Rocky Moran, a veteran of three Indianapolis 500 starts and one of the most respected sports car racers of his generation, died last weekend after a battle with cancer. He was 74.
After failing to qualify with Salt Walther’s small team in 1987, Southern California native Moran made three consecutive “500” starts from 1988-90, with a best finish of 14th in 1989 while driving the No. 33 Skoal Classic March/Cosworth owned by the legendary A.J. Foyt. He also made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1988 in a Foyt-owned car, finishing 16th in the No. 48 Skoal/Trench Shoring March/Cosworth as the second-highest placing rookie in the field.
His final start came in 1990 with Gohr Racing. He earned the 33rd and final spot in the field in an older car and was credited with 25th place in the No. 56 Glidden Paints Lola/Buick when his engine expired after he completed 88 laps. It was his final INDYCAR SERIES start.
Moran made unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the “500” in 1992 and 1993 with Menard Racing and Team Losi, respectively.
The popular, versatile Moran never raced a full season in INDYCAR SERIES competition, but his talent still attracted rides from prominent team owners besides Foyt.
Moran drove for Dan Gurney’s All American Racers in his INDYCAR SERIES debut in 1981 at Watkins Glen. He qualified a strong seventh in the No. 48 Pepsi Challenger Eagle/Chevrolet, drove to first and led 21 laps. A storybook victory in his first series start was denied when the team didn’t put enough fuel in the car to make the finish during his final pit stop. Moran still was credited with sixth place in a race won by Rick Mears.
He started his amateur racing career in the early 1970s on the West Coast in open-wheel and sports cars before climbing to national sports car series such as Trans Am, Can-Am and IMSA later in the decade.
Gurney didn’t forget Moran’s impressive INDYCAR SERIES debut with AAR in 1981 and hired him as a driver for the team’s factory sports car program in the IMSA GTO class in 1986. Gurney also hired Moran to team with Willy T. Ribbs in an earlier version of a Toyota prototype in IMSA competition in 1991, and they earned a podium finish at Portland.
The pinnacle of Moran’s sports car racing career came in 1993 when he teamed with PJ Jones and Mark Dismore to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona, a year after they finished fourth. It was the first Rolex 24 victory for AAR and Toyota.
Moran is survived by his wife, Kayla; daughter, Kelly; sons Rocky Jr. and Cody; and seven grandchildren. Rocky Moran Jr. made starts in stock cars, sports cars and INDY NXT by Firestone. His INDYCAR SERIES debut in 2015 at Long Beach in a Dale Coyne Racing car was cut short before the race by a broken thumb suffered in a crash.
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