Wikipedia

Tomy Drissi

Tomy Drissi(/ˈdriːziː/DREE-see;born December 9, 1958) is an American professionalstockandsports carracing driver, and an advertising executive in the movie industry. A long-time competitor in theSports Car Club of America'sTrans-Am Series,he was the series' 2009 Champion.

Tomy Drissi
Born(1958-12-09)December 9, 1958(age 65)
Los Angeles,California,U.S.
Trans-Am Seriescareer
Debut season1999
Current team3GT
Car number8
Former teamsBurtin Racing
Previous series
1999–2021
2005–2006
2006–2010		Trans-Am Series
Rolex Sports Car Series
Speed World Challenge
Championship titles
2009Trans-Am Series
Awards
1999Trans-Am Series Rookie of the Year
NASCARCup Seriescareer
5 races run over 4 years
2018position46th
Best finish46th (2018)
First race2012Toyota/Save Mart 350(Sonoma)
Last race2018Toyota/Save Mart 350(Sonoma)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCARXfinity Seriescareer
11 races run over 6 years
2016position64th
Best finish57th (2015)
First race2010NAPA Auto Parts 200(Montreal)
Last race2016Road America 180(Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 18, 2018.

Racing career

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Drissi first became involved in motorsports through his participation in illegalstreet racing,primarily onMulholland Drivein Hollywood'sHollywood Hills,starting at the age of 16.[1][2]He began legitimate competition in 1993, when he became involved invintage racing,primarily atWillow Springs Raceway.[2]Drissi's driving style proved "too aggressive" for the fragile vintage cars,[2]and he moved to standard, modern race cars, making his debut in professional racing in 1999. Competing in theSCCATrans-Am Series,Drissi won Rookie of the Year in his initial season.[1][2]He would score his first win in the series the following year at theLong Beach Grand Prix.[2]Competing in the series both before and after its mid-2000s hiatus, he won the first championship of the revitalized series in 2009.[1]

Drissi's 2010 Trans-Am car

Drissi also competed in theSCCA World Challengeseries between 2006 and 2010; in 2003, he had begun competing in the sports cars of theAmerican Le Mans Series,[2]where he would make his primary effort in racing outside of Trans-Am; he currently drives in the series forRSR Racing,competing in the Prototype Challenge class, co-driving anOreca FLM09withBruno JunqueiraandRoberto González.[3]As of 2012,he has scored two class wins during his career in the series,[3]both coming during the 2011 season at theMid-Ohio Sports Car Courseand at theBaltimore Grand Prix.[4][5]

Drissi also competed in nineRolex Sports Car Seriesevents in 2005 and 2006, posting a best finish of ninth on the road course atPhoenix International Racewayin September 2005.[6]

NASCAR

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Drissi at Montreal in 2010
Drissi's No. 66 car at Sonoma Raceway in 2014

In 2010, Drissi took a test drive withRick Ware RacingatCarolina Motorsports Park,hoping to kickstart some NASCAR activism. Drissi later made his debut in stock car competition, driving the No. 82Dodge ChargerforMacDonald Motorsportsin theNASCARNationwide Series,competing in theNAPA Auto Parts 200atCircuit Gilles VilleneuveinMontreal.[7]He finished 18th in the event; the following year he would drive in two races in the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 75 Ford forRick Ware RacingatWatkins Glen International,where he finished 27th, and at Montreal, finishing 34th.[8]Drissi also competed in a single NASCARK&N Pro Series Westrace in 2011 on theroad courseatPortland International Raceway,driving the No. 12 Toyota forBill McAnally Racing;[9]he would finish 22nd in the event.[10]

Drissi drove the No. 26 car forRick Ware Racingin the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series road course races atRoad America,Watkins Glen,andMid Ohio Sports Car Coursewith a best finish of 25th place. In 2016, Drissi joinedTriStar Motorsports' #14 Arthritis Foundation Toyota, for the road races. On lap 17 of the Zippo 200 at the Glen, Drissi was injured during a 5-car pileup in the esses. It forced him to withdraw from the rest of the race as well as the following week's race at Mid-Ohio. Drissi recovered from the injury and returned to the #14 team weeks later atRoad Americawhere he finished 26th.

Monster Energy Cup Series

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Drissi in his Xfinity Series car at Road America in 2015

In 2011, established as a "road course ringer",[11]Drissi was hired byMax Q Motorsports,which had entered into a partnership withRick Ware Racing,[12]to drive the team's No. 37 Ford, sponsored by the movieRise of the Planet of the Apes,in theNASCARSprint Cup Seriesat theToyota/Save Mart 350atInfineon Raceway.[13]Drissi was not approved by NASCAR to compete in the event due to not having sufficient experience in the heavy Sprint Cup cars;Chris Cooksubstituted for Drissi, qualifying and driving the car in the event.[14][15]

Drissi returned to Infineon (now known as Sonoma) for the2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350,being hired to drive the No. 10 Chevrolet, sponsored byIce Age: Continental Drift,forTommy Baldwin Racing.[8][16]Drissi returned to Sonoma in the2013 Toyota/Save Mart 350forNEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing,driving the No. 87 Toyota sponsored byThe Wolverine,[17]and drove again for the team atWatkins Glen Internationalwith sponsorship promotingThe Counselor.[18]A year later, he joinedIdentity Ventures Racingin the No. 66 Toyota with sponsorship fromHerculesatSonoma.[19]He started last and finished 38th.[20]

After four years away from Cup racing, he returned to the series for the2018 Toyota/Save Mart 350,driving the No. 00 forStarCom Racing.[21]

Trans-Am bans

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Drissi atMid-Ohioin 2015 during the race which later had him suspended

During the race atMid-Ohioon August 15, 2015, he started from pole position in aTony AveRacing machine, but lost a couple of places after battling with championship contenderAmy Rumancoming out of "The Keyhole". Drissi drove aggressively towards the front, spinning out his teammatePaul Fixand was given an in-race warning by stewards.

When the caution came out he passed some cars – which he got penalized for later on in the race – and drove next to Ruman and showed his unhappiness with her by touching her car a few times lightly. After serving his drive-through penalty for avoidable contact, Drissi waited for Ruman, who was leading the race at the moment, to drive just behind him and then he tried to block her from putting him a lap down. Coming out of "The Keyhole" Ruman made the pass and Drissi purposely crashed into her and both cars went back across the track taking out himself, Ruman and Doug Peterson, one of Drissi's teammates, who was running second at the time. Drissi was assessed amatch penalty,while Ruman would recover to finish in the top-20. After the race concluded, Drissi's #71 was stricken from the race results, along with his points and prize money, pending a final ruling from Trans-Am chief steward, James Foyle. The following month, Drissi was assessed the maximum suspension allowed bySCCA,which is one full calendar year. Drissi motioned to appeal, but it was upheld.

Ruman said during a post-race interview, which aired onCBS Sports Network:"Tomy Drissi is the most unprofessional, unsportsmanlike, unimaginable, worst driver in what he calls a professional sport. What he did was unacceptable today, he trashed my car, he blocked us, we were winning the championship, this is the third year in a row he's hit me, he has a vendetta against me. He's unprofessional and it's unacceptable what happened here today."[22]

Drissi returned to Trans Am for the 2017 season, but was subsequently suspended after being involved in a physical altercation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on June 17, 2017.[23]On August 7, 2017, Drissi was reinstated and placed on probation after agreeing to fulfill undisclosed terms and conditions by Trans Am.[24]

Personal life

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Drissi is the owner of a Hollywood advertising agency that produces film displays for promoting upcoming films in cinemas.[2]He is married to Lacy Livingston Drissi and they have two children.[1]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold– Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics– Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

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NASCAR Cup Seriesresults
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 MENCC Pts Ref
2012 Tommy Baldwin Racing 10 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON
38 		KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV TAL CLT KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 55th 6 [25]
2013 NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing 87 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON
38 		KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN
42 		MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 50th 8 [26]
2014 Identity Ventures Racing 66 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX DAR RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON
38 		KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 55th 6 [27]
2018 StarCom Racing 00 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV KAN CLT POC MCH SON
32 		CHI DAY KEN NHA POC GLN MCH BRI DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 46th 5 [28]

Xfinity Series

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NASCAR Xfinity Seriesresults
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NXSC Pts Ref
2010 MacDonald Motorsports 82 Dodge DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV
18 		ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM 111th 109 [29]
2011 Rick Ware Racing 41 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN
DNQ 		CGV
DNQ 		126th 01 [30]
75 GLN
27 		CGV
34 		BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM
2013 NEMCO-Jay Robinson Racing 70 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV IOW MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH
19 		BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 117th 01 [31]
2014 JGL Racing 93 Dodge DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN
20 		MOH
23 		BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 109th 01 [32]
2015 26 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH CHI DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN
25 		MOH
32 		BRI ROA
36 		DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 57th 39 [33]
2016 TriStar Motorsports 14 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN
36 		MOH BRI ROA
26 		DAR RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 64th 20 [34]

*Season still in progress
1Ineligible for series points

References

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  1. ^abcd"About Tomy Drissi".Tomy Drissi official website.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  2. ^abcdefgAdams, Bruce (July 27, 2003)."L.A. driver does his speeding legally now".San Francisco Chronicle.San Francisco, CA.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  3. ^ab"Tomy Drissi".American Le Mans Series.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  4. ^McCurdy, Rob (August 7, 2011)."Slick day at Mid-Ohio".Mansfield News Journal.Mansfield, OH.Retrieved2012-06-20.[dead link‍]
  5. ^"Kane, Al Masaood win American Le Mans Baltimore Grand Prix".Sports Car Illustrated.Treasure Island, FL. September 3, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2013.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  6. ^"Tomy Drissi - NASCAR Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Results".Racing-Reference.USA Today Sports Media Group.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  7. ^"News And Notes - NAPA Auto Parts 200 At Montreal".SPEED Channel.Fox Sports. August 24, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon November 27, 2010.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  8. ^ab"Said, Drissi to drive at Sonoma".NASCAR.Turner Sports. July 19, 2012.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  9. ^Resshaw, Kaye (July 21, 2011)."Chris Evans and Tomy Drissi heading to Portland with BMR".RacingWest.Thousand Oaks, CA. Archived fromthe originalon September 27, 2015.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  10. ^"NASCAR-Pro West-Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops 125 Results".ESPN. July 24, 2011.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  11. ^Pistone, Pete (June 23, 2011)."Road course ringers invade Sonoma".Eye on NASCAR.CBS Sports.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  12. ^"Drissi joins RWR in alignment with Max Q Motorsport in Sprint Cup Series".Rick Ware Racing. June 21, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-25.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  13. ^Shacklette, Buddy (June 25, 2011)."Hired guns on the road again for NASCAR".The Daytona Beach News-Journal.Daytona Beach, FL. Archived fromthe originalon June 26, 2011.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  14. ^Adamczyk, Jay."#37 Team News and Links".Jayski.ESPN. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-10-27.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  15. ^Pilgrim, Andy (June 28, 2011)."There were some drivers, believe it or not, who raced clean throughout..."Andy Pilgrim official website.Retrieved2012-06-12.
  16. ^Coble, Don (June 19, 2012)."NASCAR notebook: Concerns grow as speeds top 200 mph barrier at Michigan".Athens Banner-Herald.Athens, GA.Retrieved2012-06-20.
  17. ^DiZinno, Tony (2013-06-20)."NASCAR's Sonoma 2013 road course ringers, analyzed".NBC Sports.Retrieved2013-06-20.
  18. ^"Tomy Drissi in NEMCO No. 87 at The Glen".Rotoworld.NBC Sports. August 8, 2013.Retrieved2013-08-08.
  19. ^Bonkowski, Jerry (June 19, 2014)."Hercules' next battle will be against 42 NASCAR drivers".NBC Sports.Retrieved2014-06-19.
  20. ^"2018 Toyota/Save Mart 350".Racing-Reference.RetrievedJune 18,2018.
  21. ^"Trans Am Champion Tomy Drissi set to run the 00 in Sonoma".Jayski's Silly Season Site.ESPN.June 19, 2018.RetrievedJune 19,2018.
  22. ^"Tomy Drissi banned from Trans-Am for one full year".Motorsport.DeGroot, Nick. September 4, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 4,2015.
  23. ^"Francis wins Indy Trans Am; Drissi suspended again".Racer.June 17, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon August 8, 2017.RetrievedAugust 8,2017.
  24. ^"Tomy Drissi Reinstated by Trans Am".SpeedwayDigest.August 7, 2017.RetrievedAugust 8,2017.
  25. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  26. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  27. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  28. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  29. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  30. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  31. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  32. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  33. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
  34. ^"Tomy Drissi – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results".Racing-Reference.NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.RetrievedApril 3,2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by SCCATrans-Am Series Champion
2009 		Succeeded by
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