap to as little as 0.4 seconds until losing ground due to late race traffic. Meira set his fastest lap on lap 195 of 200.^[1]

2009

Meira drove the #14 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in 2009, replacing Darren Manning. During the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Meira's car survived a spectacular fire in the pits and he later broke two vertebrae in his lower back during a crash involving Raphael Matos on lap 174. Meira did not need surgery and the fracture was treated with a back brace.^[6] Meira was out for the rest of the 2009 season.^[7]

2010

Meira drove to a podium finish in his first race back after his injury; a 3rd-place finish in his home country of Brazil. This would be his best finish of the year. Vitor drove to a 12th place overall finish in the points standings for the 2010 IndyCar Series season.

Meira during practice for the 2011 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

2011

Meira returned to A. J. Foyt Enterprises driving the #14 ABC Supply Company Indy Car. He finished 15th overall, with a best of 5th place of Toronto. He was involved in the 15-car accident that killed Dan Wheldon during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship race.^[8] Meira was left without a ride for the 2012 IndyCar season, and he left American racing as a result.^[9]

2015

Meira attempted a come back for the 2015 Indianapolis 500,^[10] but failed to find a ride.

Business

After his American racing career, Meira started a self-storage facility business in Brazil, and took over an advertising agency started by his father.^[11]

Motorsports career results

Complete Euro Formula 3000 results

(key)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2001	ADM Motorsport	VLL Ret	PER Ret	MOZ DNS	DON Ret	ZOL 2	IMO 5	NÜR 3	VAL 3		5th	16
2002	ADM Motorsport	VLL 7	PER 11	MOZ Ret	SPA	DON	BRN	DIJ	JER	CAG	NC	0

Complete IndyCar Series results

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points	Ref
2002	Team Menard	Dallara	2	Chevrolet	HMS	PHX	FON	NZR	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY 15	STL 9	CHI 8	TX2 3					25th	96	[12]
2003			22		HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY 12																22nd	170	[13]
			2						TXS 12	PPIR 16	RIR 22	KAN 20	NSH 19	MIS 21	STL 9	KTY DNS	NZR	CHI	FON 11	TX2 4
2004	Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force	17	Honda	HMS	PHX	MOT 17	INDY 6	TXS 6	RIR 2	KAN 2	NSH 12	MIL 5	MIS 5	KTY 7	PPIR 7	NZR 10	CHI 5	FON 21	TX2 4				8th	376	[14]
2005		Panoz			HMS 4	PHX 11	STP 5	MOT 15	INDY 2	TXS 9	RIR 20	KAN 3	NSH 16	MIL 9	MIS 14	KTY 2	PPIR 5	SNM 9	CHI 7	WGL 18	FON 3			7th	422	[15]
2006	Panther Racing	Dallara	4		HMS 16	STP 5	MOT 10	INDY 10	WGL 2	TXS 6	RIR 2	KAN 3	NSH 3	MIL 15	MIS 2	KTY 6	SNM 3	CHI 6						5th	411	[16]
2007					HMS 4	STP 16	MOT 17	KAN 8	INDY 10	MIL 5	TXS 5	IOW 9	RIR 9	WGL 17	NSH 10	MDO 17	MIS 18	KTY 10	SNM 9	DET 15	CHI 18			12th	334	[17]
2008					HMS 10	STP 19	MOT1 16	LBH1 DNP	KAN 22	INDY 2	MIL 22	TXS 7	IOW 15	RIR 20	WGL 22	NSH 6	MDO 6	EDM 19	KTY 4	SNM 7	DET 17	CHI 27		13th	324	[18]
	A.J. Foyt Enterprises		14																				SRF2 14
2009					STP 9	LBH 14	KAN 22	INDY 21	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	TOR	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT	HMS			28th	62	[19]
2010					SAO 3	STP 15	ALA 18	LBH 11	KAN 10	INDY 27	TXS 10	IOW 7	WGL 19	TOR 11	EDM 16	MDO 15	SNM 15	CHI 9	KTY 23	MOT 17	HMS 6			12th	310	[20]
2011					STP 8	ALA 12	LBH 9	SAO 17	INDY 15	TXS1 8	TXS2 11	MIL 24	IOW 18	TOR 5	EDM 12	MDO 10	NHM 10	SNM 22	BAL 9	MOT 25	KTY 16	LVS C		16th	287	[21]

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
10	4	131	2	0	15	56	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2003	Dallara	Chevrolet	26	12	Menard
2004	G-Force	Honda	7	6	Rahal Letterman
2005	Panoz		7	2	Rahal Letterman
2006	Dallara		6	10	Panther
2007	Dallara		19	10	Panther
2008	Dallara		8	2	Panther
2009	Dallara		14	21	Foyt
2010	Dallara		30	27	Foyt
2011	Dallara		11	15	Foyt

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
2012	Officer ProGP	Chevrolet Sonic	INT 27	CTB 8	VEL Ret	RBP Ret	LON 24	RIO 18	SAL Ret	CGD 9	TAR 20	CTB 9	BSB 17	INT 28										23rd	45
2014	Boettger Competições	Peugeot 408	INT 1 Ret	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	BRA 1	BRA 2	GOI 1	GOI 2	GOI 1	CAS 1	CAS 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	VEL 1	VEL 2	SAL 1	SAL 2	TAR 1	TAR 2	RBP 1	RBP 2	CUR 1	NC†	0†
2015	Eurofarma RC	Chevrolet Sonic	GOI 1 6	RBP 1	RBP 2	VEL 1	VEL 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	SCZ 1	SCZ 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	GOI 1	CAS 1	CAS 2	BRA 1	BRA 2	CUR 1	CUR 2	TAR 1	TAR 2	INT 1	NC†	0†

† Ineligible for championship points.

References

1. "Vitor Meira Career Stats". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
2. "Vítor Meira fala quem são os favoritos da Fórmula Indy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
3. "Rookie Vitor Meira wins pole". United Press International. 2002-09-14. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
4. "Photo finish: IRL championship decided by inches at Texas 500". CNN Sports Illustrated. 2002-09-16. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
5. "Meira wins pole at The Milwaukee Mile". NBC Sports. Associated Press. 2004-07-24. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
6. "Meira breaks two vertebra in crash-filled Indy 500". USA Today. 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
7. "AUTO-RACING - INDYCAR: Kanaan Hurting; Meira Out For '09 - SPEEDtv.com". Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
8. "Dan Wheldon killed in horrific, 15-car IndyCar pile-up at the final race of the season in Las Vegas". The Courier Mail.
9. "Vitor Meira bids farewell to US racing". Crash. 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
10. Cavin, Curt. "Curt Cavin: Talking Carpenter and Meira". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
11. "Meira Sees INDYCAR Career as Win despite No Checkered Flags". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
12. "Vitor Meira – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
13. "Vitor Meira – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
14. "Vitor Meira – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
15. "Vitor Meira – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
16. "Vitor Meira – 2006 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
17. "Vitor Meira – 2007 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
18. "Vitor Meira – 2008 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
19. "Vitor Meira – 2009 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
20. "Vitor Meira – 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
21. "Vitor Meira – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• Vitor Meira's Official Site
• IndyCar Driver Page

Sporting positions
Preceded by Hoover Orsi	Formula Three Sudamericana Champion 2000	Succeeded by Juliano Moro
Awards
Preceded by Tony Kanaan	Scott Brayton Award 2008	Succeeded by Sarah Fisher