| Aaron Justus | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  American |
| Born | (1973-10-23)October 23, 1973 (age 52) |
| Retired | 2003 |
| Atlantic Championship | |
| Years active | 2002-2003 |
| Teams | Performance Development & Racing RuSPORT |
| Starts | 15 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 5th in 2003 |
| Previous series | |
| 1996-2000 1995 | USF2000 USAC Formula Russell |
| Championship titles | |
| 2000 | USF2000 |
Aaron Justus (born October 23, 1973, inPittsfield, Illinois)[1] is a former American racing driver. Justus won theUSF2000 championship in the year 2000 and continued into theAtlantic Championship. Currently Justus is an entrepreneur with his own graphics design company.
Justus started his karting career in 1981 at the age of eight. In 1985, the young driver won theIKF Grand National Championship in the Junior I class. He won another Grand National Championship in 1988 in the Junior III class.[2]
In 1995, Justus started his formula racing career in theUnited States Auto Club sanctioned FormulaRussell Championship winning the series. For 1996, Justus was one of 25 drivers selected for theTeam Green Academy.[3] After catching the eye ofAtlantic Championship andCART team ownerJohn Della Penna the plan was to replaceRichie Hearn in the Atlantics race seat. However money was a factor and the budget did not come together.[4] In 1996, Justus started fourUSF2000 races. His best result was in thestreets of St. Petersburg where he finished fifth. Funding his racing efforts with graphics design work Justus did not race in 1997. In 1998, Justus had one single USF2000 outing, at the 1998Colorado Grand Prix. Justus finished hisVan Diemen chassis in third place for the first race, behindDavid Besnard andSam Hornish Jr.[5]
The sole 1998 outing impressedGerald Forsythe who brought Justus in atCape Motorsports for the 1999 season. Justus won the third round of the season atLowe's Motor Speedway. Later in the season, Justus also won the second race atRoad Atlanta. Despite missing the last four races of the season, Justus finished tenth in the season standings. He returned with the team for 2000 for a full-time outing. In 2000, Justus dominated the series. Justus claimed eight pole positions in thirteen races. The young driver won five of the races and claimed the championship.[6]
After a sabbatical Justus returned for 2002 for three races in theAtlantic Championship withPerformance Development & Racing. His best finish was a seventh place at theDenver street circuit. For 2003, Justus joinedRuSPORT for a full-time effort alongsideA. J. Allmendinger. Despite failing to win a race, Justus scored four podium finishes. Justus finished fifth in the series standings.[7] At the end of the season Justus retired from competitive autosport to run his graphics design company Manifest Group.[8]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest race lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | WDW 27 | STP 5 | PIR 25 | DSC1 11 | MOS | IRP | RIR | WGI1 | WGI2 | MOH | NHS | LVS | N.C. | N.C. | |||
| 1998 | WDW | PIR | HMS1 | HMS2 | WGI | WGI | MOH1 | MIN | CHA1 | CHA2 | MOH2 | ATL | PPI 3 | PPI 6 | N.C. | N.C. | |
| 1999 | Cape Motorsports | PIR 7 | CHA1 28 | CHA2 1 | MOS 2 | MOS 14 | MOH 26 | ATL | ROA1 22 | ROA2 1 | CTR 5 | MOH | PPI | SEB1 | SEB2 | 10th | 132 |
| 2000 | Cape Motorsports | PIR 1 | MOS1 5 | MOS2 2 | IRP1 1 | ROA1 1 | ROA1 6 | TRR 2 | MOS3 3 | WGI1 22 | WGI2 1 | IRP2 1 | ATL1 4 | ATL2 3 | 1st | 293 |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Performance Development & Racing | MTY | LBH | MIL | LS | POR | CHI | TOR | CLE | TRR | ROA 8 | MTL 23 | DEN 7 | 21st | 17 |
| 2003 | RuSPORT | MTY 5 | LBH 2 | MIL 5 | LS 4 | POR 5 | CLE 13 | TOR 2 | TRR 14 | MOH 3 | MTL 3 | DEN 13 | MIA 7 | 5th | 123 |