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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Veteran Team Manager Phil LePan Passes Away
The Indy car paddock lost another valued member of the community with the recent passing of championship-winning team manager Phil LePan.
Phil LePan was most heavily associated with the Player's/Forsythe, but had successful stints in Formula One and with numerous Indy car team. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
The Indy car paddock lost another valued member of the community with the recent passing of veteran team manager Phil LePan. The 64-year-old open-wheel veteran passed away in late December, but the news of his loss circulated for the first time on Tuesday.
A native of Canada, LePan spent time working for a number of notable teams, including Colin Chapman’s Lotus Formula One outfit prior to forging a long career as a championship-winning Indy car team manager.
LePan became most heavily associated with the Player’s/Forsythe Racing Indy car team where he won the 2003 championship with Paul Tracy, but he also spent time with the likes of Maury Kraines’ Kraco program, with Team Green when they won the 1995 Indy 500 with Jacques Villenueve, and most recently, with Dale Coyne Racing.
“His whole life was about racing. That’s what he lived for,” said Tracy, who appreciated his countryman’s selfless approach to such a high-profile role.
“As a team manager and a guy I worked with for seven years—I knew him before that because we’re both Canadian and had been around the sport for a long time, he wasn’t a guy who pushed himself out to the spotlight as the star team manager or crew chief. Some people try to become a bit of a personality with a position like that; you get engineers or managers who want to gain notoriety and go after publicity by doing TV interviews, but he wasn’t that guy.
“He preferred to stay away from that and really concentrate on his job behind the scenes. If you wanted to find Phil, he was in the garage with the mechanics and I liked that about him.”
Justin Wilson had the good fortune of working with LePan when he came onboard to manage Dale Coyne’s team in 2012, and had fond recollections of the man.
“It’s pretty sad. I had no idea he was ill,” he said. “He left DCR midway through the year, and looking back on it, maybe [his illness] was the reason. I only had six months to work with him, but he was great to work with. He was always trying to get the best out of the team, and was a really hard worker. When he left the team, I was definitely disappointed because he did a really good job.”
LePan also earned his final Indy car win with Wilson at the Texas 550 last year.
“Yeah, that was special,” said Wilson. “Everyone on the team held him in high regard.”
LePan’s calm approach to his craft resonated with former Player’s/Forsythe driver Alex Tagliani, who credited his former team manager with keeping the program focused and on an even keel.
“Phil was always one speed, and that was very good for us,” he said. “He was someone that always was composed and kept things in perspective. I remember once when we were all upset about our oval setups; we had been really fast before and weren’t with the Handford [device] and really went on and on about it, and Phil just stopped us and said, ‘It’s going to be OK. We’ll get it fixed.’ And like that, everything was relaxed again. And we knew it would get fixed. That was how he did things.
"Him going at the same speed was important when I think about how special that team was and keeping everything glued together.”
Beyond his workmanlike approach to team management, Tagliani shared a tale that spoke to LePan’s mischievous side.
A native of Canada, LePan spent time working for a number of notable teams, including Colin Chapman’s Lotus Formula One outfit prior to forging a long career as a championship-winning Indy car team manager.
LePan became most heavily associated with the Player’s/Forsythe Racing Indy car team where he won the 2003 championship with Paul Tracy, but he also spent time with the likes of Maury Kraines’ Kraco program, with Team Green when they won the 1995 Indy 500 with Jacques Villenueve, and most recently, with Dale Coyne Racing.
“His whole life was about racing. That’s what he lived for,” said Tracy, who appreciated his countryman’s selfless approach to such a high-profile role.
“As a team manager and a guy I worked with for seven years—I knew him before that because we’re both Canadian and had been around the sport for a long time, he wasn’t a guy who pushed himself out to the spotlight as the star team manager or crew chief. Some people try to become a bit of a personality with a position like that; you get engineers or managers who want to gain notoriety and go after publicity by doing TV interviews, but he wasn’t that guy.
“He preferred to stay away from that and really concentrate on his job behind the scenes. If you wanted to find Phil, he was in the garage with the mechanics and I liked that about him.”
Justin Wilson had the good fortune of working with LePan when he came onboard to manage Dale Coyne’s team in 2012, and had fond recollections of the man.
“It’s pretty sad. I had no idea he was ill,” he said. “He left DCR midway through the year, and looking back on it, maybe [his illness] was the reason. I only had six months to work with him, but he was great to work with. He was always trying to get the best out of the team, and was a really hard worker. When he left the team, I was definitely disappointed because he did a really good job.”
LePan also earned his final Indy car win with Wilson at the Texas 550 last year.
“Yeah, that was special,” said Wilson. “Everyone on the team held him in high regard.”
LePan’s calm approach to his craft resonated with former Player’s/Forsythe driver Alex Tagliani, who credited his former team manager with keeping the program focused and on an even keel.
“Phil was always one speed, and that was very good for us,” he said. “He was someone that always was composed and kept things in perspective. I remember once when we were all upset about our oval setups; we had been really fast before and weren’t with the Handford [device] and really went on and on about it, and Phil just stopped us and said, ‘It’s going to be OK. We’ll get it fixed.’ And like that, everything was relaxed again. And we knew it would get fixed. That was how he did things.
"Him going at the same speed was important when I think about how special that team was and keeping everything glued together.”
Beyond his workmanlike approach to team management, Tagliani shared a tale that spoke to LePan’s mischievous side.
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