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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Jeff Krosnoff, Stay Hungry Pt. 1
16 years after Jeff Krosnoff lost his life at the Molson Indy Toronto race on July 14th, 1996, Marshall Pruett looks back at his life in a multi-part feature.
Krosnoff's iconic blue MCI-sponsored Reynard remains one of the most recognizable CART cars of the 1990s. (Dan R. Boyd)
(SPEED.com's feature "Jeff Krosnoff, Stay Hungry" originally ran in July of 2011, but the fourth and final chapter, including the interviews for Part 4, was lost, leaving the story incomplete. Prior to the 16th anniversary of his death at the Toronto Indy car race, we're re-running the first three chapters from 2011 along with the missing Part 4 to complete our tribute. ~Ed.)
“What was Jeff’s legacy in this sport? Me. I am his legacy. He touched so many lives, including mine. When my kid grows up and looks at pictures of me driving Jeff’s car after he died, I’ll tell him, ‘Poppy was able to continue the dream of this man like I continue the dream of my father, and then you will continue my dreams one day.’ That's how I look at what Jeff did for me.”
~Max Papis
It’s a phrase that gets used far too often, but I remember the crash that killed Jeff Krosnoff like it was yesterday. In reality, it was 15 years ago today—July 14th, 1996—but all I have to do is close my eyes to be transported back to where I was standing in the Toronto paddock on that haunting day when Krosnoff’s life ended quickly and violently in Turn 3 at the Molson Indy Toronto. My reaction then is the same today when the emotions come flooding back:
Dammit. This can’t be happening. Not Jeff. Not now. F***. He didn’t get the chance to show us what he could do.
Like the thousands in attendance at Toronto, and for many watching on television, the day of Krosnoff’s death was instantly seared into my memory. I’ve mourned the loss of many drivers—personal heroes like Ayrton Senna and Al Holbert—but Krosnoff’s death struck me in a different way.
Krosnoff had yet to reach the mountain top, but could see it drawing closer. Krosnoff did not have the major championships of a Holbert or the international following of a Senna, but the potential was there.
Loss and sorrow are separate in this case. The sense of loss with Holbert and Senna will probably always be there for me, but the sorrow that lingers with Krosnoff’s death is like a sharp pinch every time I think of his passing. It stings. I wince. He was a 31-year-old rookie in CART, which was unheard of for a serious prospect, but he was ready to take the series by storm. Being cut down on the cusp of becoming a star made his loss cruel and personal for those who followed him.
After more than a decade of fighting and refusing to give up, Krosnoff got his first shot in the big leagues in 1996, but tragically, his rookie season in CART lasted just 11 rounds and his fatal accident also claimed the life of corner worker Gary Avrin.
15 years later, and with the Oklahoma-born, California-bred Krosnoff somewhat of a mystery to many of today’s open-wheel fans, the magnitude of his loss is hard to put into proper context.
He was an Indy car driver only for five months, but to define his legacy during that brief window of time would do him a disservice.
He was a beacon to many—living proof that obstacles could be overcome with talent and determination. He was ignored, turned down and cast aside more often than not, yet refused to complain or accept defeat. He took control of his destiny and went to extraordinary measures, including leaving his wife and family behind to race halfway around the world in pursuit of his dream. He raced in Japan, at Le Mans, Long Beach and Daytona, but was largely forgotten at home. He drove for major factories like Toyota, Nissan and Jaguar. He was educated, a musician, a photographer, a writer, a motivator, a friend and so much more than a driver of racing cars. He had a cult following that included fellow drivers and his closest rivals.
He was—and continues to be—one of the greatest role models open-wheel racing has seen, and with the help of those who knew him--and with the use of some of his own writings--the remarkable life and journey of Jeff Krosnoff can be celebrated once again.
“The earliest memory I have about wanting to be a race car driver was while I was in kindergarten,” Krosnoff wrote, and who regularly contributed works like this to RACER Magazine. “It was a bright and sunny day at La Canāda Elementary School, and one of my favorite activities was scheduled. Not only were ‘Sloppy Joes’ on the cafeteria menu, but it was ‘Show and Tell’ for our class. On this particular day, I remember a little blonde girl brought in something quite unusual to show our class. It was a trophy her father had won.
“To describe it is like trying to colorize classic movies—almost impossible and never quite accurate. Atop the white marble base sat a most brilliant golden likeness of a race car. When it was my turn to hold it, I didn’t—or couldn’t—let go. I spent the rest of the day staring at it on her desk from my seat across the room. It was then that my dream began. A dream that I pursue to this day… that girl’s name was Kathy Bucknum. Her father was Ronnie Bucknum, one of the first Honda Formula 1 pilots…”
Krosnoff grew up in a southern California at a time when the Golden State—and the West Coast in general—was a hotbed for driving talent. Jimmy Vasser, Mike and Robbie Groff, Steve and Cary Bren, Mark and Mike Smith, Tommy and Bart Kendall and many others made their way from grade school to driving school to the local road courses in record time.
“Jeff lived about a mile from me in La Canāda and I think I probably met him when I was probably about nine or 10,” said Tommy Kendall, whose open-wheel career mirrored Krosnoff’s early in the early days.
“Our parents were friends. We went to different schools but I knew him--he was two years older than me and he got a go-kart before anybody else I knew. I remember seeing him drive it at his house and I couldn't believe, because it wasn't the little put-put karts that I’d tried. He was ripping around his driveway and I’d never seen anything like it. I was into dirt bikes before that, but that’s the first time I had seen the real deal with four wheels. So fast forward a little bit to when I’m driving, and I started in karts and then went to the Jim Russell Racing Series.
“Back then, that was the only place you could really race before you were 18. And Jeff was already doing that. He was the guy that taught me what it meant to be serious about racing. He was in unbelievable shape. He never, I think in his life, he never had a sip of alcohol. He was the guy I looked up the most to and spent the most time with. I had a first-hand look at how he was preparing and I didn't know if anyone was preparing more than that, but it really gave me a lot to think about.”
Krosnoff’s trek up the 1980s version of the open-wheel ladder included his aforementioned start at Jim Russell in 1983, where seven wins in the school’s five-year-old Van Diemen RF78 Formula Fords signaled great promise.
He’d stay in the Russell family for 1984 as part of the inaugural Mazda Pro Series—what is now known as Star Mazda—and finished second in the championship. Selected to On Track magazine’s “America’s Choice” roster for his impressive pro racing debut in ’84, Steve Nickless’ entry for Krosnoff was succinct: “A teenager with boundless potential.”
While at Russell, Krosnoff would meet Paul Pfanner, who would become one of his closest friends. Pfanner, who would go on to become one of the founders of RACER magazine, followed Krosnoff’s career from the beginning, thanks to a suggestion from Nickless.
“Steve had been the founding editor and creator of On Track magazine. I worked with Steve years before and we were working with the Jim Russell people to produce their newsletter and help them with their marketing. Steve was doing the editing of the Russell newsletter and he had seen Jeff race in some of the Russell Series races down in Riverside. When I started to hear how quick Jeff was, I became interested in his progress straightaway. He was very quick and I then got to watch him race and I was very impressed. Clean, precise, just looked like he was inevitable. And it was a pretty big feat with the people coming through at the time but he was a standout to me. We got to know each other. I just liked his personality. He was very funny. We were just wild pups but it makes me smile just to think of it.”
Krosnoff’s parents were successful, but when it came to auto racing—especially making a career out of driving racing cars—Pfanner says his friend was left to fend for himself. In what would become a defining aspect of his personality, Krosnoff accepted responsibility for making his own way in the sport.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Jeff Krosnoff Retrospective.
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