INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway paid tribute to a champion on Saturday.
Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner, two-time CART champion, and holder of the closed course speed record, died Dec. 29 after a reported heart attack while racing with his son in Florida.
The following day on Dec. 30, IMS lit up their scoring pylon with a tribute to de Ferran and as an opportunity for the racing world to continue to pay respects to their fallen friend.
Since upgrading the scoring pylon in 2014, IMS has paid tribute to several drivers and even promoted other local events in the Indianapolis community.
de Ferran made his IndyCar debut in 1995 driving for Hall/VDS Racing after finishing third in the 1994 International Formula 3000 series. After a difficult start to his rookie season, he ended '95 strong with a second-place finish in Vancouver before scoring his first IndyCar victory at the season finale race at Laguna Seca.
After leaving Hall/VDS Racing following the 1996 CART season, de Ferran moved to Walker Racing for 1997. Despite not winning a race, de Ferran finished second in points to champion Alex Zanardi.
After three full seasons with Walker Racing and only one victory, de Ferran moved to Penske Racing for the 2000 CART season. de Ferran proceeded to dominate the next two CART seasons, winning the 2000 and 2001 series titles.
On Oct. 28, 2000, de Ferran set the closed course speed record during qualifying for the California 500 at the now-defunct California Speedway in Fontana. de Ferran set an average speed of 241.428 mph. As of December 2023, the record has not been broken.
de Ferran made his return to the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 after having not entered the race since 1995 due to the then-ongoing war between CART and the Indy Racing League. He finished second to teammate Helio Castroneves, who won his first of four Indy 500s that day.
When team owner Roger Penske switched from the CART series to the rival IRL for 2002, de Ferran joined teammate Castroneves for his maiden IRL season. Wins at Pikes Peak and Gateway helped vault de Ferran into a third place finish in the championship for his first season in the IRL.
In 2003, de Ferran started strong, finishing second at the season-opening race in Homestead-Miami. However, during the following race at Phoenix, de Ferran broke his back during a crash and was forced to sit out the next race in Japan.
de Ferran returned from injury in May for the Indianapolis 500. He spoiled teammate Castroneves' chance at three-in-a-row by passing him in the closing laps to secure his first and only win at the Brickyard.
Having won two championships and now an Indy 500, de Ferran retired at the end of 2003, but went out on top, scoring a win in the season finale race at Texas that was called with six laps remaining after Kenny Bräck survived a horrifying accident in the final laps.
Following his retirement from IndyCar, de Ferran briefly worked as a broadcaster for ABC Sports' IndyCar coverage before returning to the cockpit in the American Le Mans Series with his own team, de Ferran Motorsports, in 2008.
After five wins, two runner-up finishes and a second-place finish in the in the 2009 ALMS championship, de Ferran Motorsports shut down after Acura ended their factory racing program.
de Ferran briefly returned to IndyCar racing as an owner in 2010, partnering with Jay Penske and Steve Luczo to form de Ferran Dragon Racing. The team ran driver Raphael Matos for the full season, but shut down at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
Most recently, de Ferran served in a multitude of different roles for McLaren's Formula 1 team. He was named sporting director in 2018, but left the team in 2021. McLaren brought de Ferran back in May 2023 in a consultant advisory role.