# Chip Mead > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chip_Mead > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chip_Mead.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Mead > Source revision: 1356312543 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American racing driver}} {{one source|date=December 2025}} '''Harry Talbott''' "'''Chip'''" '''Mead, Jr.''' (March 17, 1950 – March 31, 1993) was an American racing driver from [Dayton, Ohio](/source/Dayton%2C_Ohio). Starting out in US [Formula Super Vee](/source/Formula_Super_Vee), the single-seat [Can-Am](/source/Can-Am) series, and North American [Formula Atlantic](/source/Formula_Atlantic) in the late-1970s including a seventh-place points finish in the [1977 Formula Atlantic season](/source/1977_Formula_Atlantic_season), Mead later made seven starts in the [CART](/source/Champ_Car) [Championship Car](/source/Championship_Car) series from 1980 to 1983. His best finish was 9th place at the Spring race at [Phoenix International Raceway](/source/Phoenix_International_Raceway) in 1982. He attempted to qualify for the [Indianapolis 500](/source/Indianapolis_500) in 1981 and 1982 but failed to find enough speed to qualify in 1981 and was bumped from the field (on the bubble) the following year. After his experience in CART, Mead moved on to the popular [IMSA](/source/International_Motor_Sports_Association) [Camel GT](/source/Camel_GT) series. As an IMSA and CART driver, Mead started out in Formula Atlantic Championship in 1974, raced in F3 in England for a year with Doug Shierson, and made six starts in the CART Series between 1980 and 1983 – his best finish was a 9th at Phoenix in 1981 – but was best known as a sports car driver. Through the late-1970s and 1980s, he drove a wide variety of sports cars in IMSA and CanAm, from Porsche 911s to 934s and from the Fabcar Porsche to a Lola T711 Chevrolet. 1987 was his best year driving the Porsche Fabcar, often referred to as the Baby 962. The team came second in class in the 24 Hours of Daytona, won their class at the 12 Hours of Sebring, won their class again at the Miami Grand Prix, and took another second in the West Palm Beach GP. Racing against factory teams from Ferrari, Buick, Pontiac and Mazda, the Dayton, Ohio-based team were front runners all season, adding the California 500 at Sears Point to their record. Mead was awarded the Porsche Cup for their accomplishments. After leaving his Real Estate Development business in St. Simons Island, Georgia, Mead and his wife moved to Saratoga, California where Mead owned an aircraft sales firm based in [San Jose, California](/source/San_Jose%2C_California). On March 31, 1993, Mead as a passenger on a plane flown by a colleague was killed when the plane crashed near [Livermore, California](/source/Livermore%2C_California).Glick, Shav. [https://groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries/browse_thread/thread/199aac846d218227 Alabama Gang Has Lost Another], Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1993 Mead was survived by his wife Caroline (Quintard) Mead, his mother Mary Wilshire Mead, daughter Hannah Reeves (Derriso), brothers Dan Mead, George Mead, Whit Mead, Dudley Mead and sister Mimi Mead-Hagen. ==Racing record== ===SCCA National Championship Runoffs=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year !! Track !! Car !! Engine !! Class !! Finish !! Start !! Status |- | 1975 || [Road Atlanta](/source/Road_Atlanta) || [March](/source/March_Engineering) 75B || [Cosworth](/source/Cosworth) || [Formula B](/source/Formula_B) || 5 || 9 || Running |} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/MeadChip.htm Chip Mead at ChampCarStats.com] {{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, Chip}} Category:1950 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:Atlantic Championship drivers Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Champ Car drivers Category:Racing drivers from Dayton, Ohio Category:SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1993 {{sportscar-autoracing-stub}} Category:IMSA GT Championship drivers Category:Can Am drivers Category:12 Hours of Sebring drivers Category:24 Hours of Daytona drivers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chip Mead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Mead) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Mead?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.