From Orlando karting and Barber Dodge to the Kelley Racing years and a fatal test at Indianapolis in October 2003.
Tony Renna was an American racing driver whose career ran from karting to Indy Lights and the IRL. He died in a crash during a test at Indianapolis in October 2003, shortly after signing to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Tony Renna was an American open-wheel driver who rose from karting to Indy Lights and the Indy Racing League. He was killed on October 22, 2003, during a private tyre test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his first on-track outing for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Who was Tony Renna?
Anthony James Renna came into the world on November 23, 1976, in Victorville, California. Between 1998 and 2003 his racing spanned Indy Lights and the IRL.
His career was built on early success. Before he turned fifteen he had collected 252 victories and two national quarter-midget titles, and he moved into car racing at 16 after a childhood in karts and sprint cars.
A karting champion who reached the IRL, killed in a private test, and remembered through a fund and a renamed award.
How did a karting child become a racer?
Renna began go-kart racing in Orlando at the age of six. On Friday nights he raced at Horsemen's Park in Ocoee, sharpening his skills at tracks around central Florida, and a former driver, Ralph Liguori, taught him.
His heroes were Rick Mears and Al Unser Jr., and his goal was a Team Penske seat. He tried everything from a quarter-midget to a micro-sprint, with a motocross bike in between. His father built and maintained the machinery and acted as his crew chief, his mother timed his laps, and one of his sisters changed tyres.
What did his Formula Ford and Formula Three years look like?
At 16 Renna competed in the Skip Barber Formula Ford series in 1993, a season that yielded a single victory and seven top-three finishes, good enough for tenth in points. The next year brought eight wins, three second places and the series championship.
In 1995 an opportunity in Europe opened up through Racing for America, and Renna drove six British Formula Three races for West Surrey Racing. He won a category at Pembrey that was later nullified for an infraction, and he finished the British programme with three pole positions and three podiums.
The European season was costly, and the family budget was strained by Barber Dodge entries in the same year.
How did the Barber Dodge and Indy Lights years go?
Renna returned to the United States in 1996 with a depleted budget. He finished seventh in the Barber Dodge Pro Series with 105 points, earning Rookie of the Year honours, and he won a Skip Barber scholarship. The Team USA Scholarship took him to Donington Park, where the EFDA Nations Cup brought a silver medal shared with Jerry Nadeau.
| Year | Series | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Skip Barber Formula Ford | - | Tenth in points, one win |
| 1995 | British Formula Three | West Surrey Racing | Three poles and three podiums |
| 1996 | Barber Dodge Pro Series | Mondiale car | Seventh with 105 points, Rookie of the Year |
| 1997 | Barber Dodge Pro Series | - | Tenth with 54 points |
| 1998 | Indy Lights | Mattco Raceworks | Eighth with 68 points, a win at Michigan |
| 2000 | Indy Lights | PacWest Racing | Fifth with 105 points |
| 2002 | Indy Racing League | Kelley Racing | 24th with 121 points |
| 2003 | IndyCar Series | - | Seventh at the Indianapolis 500 |
In the 1997 Barber Dodge series he entered eight races, with three podiums and two poles. Those results came just before Mattco Raceworks hired him for 1998.
The Mattco contract followed in September 1997, when the team's founder, Matt Cohen, hired him for the Indy Lights season ahead.
What happened at PacWest Racing?
In April 1999 CART banned Mattco Raceworks from its series for a year after illegal engine changes were found in team-mate Mark Hotchkis's car. Renna was still under contract to Mattco, so he looked for work in NASCAR's Busch and Truck series before the PacWest route opened up.
Word reached PacWest through Jeremy Shaw, a motor-racing writer, and through the Team USA Scholarship, and PacWest gave him a partial 1999 Indy Lights schedule and a place helping its CART side with testing and development. He finished sixteenth in the championship that year.
A five-year deal followed in late October 1999, and he went back to PacWest for the 2000 Indy Lights season. He changed his car number to 18 and reached the top ten in every round except two, which ended in retirements, before finishing fifth in the championship with 105 points.
The following year an agreement for him to drive PacWest's CART car collapsed, and PacWest let him go from its Indy Lights operation. He spent much of 2001 seeking work, visiting garages, writing letters and networking within the IRL, while teaching at a driving academy in Las Vegas.
Through 2001 he kept racing in a smaller way, competing each week in NASCAR late model events for Dick Cobb at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
What did the Kelley Racing years bring?
Tom Kelley, the team owner, and Jim Freudenberg, the general manager, had met Renna in 2000, and he signed with the team in May 2002. He was employed as its IRL test driver, which meant curtailing his stock car driving to concentrate on the job.
Around mid-2002, his business manager and he proposed that he coach the actor Jason Priestley, who was in the Infiniti Pro Series that year. Kelley Racing agreed, and He also spotted for Priestley, and the pair grew close.
He listened to radio traffic from Al Unser Jr. during races and acted as his spotter. When Unser entered rehabilitation in July 2002, Renna filled in for two events because the team liked his enthusiasm, and he passed an IRL-sanctioned rookie test at Texas Motor Speedway under the eye of Johnny Rutherford.
His first two starts in Kelley's No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet brought back-to-back top tens at Nashville and Michigan. When Unser returned, the team expanded to three cars, and Renna switched his number to 78 and finished 24th overall with 121 points.
What was 2003 like for Renna?
A budget cut at Kelley Racing after the 2002 season reduced the team to two cars, and Renna lost his race seat. He stayed with the team in a non-driving role, while sponsorship difficulties restricted him mainly to test driving.
His only 2003 outing in the IndyCar Series was the Indianapolis 500. Starting eighth, he finished seventh, and Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi Racing's managing director, reportedly told the owner that Renna was a driver worth watching.
In October 2003 Ganassi offered Renna a seat for 2004 in place of Tomas Scheckter, who had moved to Panther Racing, with Scott Dixon as his team-mate. Renna accepted, and Tom Kelley let him leave on October 1 because he could not guarantee a 2004 drive.
What happened on October 22, 2003?
His first run for Chip Ganassi Racing came in a private Firestone tyre test at the Indianapolis track on October 22. The track and the tyres were cold, and he was driving the team's No. 10 G-Force-Toyota.
Chip Ganassi Racing had signed him for 2004, so the test was a first chance to work with the team on track.
The offer followed his seventh-place finish at Indianapolis earlier that year, and it came from a team that had watched his performance closely.
On lap four he went into turn three off the usual line, at a speed of 227 mph (365 km/h), and he lost control of the car shortly afterwards.
Officials at the scene were unable to restart his heart, and he was taken to a hospital nearby, where he was pronounced dead at 9:43 local time. No one else was injured.
The session was closed to the media and public, which meant the record of the crash had to be built from the team, the officials and the car itself.
What did the investigation find?
The Indy Racing League began an investigation the week after the crash, involving officials from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chip Ganassi Racing and Firestone. Because the test was private, there were no eyewitnesses, photographs or video of the accident.
The car was impounded, and its black box was so badly damaged that officials could not download the data on site, so it was sent to the manufacturer in the United Kingdom. The results were released on December 19, 2003, and the investigation had taken longer because the session was private.
The report did not reach a full conclusion about the cause. It noted that many unknown possibilities could have played a part, and its main focus was the car lifting into the air. The IRL also concluded that the spectator fences had worked as designed.
What changed in the IRL afterwards?
He was the first IRL death since Scott Brayton, killed in practice for the 1996 Indianapolis 500. He was also the first US open-wheel death since Greg Moore, who was killed at California Speedway in 1999.
A consequence of his death, and of several major crashes in 2003, was a set of IRL rules from the 2004 Indianapolis 500 on. The aim was to reduce power by about ten percent, roughly 100 hp, and cut speeds by around 10 mph (16 km/h). Engines went from 3.5 L down to 3.0 L, and the bodywork was reshaped to stop cars taking off.
How has his memory been kept alive?
Those who knew him spoke of a quiet, tender-hearted and benevolent man, and the press had already begun to describe him as a rising star of motor racing.
A memorial service was held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on October 27, and a second service followed four days later in DeLand, Florida, at St. Peter's, drawing 400 people. Darren Manning took his seat at the team.
A memorial fund was set up in Michigan to carry on his work of caring for others. Donations raised through it go to Autism Speaks, Team USA Scholarship and Surfrider Foundation.
The series gave his name to its Rising Star Award in 2004, and the honour goes to an up-and-coming IndyCar Series driver. In 2013, on the tenth anniversary of his death, his protege Patrick Long wore a helmet design in his honour.
