Tom Bagley

Tom Bagley in 2013

Tom Bagley (born December 3, 1939, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is a former driver in the USAC, CART Championship Car, IMSA, Formula Atlantic, and Trans-Am Series. He raced Indycars in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career starts, including the 1978-1980 Indianapolis 500,[1] finishing in the top ten 23 times, with a best finish, three times, of 4th position. He was USAC Rookie of the Year in 1978, and did not finish worse than 11th in points during his three full-time seasons. He did not begin wheel-to-wheel racing until age 31, after earning a master's degree in Physics from Pennsylvania State University.[2] While in college, Bagley became interested in fuel mileage competitions and then autocross, rising to the attention of Bill Scott, operator of the racing school at Summit Point Motorsports Park. Scott lent Bagley a Formula Ford car to begin his career. Bagley and Janet Guthrie were the only physicists to compete in Indycar in the 1970s. Bagley rose to fame driving Formula Super Vee cars, winning the SCCA championship in 1976, and was USAC co-champion in 1977. Bagley owned and maintained his own race cars in this part of his career. He next joined the Indycar ranks with sponsorship from Kent Oil, driving for Longhorn Racing and Patrick Racing. After retiring from racing full-time, Bagley worked as a physicist for longtime series sponsor PPG Industries, developing new methods for creating powder paints. From 2004 to 2020 he worked at Autobahn Country Club as the Director of Racing Instruction, responsible for designing the safety features at the track and overseeing the instruction, licensing, and racing activities.[3] Bagley still competes in club and endurance races in his Spec Miata and vintage events including the Indy Legends Charity Pro–Am race on occasion. Bagley was described by the SVRA in 2019 as a "driver who accomplished much with limited resources" and "the driver to beat in Formula Super Vee" [4]

## Contents

* 1 Racing record
* 1.1 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
* 1.2 Formula Super Vee
* 1.3 Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
* 1.4 Complete USAC Championship Car results
* 1.5 Indy 500 results
* 2 References
* 3 External links

## Racing record

### SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status

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1972 | Road Atlanta | Royale | Volkswagen | Formula Super Vee | 20 | 4 | Retired
1973 | Road Atlanta | Royale | Volkswagen | Formula Super Vee | 6 | 5 | Running

### Formula Super Vee

Year  | Team  | Chassis  | Engine  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | Rank  | Points

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1976  |  | Zinc Z11 | VW Brabham  | DAY
1 | POC
| NLG
1 | MOS
18 | WG1
25 | MDO
2 | BRN
1 | ROA
1 | WG2
1 | 1st | 115

Source:[5][6][7][8]

### Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year  | Entrant  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10  | Pos  | Points

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1977  | Tom Bagley  | TRE
1 | MIL
5 | MOS
1 | PIR
17 |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1 | 500
1978  |  | PIR1
3 | TRE1  | MOS  | MIL1  | TEX  | MIL2  | OMS1  | OMS2  | TRE2  | PIR2  | 19th | 140

### Complete USAC Championship Car results

Year  | Entrant  | Chassis  | Engine  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | 16  | 17  | 18  | Pos  | Points

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1978  |  |  |  | PHX
8 | ONT
17 | TXS
10 | TRE
12 | INDY
27 | MOS
17 | MIL
7 | POC
26 | MIC
12 | ATL
6 | TXS
16 | MIL
DNS | ONT
4 | MIC
6 | TRE
12 | SIL
13 | BRH
14 | PHX
14 | 11th  | 1.188
1979  | Longhorn Racing  | Penske  | Cosworth  | PHX
8 | ATL
8 | ATL
7 | INDY
9 | TRT
8 | TRT
4 | MIC
6 | MIC
6 | WGL
6 | TRT
7 | ONT
32 | MIC
5 | ATL  | PHX
9 |  | 8th  | 1.208
1980  | Patrick Racing  | Penske
Wildcat  | ONT
5 | INDY
28 | MIL
23 | POC
29 | MDO
DNS | MIC
8 | WGL
6 | MIL
4 | ONT
15 | MIC
8 | MXS
18 | PHX
16 |  | 11th  | 794
1983  |  |  |  | ATL  | INDY  | MIL  | CLE
DNQ | MIC  | ROA  | POC
34 | RIV  | MDO  | MIC  | CPL  | LAG  | PHX  |  | 60th  | 0

### Indy 500 results

Year  | Chassis  | Engine  | Start  | Finish

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1978  | Watson  | Offy  | 14th  | 27th
1979  | Penske  | Cosworth  | 15th  | 9th
1980  | Wildcat  | Cosworth  | 13th  | 28th
1981  | Lola  | Cosworth  | Failed to Qualify

## References

1. ↑ Utterback, Bill (1989) "His career ran out of gas, but memories keep going", Pittsburgh Press, October 16, 1989, retrieved 2010-10-03
2. ↑ "Tom Bagley – the Road Racing Drivers Club". http://www.rrdc.org/member/tom-bagley/.
3. ↑ "Autobahn Country Club - Member Site | Autobahn Staff". https://autobahnmembers.com/autobahn-staff/.
4. ↑ Staff, SPEED SPORT (2019-08-01). "Field Full For Indy Charity Pro-Am" (in en-US). https://speedsport.com/sports-cars/other-sports-cars/field-full-for-indy-charity-pro-am/.
5. ↑ Katz, Michael (21 December 1977). "Super Vee Race Driver Can See a Brass Ring". https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/21/archives/super-vee-race-driver-can-see-a-brass-ring.html.
6. ↑ "1976 SCCA U. S. Formula Super Vee Championship Tom Bagley - Champion". Champ Car Stats. https://www.champcarstats.com/vee/year/1976.htm.
7. ↑ "Tom Bagley Racing highlights". Driver Data Base. https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/tom-bagley/.
8. ↑ "Formula Super Vee". Autosport. https://forums.autosport.com/topic/38270-formula-super-vee/.

## External links

Preceded by
Eddie Miller |  US Formula Super Vee
Champion
1976  | Succeeded by
Bob Lazier

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Preceded by
none |  USAC Mini-Indy Series
Champion
1977  | Succeeded by
Bill Alsup
Preceded by
Danny Ongais |  USAC Rookie of the Year
1978  | Succeeded by
Howdy Holmes

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