Duane Claude Carter Jr. (born June 11, 1950), nicknamed "Pancho," is an American former open-wheel racing driver. Best known for his participation in Championship car racing, he won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Carter made 17 career starts at the Indianapolis 500, winning rookie of the year in 1974 and had a best finish of third in the 1982 race. He scored one victory in Indy car racing, at the 1981 Michigan 500.

Racing career

Midget cars Carter's national career began while racing in a midget car. He won the 1972 USAC midget car championship. He won the 1972 and 1975 Hut Hundred. He had 23 midget car feature wins by the time he left the series in 1978.

Sprint cars Carter won the 1974 and 1976 national USAC sprint car championships. He was the first driver to win the two USAC championships – midgets and sprint cars. He has wins in three USAC divisions – midgets, sprints and Silver Crown (formerly known as dirt cars).

On May 30, 1977, Carter won two USAC Midget features, one USAC sprint feature and finished second in the second USAC sprint feature at Salem Speedway on a day the temperatures were near 100 degrees. This was one day after he finished fifteenth in the Indianapolis 500.

Carter ran well on dirt and pavement, but was exceptional on the paved high banks at Winchester and Salem, Indianapolis, and Dayton, Ohio. He won the Joe James/Pat O'Conner Memorial race at the half-mile at Salem, Indiana, on four consecutive occasions.

Carter was seriously injured during a testing crash at Phoenix International Speedway in November 1977. The injuries left him with a permanent disability in one of his legs that hampered his ability to perform well on road courses. He still ran very well on ovals. He made his return to racing at the end of March in 1978, winning a USAC Sprint race at the paved five-eighths mile Indianapolis Raceway Park on Saturday night and at the high-banked half-mile Winchester Speedway the next day – his first races back in the cockpit of a racecar.

Carter was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.

IndyCar

Carter drove his first Indianapolis 500 in 1974. He finished seventh, and was awarded the Rookie of the Year. In 1981 he finished third in the CART championship and captured his only Indy Car win at Michigan International Speedway. He finished third in the 1982 Indianapolis 500 behind the now-famous duel between Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears. In 1985, Carter drove the brand new Buick V6 engine to the pole position of the 1985 Indianapolis 500. He retired with mechanical problems after completing just six laps, becoming the first pole-sitter since Cliff Woodbury to finish dead-last. His last year as a full-time Indy Car driver was 1990 and his last appearance in an indy car was failing to qualify for the 1994 Indianapolis 500. In more recent years, Carter has served as a spotter for Sam Hornish Jr., Vítor Meira, Dillon Battistini, Dan Wheldon, Martin Plowman and Adrián Campos Jr. In 2019, he was the spotter for rookie Santino Ferrucci, who finished seventh, as the Rookie of the Year, at the Indianapolis 500. This was the same as Carter in his 500 debut.

NASCAR

From 1985 to 1995, Carter ran fourteen NASCAR Winston Cup Series races for multiple owners. His first start was at Darlington Raceway in 1985, which was the Southern 500. The race was best known for Bill Elliott locking up the Winston Million, Carter finished in 22nd. Carter began the 1986 season driving for Elmo Langley; at the 1986 Daytona 500, he and Kyle Petty were involved in a turn one accident, thus winding up in 34th place. After three races with Langley's team, he moved to driving for Roger Hamby, competing in six more races that year; he posted his best career NASCAR finish with Hamby, a seventeenth-place finish at the Michigan International Speedway. In 1990, he competed at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving for Paul Romine; he drove for Donlavey Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1992, and his final two races in Winston Cup competition came for Triad Motorsports at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994, where he tied his career-best finish, and Pocono Raceway in 1995.

In 1995, Carter also raced two Craftsman Truck Series races, driving for Enerjetix Motorsports.

Post-racing career Carter has worked as a coach and spotter for IndyCar drivers including Sam Hornish Jr. and David Malukas.

Personal life Duane "Pancho" Carter Jr. is the son of Indy car racer Duane Carter Sr. He was born while his parents were on the way to a race at the Milwaukee Mile. His father's nickname was "Pappy". Pappy referred to his wife's pregnancy as "little paunch," so they nicknamed the child Pancho.His biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Carter is the half-brother of Johnny Parsons. Their mother, Azra divorced Johnnie Parsons, and eventually remarried, to Duane Carter Sr.

Carter's full brother, Dana Carter, also raced in USAC midgets, sprints and Silver Crown. Dana qualified but was bumped at the 1979 Indianapolis 500. He returned in 1980, but suffered a crash in practice. After a sabbatical from racing, he was back behind the wheel in 1982. Dana died of a heart attack on May 6, 1983, the morning after finishing second in a USAC midget race at the Indianapolis Speedrome.

Carter is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. He is married, to Carla; they have two children, Dane and Cole, who spot for Paul Miller Racing's IMSA entries as well as for Andretti Autosport's Indy car and rally cross entries.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

USAC Champ Car/Gold Crown Series USAC Champ Car/Gold Crown results Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points 1974 Fletcher Racing ONT ONT ONT PHX TRE INDY MIL POC MCH MIL MCH TRE TRE PHX 12th 1040 1975 Fletcher Racing ONT ONT ONT PHX TRE INDY MIL POC MCH MIL MCH TRE PHX 9th 1345 1976 All American Racers PHX TRE INDY MIL POC MCH TWS TRE MIL ONT MCH TWS PHX 12th 920 1977 All American Racers ONT PHX TWS TRE INDY MIL POC MOS MCH TWS MIL ONT MCH 8th 1420 Alex Morales Motorsports PHX 1978 Fletcher Racing PHX ONT TWS TRE INDY MOS MIL POC MCH ATL TWS MIL ONT MCH TRE SIL BRH PHX 10th 1206 1979 Alex Morales Motorsports ONT TWS INDY MIL POC TWS MIL NC 0 1980 Alex Morales Motorsports ONT INDY MIL POC MOH 5th 1078 1981-82 Alex Morales Motorsports INDY POC ILL DUQ ISF INDY NC 0

PPG Indycar Series CART IndyCar World Series results Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref 1979 Alex Morales Motorsports PHX ATL ATL INDY TRE TRE MCH MCH WGL TRE ONT MCH ATL PHX 13th 452 1980 Alex Morales Motorsports ONT INDY MIL POC MOH MCH WGL MIL ONT MCH MEX PHX 5th 1855 1981 Alex Morales Motorsports PHX MIL ATL ATL MCH RIV MIL MCH WGL MEX PHX 3rd 166 1982 Alex Morales Motorsports PHX ATL MIL CLE MCH MIL POC RIV ROA MCH PHX 17th 47 1983 Alex Morales Motorsports ATL INDY MIL CLE MCH ROA POC RIV MOH MCH CPL LAG PHX 10th 53 1984 Galles Racing LBH PHX INDY MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MOH SAN MCH PHX LAG CPL 21st 22 1985 Galles Racing LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE MCH ROA POC MOH SAN MCH LAG PHX MIA 18th 33 1986 Galles Racing PHX LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC MOH SAN MCH ROA LAG PHX MIA 19th 28 1987 Machinists Union Racing LBH PHX INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MCH POC ROA MOH NAZ LAG MIA 25th 9 1988 Machinists Union Racing PHX LBH INDY MIL POR CLE TOR MEA MCH POC MOH ROA NAZ LAG MIA NC - 1989 Leader Card Racing PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH POC MOH ROA NAZ LAG 13th 18 1990 Leader Card Racing PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH DEN VAN MOH ROA NAZ LAG 20th 9 1991 Arciero Racing SRF LBH PHX INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR 26th 3 Leader Card Racing MCH DEN VAN MOH ROA NAZ LAG 1992 Hemelgarn Racing SRF PHX LBH INDY DET POR MIL 31st 2 Gilmore Racing NHA TOR MCH CLE ROA VAN MOH NAZ LAG 1994 McCormack Motorsports SRF PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH MOH NHA VAN ROA NAZ LAG NC -

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish 1974 Eagle Offy 21st 7th 1975 Eagle Offy 18th 4th 1976 Eagle Offy 6th 5th 1977 Eagle Offy 8th 15th 1978 Lightning Cosworth 21st 24th 1979 Lightning Cosworth 17th 20th 1980 Penske Cosworth 8th 6th 1981 Penske Cosworth 10th 28th 1982 March Cosworth 10th 3rd 1983 March Cosworth 14th 7th 1984 March Cosworth 21st 19th 1985 March Buick 1st 33rd 1986 Lola Cosworth 14th 16th 1987 March Cosworth 29th 27th 1988 March Buick Qualifying Crash 1989 Lola Cosworth 32nd 22nd 1990 Lola Cosworth 22nd 29th 1991 Lola Buick 32nd 21st 1992 Lola Buick Failed to Qualify 1994 Lola Chevrolet Failed to Qualify

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

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results 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 Pts Ref 1985 Ellington Racing 1 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 88th 97 1986 Langley Racing 64 Ford DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR 38th 706 Hamby Racing 17 Chevy TAL DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL RSD 1990 Romine Racing 29 Ford DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 90th 67 1992 Donlavey Racing 90 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 82nd 67 1994 Triad Motorsports 78 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 60th 112 1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL 63rd 58 Cave Motorsports IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1986 Langley Racing Ford 28 34

SuperTruck Series NASCAR SuperTruck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 1995 Enerjetix Motorsports 99 Chevy PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI MLW CNS HPT IRP FLM RCH MAR NWS SON MMR PHO 49th 349

References

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