James Alan Crawford (13 February 1948 in Dunfermline, Fife – 6 August 2002 in Tierra Verde, Florida, United States) was a Scottish racing driver. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born in Fifeshire, Scotland, Jim Crawford’s early racing saw him in a Mini in a number of rallies, and Formula Ford. He worked as a mechanic in Formula Atlantic in 1972 and then was offered a drive in a works Chevron in 1973. There were two series running in 1974, one backed by John Player and the other by Southern Organs and Jim won the Southern Organs series. Racing Fred Opert’s Chevron B27 he won the last two races, including a double-points final race, and won the title from series-leader Alan Jones.
His performances led to him being offered a test contract with Lotus and two GP races for them in Britain and Italy, plus during that year he was runner-up in the Atlantic series.
An expected F2 drive in 1976 did not happen but he contested the ShellSport Group 8 European Championship, finishing fifth at Oulton Park in Peter Williams Chevron B29, followed by eighth at Brands Hatch in Marshall Winfield’s Chevron B34.
There were also some F3 races during this time and then came a return to Formula Atlantic in 1979. 1980 saw him racing in the British F1 Championship, with Plygrange Racing’s Chevron, and he won at Oulton Park, took third at Mallory Park plus fourth places at Mallory Park, Snetterton and Oulton Park. In European F2 that year he drove a Plygrange Racing Chevron B45 for two races, finishing tenth at Zolder though retired at Silverstone.
After a season in F2 in 1981 he moved to race in America, and would go on to compete in 1983 and 1984 in Can-Am and from there into Indy Car racing.
Racing an Ensign N180B in 1983’s Can-Am Challenge, in a season long battle against Jaques Villeneuve Sr, he won at Lime Rock and Mosport, plus took second place finishes at Mosport Park, Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières and Sears Point, though finished runner up. 1984 saw a battle between him and Michael Roe but despite victories at Road Atlanta, Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières and Green Valley Raceway (Texas) plus second places at Mosport Park, Dallas, Lime Rock, Sears Point and Riverside, he finished second again.
Besides his eight Indianapolis 500 starts he had a number of drives in 1984-85, starting in 1984 with Ed Wach’s United Breweries sponsored Theodore T83-3 at Long Beach (finishing fourth on his debut)and Meadowlands (New Jersey) plus raced at Laguna Seca with H&R Racing’s March.
In 1985 he drove a Wysard Racing Lola at Long Beach, Milwaukee, Meadowlands, Cleveland, with his best result being a fourth place finish again at Long Beach. During the year there were also races at Phoenix and Miami for Pace Racing plus a drive with the Canadian Tire Racing team at Montreal.
Unfortunately during qualifying for 1987’s Indy 500 he hit the wall with terrific force and sustained leg injuries that took almost a year to recover from. He returned for 1988’s Indy 500 and was a last-minute addition to the King Racing team, joining just prior to opening day. At the time he was still recovering from his leg injuries and during the month walked with the aid of a cane. Driving a year-old Buick Lola, he started well from row nine and had worked his way up to second before lap 90. A few laps later the yellow flag came out as a beer can was found on the track and after race leader Danny Sullivan pitted, Jim was leading the field when the race went green again. He remained in front but a caution period cut his lead and after pitting, he rejoined in third. With ten laps to go he was running behind R.Mears and E.Fittipaldi but he spun, flatspotting his tyres and after pitting for new tyres, he finished the race in sixth place.
In the following year’s race, he qualified fourth but retired from the race due to mechanical problems.
He joined the Menard team in 1990 but suffered a major crash during practice, with his car spinning and hitting the wall and becoming airborne. Fortunately he was not seriously injured and during the race itself he finished fifteenth.
For 1992’s race he re-joined King Racing (with Roberto Guerrero) and both led the speed charts through practice, with Jim setting an all-time unofficial track record of 233.433 mph. He and Roberto were favourites to take pole position but on pole day, he blew an engine, though the team had time to install a new engine after rain caused the time trials to run into the next day. However, he blew another engine, missing the chance to qualify during the pole round and after eventually qualifying, he was running well in the race but crashed on lap 75.
He drove King Racing’s Ilmor-Chevrolet in his final race, 1993’s Indianapolis 500, but failed to qualify in 1994 (with Riley Scott) and 1995, driving Hemelgarn Racing’s Reynard 94I-Ford XB in his final attempt at the age of 47.
He then retired from racing and lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, and bought a fishing boat which he would charter out. He passed away in 2002, at the age of 54, and team owner John Menard calling him “the bravest man I ever knew. He was a wonderful, wonderful human being” and added that his daughter Molly caught her first fish on a trip in the Gulf of Mexico on Jim Crawford’s boat.
Bio by Dave Wheeler
Born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Jims first motorsport experience came behind the wheel of a Mini that he drove in several rallies. After an unsuccessful stint in Formula Ford he landed a drive with a friends Formula Atlantic team, after showing great promise in a couple of Formula Libre races at Croft. He went on to spend a number of years driving alongside Stephen Choularton at SDC Racing in Formula Atlantic and was spotted by Lotus Cars and offered a test drive by them.
Crawford participated in two World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on July 19, 1975 at the British Grand Prix. He was also the winner of the 1982 British Formula One Championship. He is notable for being the 500th person to start a Formula One World Championship race.
Jim moved to the USA in the early 1980s, finishing runner-up twice in the Can Am series. In 1983 he finish behind the Canadian Tire team of Jacques Villeneuve, and was runner up to Michael Roe of Ireland in 1984, a year when Roe and the strong Walker/Norwood team from Dallas dominated the series, winning 7 of the 10 rounds, setting a series record for wins in a season as well as poles in a season, taking the pole in all 10 rounds.
He finished fourth on his CART debut at Long Beach in 1984 and went on to become a regular in the Indianapolis 500. It was there in 1987 that Crawford suffered a huge crash in practice which resulted in devastating leg injuries.
Incredibly he returned to the 500 in 1988, Crawford’s most notable run at Indy. After nearly a year of rehabilitation from leg and foot injuries, he signed with King Racing as a teammate to Johnny Rutherford, driving a Buick entry. He was a last-minute addition to the team, joining just prior to opening day. He made little headlines during time trials, quietly making the field late on the second day. He was still recovering from his leg injuries, and walked the month with the aid of a cane. On race day, however, Crawford created quite a stir. The race was dominated by the Penske Team, however, Crawford was in contention all afternoon, and was the only driver other than the Penske cars to lead laps during the race. Crawford took the lead near the midpoint, and led 8 laps. He drove a highly aggressive race, dicing in and out of traffic at will, and frequently dropping well below the white lines in the turns. Crawford set a blistering pace during his stint in the lead, and was running second as late as lap 194. With six laps to go, he got sideways in turn three, and flat-spotted his tires. He ducked into the pits for new tires, but the crew had difficulties, and he lost several seconds. He lost a lap, and finished 6th. It was the highest finish at the time for the Buick V-6 Indy engine, and Crawford was praised for his strong effort.
Crawford returned to Indy in 1989 with high expectations after his 1988 performance. He qualified 4th, the highest of the non-Chevrolet teams, but dropped out with mechanical problems on race day. In 1990, Crawford joined the Menard team, and during practice, suffered a spectacular crash. He spun and hit the wall in turn one, then became airborne 10–15 feet above the ground in the south short chute. He was not seriously injured. He finished 15th on race day.
Crawford’s final notable appearance at Indy was in 1992. Crawford re-joined the King Racing team, as a teammate to Roberto Guerrero driving once again the Buick V6 engine. Crawford and Guerrero led the speed charts all through practice, with Crawford setting an all-time unofficial track record of 233.433 mph. Both drivers were heavy favorites for the pole position, but on the morning of pole day, Crawford blew an engine. Rain pushed time trials into the next day, which gave the team time to install a new engine. However, on the second day, he blew another engine, and wound up missing his opportunity to qualify during the pole round. He qualified 6th fastest, but as a second day qualifier, lined up 21st. On race day, he was a factor early, but crashed out on lap 75 collecting Rick Mears.
Crawford’s final 500 was in 1993, although he made unsuccessful attempts to qualify old cars in 1994 and 1985, and retired from driving.
After retirement from racing, Crawford lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he bought a fishing boat he used for charters. On August 6, 2002, Jim died of liver failure, in Tierra Verde, Florida. He was survived by his second wife Annie and his children from his first marriage, Geoffrey and Emily.
Jim Crawford – A Scotsman at Indianapolis – from 
Gallery Can Am and SC F2 AFX Aurora Indy 500 and CART F1 F Atlantic and F3
