Christopher Bingham (born December 15, 1971) is an American professional racing driver from Kirkland, Washington. He is a noted sports car driver but also competed in stock cars, with eleven Busch Series starts and one ARCA start in his career.

Chris Bingham
BornChristopher Bingham
(1971-12-15) December 15, 1971 (age 53)
Kirkland, Washington
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
11 races run over 1 year
Best finish55th (2003)
First race2003 Rockingham 200 (Rockingham)
Last race2003 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of May 13, 2020.

Racing career

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Early career

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Bingham started in motocross at the age of 10, and ventured into car racing after completing an advance driving course at the Jim Russell Racing School in 1991.[1][2] He began his professional racing career in 1994 at the last round of the IMSA championship, finishing 15th at the 2 hours of Phoenix driving a Tiga DBIV for Bobby Brown Racing.[3] In 1997, Bingham participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona in a GT3-class Porsche and made four Indy Lights starts, with a best finish of 11th at Nazareth Speedway. He returned to Daytona and made his 12 Hours of Sebring debut in 1998. In 1999 and 2000 Bingham was the #2 driver for the Hybrid R&D Riley & Scott-Ford Le Mans Prototype team in the American Le Mans Series. He also passed his Indy Racing League rookie test with Mid-America Motorsports but decided not to pursue an entry into the IRL. In 2001 and 2002 Bingham drove the works Saleen S7R in the Grand-Am Series' GTS class to back to back championships, including 11 class victories.

NASCAR Busch Series

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Bingham decided to foray into NASCAR in 2003, when Bingham signed a deal to drive for Jay Robinson Racing in the Busch Series. He made his debut at North Carolina, starting 38th and finishing 34th after transmission issues. DNFs would plague his season, as Bingham fell out of seven of his eleven starts. Even when he did not fall out, Bingham struggled, earning just a career-best finish of 26th at Darlington and Texas. After his inconsistency, Bingham was released following a 33rd at Charlotte.

Return to sports cars

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Bingham returned to the Grand Am Series' Daytona Prototype class in 2004 and began fielding his own entry in 2005. In 2006 he drove Derhaag Motorsports' Daytona Prototype but resigned from the team in August after poor finishes.[4] Earlier that season he was involved in a fistfight with competitor J. C. France after the two collided at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City and was suspended for one race and placed on probation.[5] He did not make any appearances in the series in 2007.

Motorsports career results

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Complete American Open Wheel racing results

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(key)

Indy Lights

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Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points
1997 Leading Edge Motorsports MIA
15
LBH
13
NAZ
11
SAV STL MIL DET POR
21
TOR TRO VAN LAG FON 29th 2

NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
2003 Jay Robinson Racing 49 Ford DAY CAR
34
LVS
37
DAR
26
BRI
37
TEX
26
TAL NSH
42
RCH
34
CLT
33
DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 55th 680 [6]
39 CAL
38
GTY
34
NZH
30

ARCA Re/Max Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ARMC Pts Ref
2003 Capital City Motorsports 83 Pontiac DAY
27
ATL NSH SLM TOL KEN CLT BLN KAN MCH LER POC POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT SBO 163rd 95 [7]

References

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  1. ^ "IRL: Erwin, Bingham pass rookie test at Texas". us.motorsport.com. 2000-10-22. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  2. ^ "Driver Spotlight on Chris Bingham". au.motorsport.com. 2001-10-18. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  3. ^ "Chris Bingham (USA) - All Results - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  4. ^ Press Release from Chris Bingham - Grand Am Rolex Series Competitor, TheAutoChannel.com, August 6, 2006
  5. ^ Grand-Am drivers Bingham, France issue apologies after Mexico City altercation Archived November 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, FeedMeSportsCars.com, March 9, 2006
  6. ^ "Chris Bingham – 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Chris Bingham – 2003 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
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