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Randy Owens limited edition serigraph of the 1995
Scandia Motorsports 12 Hours of Sebring winning Ferrari 333SP. (Image source:
randyowens.com)
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Team info
Name: Team Scandia
Owner: Andy Evans
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Years: 1996-99
Wins: 1
Andy Evans, whom first shot onto the racing
scene B-I-G' TIME in the Mid-1990's when his Scandia Motorsports squad racing la
Scuderia's iconic (Ferrari) 333SP Sports Car won the 12 Hours of Sebring twice,
first in 1995 with Fermin Velez, Andy Evans and Eric Van de Pole. And then
again in 1997 with "Stevie Johnson," aka Stefan Johansson, Yannick
Dalmas, Velez and Evans at the controls.
Alas, being a Gynormous Fan 'O those blood
red la Scuderia 333's, I just so happen to have a '95 winners autographed Randy
Owens serigraph hanging on Thy wall of said Sebring victory!
As Mr. Evans and his wife Ann Llewellyn,
whom both spent time in prison for fraud... Made their fortunes as somebody
known as William H Gates personal advisers. Yeah, as in Bill Gates of Microsoft
fame! As the Evans ran a financial
services company called Dominion Income Management in the 1980's with
Evans having Power of Attorney privileges before a new firm called Cascade
Investment took over from the Evans...
And Hard Core Sports Cars Aficionados will
recognize the name Evans, whom along with ex-Reebok executive Roberto Muller, bought IMSA from Charles Slater in '96,
promptly renaming it Professional Sports Car Racing (PSCR) before selling it to
Don Panoz in 2001 who turned it into the American Le Mans Series!
Intriguingly to Mwah, if I've done my
homework correctly? I've now stumbled into thee fact that apparently both
Bayside Motorsports - the aforementioned Bayside Disposal Racing enterprise of
Bruce Leven and Mr. Evans original racing team Scandia Motorsports both occupied
the same industrial building on Willows Road in Redmond, WA - which now appears
to be occupied by the HVAC firm
Universal Mechanical Service.
And even stranger yet are the few reports of
Scandia Motorsports having been an EPA Superfund site in 1985! Which also lists
Bayside for tanks leaking hazardous waste, albeit they were reportedly
installed in the early 1960's...
Meanwhile, longtime IndyCar team owner Dick
Simon apparently saw a good opportunity to get out of the Rat Race and sell his
perpetually midfield running operation to the aforementioned Evans, with the
pair making history by entering the most Indy Cars of all by a single entrant
for the infamous 80th Indianapolis 500.
Y'all know, when somebody named TG' (Tony
George) concocted the ruinous 25-8 rule for his Indy Racing League competitors.
Having also
labouriously chronicled the most car entrants during the Sport's Golden era in;
Drivers
(Years/Name/Country)
1996-97 Michele Alboreto; Italy
1996 Racin Gardner; USA
1996 Joe
Gosek; USA
1996-97 Michele Jourdain, Jr;
Mexico
1996-97 Eliseo Salazar; Chile
1996 Lyn St James; USA
1996-97 Fermin Velez; Spain
1996-97 Alessandro
Zampedri; Italy
1997 Affonso
Giaffone; Brazil
1997 Marco Greco; Brazil
1997 Stefan Gregoire; France
1997-98 Jimmy Kite; USA
1997 Vincenzo Sospiri; Italy
1998 Billy Roe; USA
1999 Jim Guthrie; USA
As Y'all can S-E-E! Team Scandia's Driver
Roll is Humongous! Hence I won't even try chronicling A-L-L of these drivers,
which includes two ex-Formula 1 Pilotes' amongst its lineup.
Some were longtime Dick Simon Racing drivers,
notably Femme Fatale Lyn St James, and others are known for sniffing round
Mother Speedway, most notably whom I've met and been told is sometimes called
"Steven George," aka Stefan Gregoire.
Like I said, I've met Monsieur Gregoire
during past Legends Day autograph sessions, where I've also obtained Greasy 'Ol
Salad Bar', nee Eliseo
Salazar (twice) and the ultra Hip 'N Hilarious Billy
Roe, who asked me, as Yuhs may know? A visually impaired; Ok Mary Ellen, a
FREAKIN' BLIND 'Vurd Botchier How many fingers am I holding up; Hya!
And NO! Billy
assured Mwah he wasn't tellin' me I'm Number-1 or giving me a Will Power Double
Byrd Salute; Hooah!
Interestingly, I've Karmically collected one-third
of Thy Team Scandia's Alumni's John Hancock's at Mother Speedway during the
three Legends Day's outings I've attended, which I've chronicled previously,
whilst not counting Velez's autograph which is separate.
Team Scandia Drivers Autographs
Affonso Giaffone, Joe Gosek, Stefan
Gregoire, Billy Roe and Eliseo
Salazar.
Entertainingly, Eliseo Salazar was the only
driver to ever win for the team, after having begun life Across Thy Pond
climbing the European single seater ladder, ultimately finding his way to
Formula 1 in 1981.
There he drove for several teams, making his
debut at the USGP West, i.e.; Long Beach for March before later switching to
Ensign, scoring his debutant F1 point with a sixth place finish at Zandvoort.
For '82 Eliseo moved to ATS where his 15
minutes 'O Fame came not from finishing fifth at San Marino, but instead for
becoming Nelson Piquet's punching bag! Next Salazar drove for the beleaguered
RAM F1 outfit in '83 before Chile experienced financial crisis causing him to
leave Formula 1 assumedly due to lack of finances.
Funny, but I've never bothered checking out
Eliseo's CV before, and thus was totally unawares' that after languishing in F3000
and South American F3, the Chilean had joined Tom Walkinshaw's Top Banana Silk
Cut Jaguar Sports Car team where he almost won Le Mans before relinquishing his
seat to eventual winner Martin Brundle!
After a few year's in Thy Wilderness as a TV
Host, Eliseo got called to join the Momo Ferrari 333SP Sports Car team racing
in the World Sports Car Racing programme, (WSCR) ironically with the series
being owned by his future boss.
His driving in the Ferrari was impressive
enough to land him a deal with Dick Simon for the 1995 IndyCar season, where
he'd stay put thru both the team's ownership change and Open Wheel Racing
series defection to the rival Indy Racing League.
Eliseo enjoyed the glitz of spraying
champagne in Sin City, winning the '97 Las Vegas 500 IRL race, his crowning
achievement in Indy Cars, along with a career best third place finish at Mother
Speedway in 2000, finishing behind somebody named Montoyer' (Juan Montoya) and
Buddy Lazier that day driving for 'Ol SuperTex, aka A.J. Foyt - whom he drove
for two-plus seasons. (2000-02)
As I'd NO idea that Salazar was so proficient
at Thy Speedway, where he recorded four Top-10 finishes, including two Top-5's
along with starting on the outside of Row-1 (third) twice before a testing
accident at Indianapolis led him to elect to retire from IndyCar racing in '02.
Yet my two favourite memories of thee Chilean
are from some misadventures forever enduring Salazar to his fellow competitors,
with the first being the aforementioned Punch Up with Piquet who was furious
with Salazar collecting him whilst leading the '82 German Grand Prix!
(For which links to both the story and
corresponding YouTube video are included in the Tres Legenditoes story link
above...)
The second is even more hilarious, since it
included his then Team Boss! When Salazar drove past without stopping for Robby
Dirtman Gourdouns' (Gordon) stricken Humdinger'; Err Hummer during the 2011 Dakar
Rally; OOPSADAISY!
