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Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961, inVan Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed inCART and theIRLIndyCar Series and was the 1989Indy Lights champion. His younger brotherRobbie was also a CART and IRL driver from 1994 to 1998.

Groff made his professional debut in 1984 competing in the Valvoline/Robert BoscheFormula Super Vee series. He finished third in the series in 1985 and second in 1986. In1986 he also made his American Racing Series debut (later renamed Indy Lights). Driving for a family team, he captured wins at theMilwaukee Mile andRoad America and finished third in points. In 1987, he won atNazareth Speedway and finished fifth in points. In 1988, he only competed in three Indy Lights races for three different teams, but finished second at Nazareth. In 1989, he competed full-time for Leading Edge Racing and captured four wins on his way to the championship.

Groff attempted to make his CART Champ Car debut in the1990 Indianapolis 500 forEuromotorsport but failed to qualify. He made his debut three weeks later at theDetroit Grand Prix with the same team and completed the season with them. In twelve starts he had a best finish of seventh at Nazareth and finished seventeenth in points.

In 1991, Groff initially returned to Euromotorsport but switched toA. J. Foyt Enterprises for the final five races of the season. his best finish was eighth (three times) and he finished sixteenth in points. He also competed in his firstIndianapolis 500.

Groff entered 1992 without a full-time ride. He qualified a second car forWalker Racing in the1992 Indianapolis 500 but when regular driverScott Goodyear failed to qualify, he replaced Groff. Groff made six starts that season for Euromotorsport (two races), Walker (one race), and Foyt (three races) and finished 23rd in points.

In 1993, Groff joinedRahal-Hogan Racing for a limited race schedule. Groff made six starts in 1993 for Rahal-Hogan with a best finish of ninth atPortland International Raceway. He finished 23rd in points.

1994 saw Groff return to Rahal-Hogan full-time. The team had since abandoned their bespoke chassis but were the first team to experiment withHonda's new CART engine package. The team struggled with the package throughout the season and had to purchaseIlmor-powered cars fromTeam Penske to make the1994 Indianapolis 500. Groff only finished twentieth in points. Rahal managed a slightly more respectable tenth.

In 1995, Groff was left without a ride. During the third day of qualifications for the1995 Indianapolis 500, he was tabbed byChip Ganassi Racing to drive the back-up car forBryan Herta, who had crashed and was not cleared to drive during the weekend. As Herta risked being bumped from the field, Groff was tasked with qualifying the car if such a situation had happened. To prepare for the situation, Groff did start an official qualifying attempt, which was aborted after two laps. However, Herta was not bumped, and Groff did not drive at all during Bump Day.

In1996, Groff joined the new IRL IndyCar Series with Foyt Enterprises. Groff finished sixth in the series' first race and third at the second race atPhoenix International Raceway. He then was hired by Walker to race in the CART race at Nazareth where he finished fourteenth and qualified eleventh for the1996 Indy 500 but was sidelined by a fire after 122 laps, also driving for Walker (which was one of the few teams to participate in both CART and the IRL in 1996). Groff finished sixth in the 1996 IRL championship.

For the1996-1997 Indy Racing League season, Groff joined Byrd/Cunningham and captured three straight top-five finishes to start the season including a third at theLas Vegas Motor Speedway and a second atWalt Disney World Speedway (the first with the series newnaturally aspirated cars). He finished twelfth in the1997 Indianapolis 500 and finished fourteenth in the championship. Groff returned to Byrd-Cunningham Racing in1998. After finishes of seventh, fifteenth, and fifteenth to start the season, he was replaced at theTexas Motor Speedway race byJohn Paul Jr. He was out of a ride for the rest of the season.

Groff attempted to qualify for the1999 Indianapolis 500 forTeam Xtreme Racing but failed to make the field. It would be his last IndyCar appearance.

(key)

• Mike Groff career summary at DriverDB.com

• 1961 births
• Champ Car drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indy Lights champions
• Indy Lights drivers
• SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles
• Racing drivers from Los Angeles
• Living people
• Walker Racing drivers
• EuroInternational drivers
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
• Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from January 2019
• All BLP articles lacking sources