José Guillermo "Memo" Gidley (born September 29, 1970) is a Mexican and American racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1999 to 2004 and Daytona Prototypes from 2005 to 2014.

Gidley worked at the Jim Russell Racing School as a mechanic to fund his career for some time, eventually getting a chance in CART with Walker Racing in 1999 as a short-term replacement. Gidley joined Chip Ganassi Racing in mid-2001. He nearly took victory at Cleveland and, despite a serious crash at Road America, finished the season with two more podiums. He nearly retained his drive for 2002 — Ganassi later opted to keep Bruno Junqueira instead.

Gidley primarily raced sports cars then, but he made two Champ Car starts for Rocketsports in 2004 and briefly ran in the rival IRL series. In 2005, he competed full-time in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, co-driving with Michael McDowell to victory in the Mexico City season finale. He then raced the Team Playboy cars, partnered Max Angelelli at SunTrust Racing, and spent three seasons at Doran. In the 2010 American Le Mans Series, Gidley co-drove CytoSport's Porsche RS Spyder with Klaus Graf and Sascha Maassen to second in LMP1 at Laguna Seca.

During the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona, Gidley suffered serious injuries when his Corvette DP slammed into the back of a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Matteo Malucelli. Malucelli's car had lost power and rolled to a near stop on the track when Gidley hit him at approximately . Gidley was taken by ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed him with a broken back, injuries to his left arm and leg, and a concussion. Gidley underwent three surgeries before being released from the hospital 11 days after the accident. After five further surgeries and three years of recovering from his injuries, Gidley made his return to racing in September 2017.

In 2022, Gidley drove a Duqueine D-08 LMP3 full-time in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, and won at Mid-Ohio en route to runner-up honours. Gidley raced in GT America Series in 2023, and won the SRO3 (GT3) championship with 8 wins. In the 2025–26 Asian Le Mans Series at Abu Dhabi, Gidley suffered another major crash after the Ferrari he was driving was clipped by Michael Jensen's LMP2. He was unharmed.

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing results (key)

Complete USF2000 National Championship results Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Points 1995 Cape Motorsports PIR146 PIR2 IRP RIR WGI43 MOH1 NHS ATL1 ATL2 MOH1 2nd 196

Atlantic Championship Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points 1997 Lynx RacingHMSLBHNAZMILMTLCLETORTRRMOHROAVANLS 2nd 136 1998 Lynx RacingLBHNAZGATMILMTLCLETORTRRMOHROAVANLSHOU 3rd 134

CART/Champ Car World Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref 1999 Walker Racing 15 Reynard 99i Honda HRS V8tMIAMOTLBHNZRRIOSTLMILPORCLEROATORMIC 27th 4 Payton/Coyne Racing 71 Lola B99/00 Ford XD V8tDETMOHCHIVANLSHOUSRFFON 2000 Player's Forsythe Racing 32 Reynard 2Ki Ford XF V8tMIALBHRIOMOTNZRMILDETPORCLETOR 20th 20 Della Penna Motorsports 10 Toyota RV8E V8tMICCHIMOHROAVANLSSTLHOUSRFFON 2001 Chip Ganassi Racing 12 Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8F V8tMTYLBHTXSNZRMOTMILDETPORCLETORMICCHIMOHROAVANLAUROCHOULSSRFFON 17th 65 2004 Rocketsports 17 Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8tLBHMTYMILPORCLETORVANROADENMTLLSLVSSRFMXC 21st 15^

^ New points system implemented in 2004

Indy Racing League Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points Ref 2000 Team Pelfrey 82 Dallara IR-00 Oldsmobile Aurora V8WDWPHXLVSINDYDNQTXSPPIRATLKTYTX2 NC - 2001 Brayton Racing 61 Dallara IR-01PHXHMSATLINDYTXSPPIRRIRKANNSHKTYSTLCHITX2 NC - 2002 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 24 G-Force GF05C Infiniti VRH35ADE V8HMSPHXFONNZR 46th 9 Duesenberg Brothers Racing 32 Dallara IR-02 Chevrolet Indy V8INDYTXSPPIRRIRKANNSHMISKTYSTLCHITX2

Indy 500 results Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 2000 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ Team Pelfrey 2001 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ Brayton Racing 2002 Dallara Chevrolet DNQ Duesenberg Brothers Racing

Complete American Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 1999 Panoz Motor Sports LMP Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S Ford (Élan-Yates) 6.0 L V8 SEB ATL MOS SON POR PETovr:5cls:5 MON LSV 63rd 15 2006 Highcroft Racing LMP1 MG-Lola EX257 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 SEB TEX MID LIM UTA POR AME MOS PETovr:3cls:3 MON 20th 19 2007 Team Cytosport LMP1 Lola B06/10 AER P32T 4.0L Turbo V8 SEB STP LNB TEX UTA LIM MID AME MOS DET PETovr:14cls:3 MON 20th 19 2010 Muscle Milk Team CytoSport LMP Porsche RS Spyder Evo Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 SEB LNB MONovr:2cls:2 UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET NC - 2012 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 SEBovr:42cls:5LNBovr:4cls:2MONovr:6cls:4LIMMOSMIDAMEBALVIRPET 12th 40

* Season still in progress.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class) Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank PointsRef 2014 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing P Riley Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY SEB LBH LAG DET WGL MOS IMS ROA COA PET 56th 14Source:

References

External links

http://memogidley.com/