Max Papis

About Max Papis

Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born October 3, 1969) is a racing driver from Como, Italy who has competed in several top-level motorsports series such as Formula One and Champ Car. In 2007 he drove the #36 car in the NASCAR Busch Series for McGill Motorsports following the release of Tim Sauter from the ride. Papis made his Sprint Cup Series debut at Infineon Raceway in 2008, piloting the #66 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet in place of regular driver Scott Riggs. He is also scheduled to drive the #64 car for Rusty Wallace, Inc. on three road course races in the 2008 Nationwide Series. Haas CNC Racing hired Papis to drive the #70 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the course at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup Series in August 2008.

Papis replaced Gianni Morbidelli in the Footwork team for seven races in the middle of the 1995 Formula One season, as he brought valuable sponsorship to the cash-strapped outfit. Despite being a race-winner in Formula 3000, he often struggled with the unfamiliar car, and was occasionally outpaced by his much-maligned team-mate, Taki Inoue. He also proved to be an unlucky driver, suffering a spectacular puncture and suspension failure on his début race at Silverstone, being left on the grid at Hockenheim due to a transmission failure, and spinning on dust and oil kicked up by David Coulthard at the Ascari Chicane on the first lap of the Italian GP, causing a pile-up and a restart. However, he only missed out on a point in the restarted race when he was overtaken by Jean-Christophe Bouillon's Sauber on the last lap. When Morbidelli returned, Papis was out of a drive and headed to America for 1996.

He moved to CART Champ Car racing in 1996 as a replacement for Jeff Krosnoff who was killed in the previous race in Toronto. In 1999 he joined the more competitive Rahal team, almost winning the US 500 before running out of fuel, and finishing 5th in the series. He broke his duck by winning the 2000 season-opener, but failed to finish in the championship top 10. In 2001 he won twice and finished 6th overall, but was dropped by the team, mainly due to two collisions with team-mate Kenny Bräck. He started 2002 with the Sigma team before they folded, and did a partial season with PK Racing in 2003, but has mostly concentrated on sportscars since 2001, infamously remarking that "Champ Car needs me more than I need it" as the series struggled to fill its grid for 2003 after many teams defected to the IRL. Max also raced in the 2002 and 2006 Indianapolis 500 races for Cheever Racing. He made his NASCAR debut, competing in the Busch Series race at Watkins Glen International Raceway in August 2006 for McGill Motorsports. He attempted to qualify for the NEXTEL Cup race but failed to make the race. He is also credited with having helped develop Toyota's Champ Car engine.