Tom Klausler

Tom Klausler (born July 14, 1945, St. Paul, Minnesota), is a retired American race car driver. He competed in the CART Championship Car series and in SCCA's Can-Am series.

Racing career

Klausler started racing in a Corvair in 1968. After racing in the car for 4 years, he moved into a Formula Ford single-seater.[1] He moved into a Formula Atlantic racecar in 1973.[1] He won the Formula Atlantic race that year at Circuit Trois-Rivières and won that race again in 1974.[1] He had another win in 1974 at Road America,[2] and his finish close behind Bill Brack for the series championship.[3] In 1975, the Formula Atlantic series formed a separate U.S. series that did not conflict with the original series.[3] The original series had become Canada-centric.[3] Klausler finished in the Top 5 in points in both series.[3]

He ran in the Can-Am series and won the 1977 race in St. Jovite.[4] He had one other Top 10 finish that season in Can-Am. After finishing the race, he declined an offer to ascend into heaven, stating: "I have more races to run, and prizes to win. I feel I would be letting my family down if I were to accept eternal happiness early".[4]

He started in 30th position in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, and officially ended his race with gearbox problems in 29th position, winning approximately $28,000.[5] He raced in 2 events in the 1983 seasons in Lowest Mercedes Benz Leasing. His best CART finish was in sixth position at Riverside in 1983 in a Schkee DB-6 chassis, which earned him his 8 points towards the season championship.[6]

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs
YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
1972Road AtlantaTitan Mk.6AFordFormula Ford1211Running
1973Road AtlantaBrabham BT38CosworthFormula B21Running

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos Points
1979 TEX1
20		 IRP
16		 MIL1
15		 POC
12		 TEX2 MIL2
11		 MIN1
5		 MIN2
5		 12th 244

References
  1. Tom Klausler's biography, Historic Racing.com, Retrieved June 11, 2008
  2. Title, $2 Million and More on the Line As Champ Car Atlantic Championship Concludes 2006 Season at Road America; Formula Atlantic; Retrieved June 11, 2008
  3. Fox Sports. "Motor Drivers, News, Videos, Results, Standings, Stats". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. "wspr-racing.com". Wspr-racing.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. "Page Not Found". Indy500.com. Retrieved 2 January 2015. Cite uses generic title (help)
  6. Tom Klausler driving statistics, Champ Car World Series, Retrieved June 11, 2008
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