Drivers A - Z
J

Jean-Pierre Jabouille
1942Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers.

Lewis Jackson
0 - 1916Lewis Jackson was the first American to die in an international Grand Prix. He lost control of his Marmon and crashed into a tree on the Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, killing himself and three spectators.

Jimmy Jackson
1910 - 1984American racing driver who finished 2nd in the Indy 500 in 1946, his first Indy and the first running of the race after the war.

Bruce Jacobi
1935 - 1987Former Indy driver who died in 1987 as a result of injuries sustained in qualifying for the Daytona 500 in 1983.

John James
1914 - 2002John James was a keen amateur who first raced at Brooklands before WWII. After the war he returned to competition and entered the British Grand Prix in 1951 with the ex-Reg Parnell Maserati 4CLT/48.

Joe James
1925 - 1952Joe James raced in the Indy 500 twice. In 1951 he retired after just eight laps with a broken driveshaft and in 1952 driving a Kurtis Kraft 4000 Offy he finished 13th. He was killed in a crash at the San Jose Speedway.

Peter Janson
1935A true extrovert, Captain Peter Janson in an international socialite and was at one time a touring car racer. A bearded Wodehousian figure in a brocaded red velvet smoking jacket, he is a fan of foxhunting and friend of Prince Charles.

Jean-Pierre Jarier
1946Jean-Pierre raced in 134 GPs between 1973 to 1983 without a win. He was at the top of his game in with Shadows in the mid 70s and almost won the Brazilian Grand prix in 1975 but a faulty fuel gauge caused his retirement.

Jason Jarrett
1975Jason Jarrett races in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. His father, Dale, and grandfather Ned were both NASCAR champions. Jason attempted to follow in their footsteps with sporadic attempts in NASCAR.

Dale Jarrett
1956Son of the racing legend and two-time NASCAR Grand National champion Ned Jarrett and the father of former Busch Series racer Jason Jarrett, Dale currently races in the NASCAR Nextel Cup. He was the 1999 Winston Cup Champion.

Webb Jay
1870 - 1952Raced a White Steamer nicknamed Whistling Billy which achieved speeds in excess of 74 mph. Retired to Florida on the proceeds of an invention.

Axcil Jefferies
1994Axcil Jefferies is a Zimbabwean drived currently based in the United Arab Emirates. He is the Current Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East Champion, Vice European Champion and is occupying the role of a Senior Race Driver Instructor at Yas Marina Circuit.

Emil Jellinek
1853 - 1918Jellinek was consul general of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Nice and one of the first to be interested in automobiles in Austria. Advisor to Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Untertuerkheim, Germany), he had important influence on the production of new motor vehicles. He proposed the name Mercedes as the brand name of the Daimler cars, after the name of his daughter Mercedes Jellinek.

Camille Jenatzy
1869 - 1913Famous for setting land speed records including the first over 100 mph, the Red Devil was shot by his friends when a practical joke went very wrong.

Ab Jenkins
1883 - 1956Jenkins was mayor of Salt Lake City from 1940 to 1944 and is regarded as the father of the Bonneville Salt Flats as a record breaking venue. He started racing motorcycles on dirt tracks before he became interested in long distance and land speed records.

Denis Jenkinson
1920 - 1996A legendary motoring journalist who famously navigated for Stirling Moss when he won the 1955 Mille Miglia.

Reinhold Joest
1937A great sports car driver, Joest won a number of major races including the 24 Hour race at Daytona before becoming a successful team owner, winning Le Mans seven times.

Stefan Johansson
1956Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number of categories, including CART, various kinds of Sports car racing and Grand Prix Masters.

Nolan Johncock
1930 - 1971Nolan, a cousin of Gordon Johncock, raced most of the Michigan race tracks. In 1961 he won 40 feature races along with the Tri-State championship. He was fatally injured at Sandusky Speedway in 1971.

Gordon Johncock
1937Gordon Johncock is best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail.

Bobby Johns
1934Raced in NASCAR and in 1964 became the first NASCAR driver to turn a competetive lap at Indy. He nearly won the 1960 Daytona 500 but did take two other wins in his career.

Eddie Johnson
1910 - 1974Great midget racer with a long career at Indy. Died in a plane crash in 1974.

Robert Glenn Johnson
1931 - 2019If ever there was a driver that deserved the adjective of 'legend' it is Junior Johnson. In 1998 he was named the greatest NASCAR driver of all time by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Luther Johnson
1903 - 1978Luther Johnson was a mechanic and test driver at Studebaker. He raced Studebaker stockcars quite successfully and also raced at Indy in the 500 three times.

Bruce Johnstone
1937Bruce was the one of the best drivers in South Africa at the end of the Fifties and the beginning of the Sixties.

Alan Jones
1946Jones was a straight-talking, iron-willed, hard-driving Australian, who fought his way to the top of F1, where he defended his territory with ruthless determination and large doses of intimidation.

Pee Wee Jones
1928 - 2008Pee Wee Jones was one of the original members of NASCAR when it was formed in 1949 by Bill France and ran in the old convertible series for a short time.

Tom Jones
1943 - 2015Once considered one of Formula One's more obscure drivers, Tom Jones entered his own Cooper T82 in one Formula One race, the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix. He raced on and off throughout the 1970s in various series before retiring in 1980.

Roy Jones
1970Roy Jones is a racing driver who has competed in NASCAR and sprint cars. He currently runs in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series.

Parnelli Jones
1933Rufus "Parnelli" Jones is an American racing driver who won the 1963 Indianapolis 500. In his career, Parnelli Jones won races in sports cars, Indycars, sprint cars, midget cars, off-road vehicles, and stock cars. He has two sons who are also professional drivers: P.J. Jones and Page Jones.

Parnelli Jones Jr
1969PJ Jones, son of 1963 Indianapolis 500 winner Parnelli Jones. He won the 1993 Daytona 24 hour race and was runner up in the Driver's Championship. Now driving in the IRL Series.

Peter Jopp
1928 - 2008Peter Munro Jopp was a highly entertaining character and a very good driver. A leading light in Cliff Davis' legendary 'Filth Nights' in the early 1960s, he was also a great friend of Graham Hill.

Carl Jörns
1875 - 1969Carl Jörns started racing bicycles, winning the European Championships in 1896. He races for Opel from 1903 until 1926 winning 288 races.

Michael Jourdain
1947Father of Michael Jourdain Jr, Michael Jourdain raced in the Champ Car rounds in Mexico in 1980 and 1981.

Michel Jourdain Jr.
1976Son of former racer Michel Jourdain, who competed in the Mexico City Champ Car races of 1980 and 81, and the nephew of Bernard Jourdain, the 1989 Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year.

Juan Jover
1903 - 1960Spanish driver who raced single-seaters and sports cars in Grand Prix and endurance races. Died driving between Sitges to Barcelona when his car went off a cliff.

John Judd
1942Engine Developments Ltd was founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Engine Developments was intended to build engines for Brabham's racing efforts, and became one of the first firms authorised by Cosworth to maintain and rebuild its DFV engines, but has since expanded into various areas of motorsport.
Judd has provided engines for many major series, including Formula One and other smaller formula series, sports car racing, and touring car racing. They have been associated with manufacturers such as Yamaha, MG, and Honda, although they have mainly been a privateer-engine supplier.

Henri Julien
1927Henri Julien was a driver who also built racing cars during the 60s. He founded the AGS opperation in 1968, moving up to F1 in 1986. He sold the company in 1988.

Elizabeth Junek
1900 - 1994Regarded as one of the greatest female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history. However with communist rule in Czechoslovakia she was largely forgotten by the motor racing world until recently. She nearly won the 1928 Targa Florio in her Type 35B Bugatti but rocks mysteriously appeared in front of her on the second lap.