John Paul Jr. (racing driver)
As Paul Jr. started to learn about engines, his father decided his son needed to go to a racing school.
The Chevrolet-powered prototype with its better handling, driven by Englishman Brian Redman, quickly dominated the IMSA Championship.
At Sebring, they overcame a gearbox failure in their 935 to win over the March 82G, led by the hard charging Bobby Rahal.
More importantly, Paul Jr.'s win at Road Atlanta attracted Miller Brewing Company sponsorship for the remainder of the season.
Paul Jr. was hired by Henn's Swap Shop Racing for both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Road America Pabst 500 but these resulted in two DNFs.
Paul Jr. started the season with Conte Racing, who had switched to Buick engines, but these proved to be unreliable.
[4][11] A full-time return to sportscar racing was possible in 1990, when he was offered a ride by Jim Busby, who had entered a Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo.
He ended the season with two second places in the World Challenge of Tampa and Grand Prix of Greater San Diego (Del Mar).
Full factory supported teams like Tom Walkinshaw Racing (Jaguar), Electramotive (Nissan) and All American Racers (Toyota) were now the ones to beat.
This was followed by three more races with Moretti, but Paul ended the season by trying yet another car, the Intrepid RM-1, but this resulted in another DNF.
[4][11] The 1993 season started with Paul co-driving with Moretti along with Derek Bell at the Daytona and Sebring endurance races in a Nissan NPT-90.
The trio were joined by Massimo Sigala for Daytona, and were leading when the car began to experience engine problems, but it still finished sixth.
He was able to take one last podium finish, a second-place at Road American, driving a Porsche 962 for Joest Racing.
He was asked back to partner James Weaver at the Indy Grand Prix, a two-hour race around the Indianapolis Raceway Park.
He recorded two top three finishes for Dyson aboard their Riley & Scott Mk III: second place with Butch Leitzinger in the Moosehead Grand Prix, and a third place with Andy Wallace in the Texas World Grand Prix.
Paul recorded four top three finishes in the last four races, including wins at the Mosport 500 and the Daytona IMSA finale, while co-driving with Leitzinger.
1996 also saw the formation of the Indy Racing League, and this gave Paul a second shot at a competitive Indycar career.
Despite driving a two-year-old car for a new team, PDM Racing, he led 22 laps in that year's Las Vegas 500 before finishing 15th.
This was followed by two victories, partnering Leitzinger in the Sportscar Grand Prix and VISA Sports Car Championship.
He broke through to win the 1998 Lone Star 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and finished an IRL career best 11th in points.
[16][17] His first legal troubles were on January 10, 1979, when he and another accomplice were caught by customs agents loading equipment onto a pickup truck on the bank of a canal in the Louisiana bayous after dark.
Following questioning, when one of them smelled cannabis on their clothing, his father was apprehended on his 42-foot boat named Lady Royale, where customs discovered residue of marijuana and $10,000 onboard.
[18] In court, all three pleaded guilty to marijuana possession charges, where each was placed on three years' probation and fined $32,500.
