Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Vítor Meira" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Vítor Meira
Meira in 2008
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1977-03-27)March 27, 1977 (age 48) Brasília,DF, Brazil
IRLIndyCar Series career
Debut season	2002
Current team	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Years active	10
Car number	2, 4, 14, 17, 22
Former teams	Panther Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Team Menard
Starts	112
Wins	0
Podiums	15
Poles	2
Best finish	5th in2006
Championship titles
2000	Formula Three Sudamericana
Awards
2008	Scott Brayton Trophy

Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a Brazilian formerauto racing driver. He formerly competed in theIndyCar Series and has twice finished second in theIndianapolis 500.^[1][2]

After participating in an open test forPanther Racing atTexas Motor Speedway in 2002, Meira made his IndyCar debut withTeam Menard on August 11, 2002, atKentucky Speedway. A little over a month later, Meira won his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway after just four starts,^[3] and finished in third place.^[4]

In 2003, Meira ran his first start of the year for Team Menard at the Indianapolis 500, where he finished twelfth as a rookie.^[1] Meira then ran the next seven races in the No. 2Johns Manville poweredDallaraChevrolet, until a practice crash at Kentucky Speedway sidelined him for the next three races. After recovering from his wrist injury he suffered at Kentucky, Meira ran the final two races of the season.

In 2004, Meira missed the first two races of the season before a race-by-race deal was presented to Meira byRahal-Letterman Racing. After Meira's disappointing finish of seventeenth inIndy Japan 300, where he suffered a clutch problem, he ran the rest of the season in the No. 17G-Force sponsored by Centrix Financial. AtThe Milwaukee Mile, on July 25, 2004, Meira earned his second career pole.^[5]

Rahal-Letterman Racing signed Meira to a three-year contract in 2005, with backing from longtime supporter, Johns Manville andMenards. One notable race finish during the year was a second place toDan Wheldon at theIndianapolis 500.^[1] Meira gave Rahal-Letterman Racing their best final point standing finish of seventh as well as recording seven top-five and eleven top-ten finishes for the team. After losing a majority of the funds for the No. 17 car, Rahal-Letterman needed a driver who had sponsorship with them. For Meira, that meant losing his ride toPaul Dana, who broughtEthanol sponsorship.

Going into 2006, Meira was looking to moving back to Brazil and run stock cars for fellow Brazilian and IndyCar competitor,Hélio Castroneves' team. But just as he was getting ready to pack his bags for Brasília, he received a phone call from Panther Racing owner, John Barnes. Even though Panther had lost their longtime sponsor,Pennzoil, as well as engine supplier, Chevrolet, the owners (John Barnes, Mike Griffin,Jim Harbaugh, and Doug Boles), sold off old cars, parts, and equipment to keep the team running. After much speculation of the team closing its doors in Indianapolis, the news came on February 10, 2006, that Panther Racing and Meira signed a deal to run the famous No. 4 for the 2006 IndyCar season. Throughout 2006, Panther Racing and Meira had a plethora of sponsors on the side of theirHonda powered Dallara, including Econova, Network Live,Harrah's,Lincoln Tech, and Revive Energy Mints all adorned the sidepods of the brightly colored orange car during the 2006 season. Despite not winning a race in 2006, Meira finished a career best of fifth in the IndyCar point standings after finishing the season with seven top five and twelve top ten finishes. Even though he has not won a race in over fifty starts, he has finished second seven times in his career.

After signing a three-year contract with Panther Racing in 2008, Meira was sponsored by longtime IndyCar participant,Delphi Corporation, who signed a two-year deal with the team.

Meira, who became engaged to longtime girlfriend, Adriana, in March 2006, was married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on March 22, 2008.

Meira returned to Panther Racing in 2008 where theUnited States National Guard became the car's primary sponsor and Delphi became a secondary one. However, the team again contracted to a single car in the IndyCar Series as the Aguri and their sponsorship tookHideki Mutoh to the IndyCar Series withAndretti Green Racing rather than Panther.

Meira finished second in the 2008 running of the Indianapolis 500 matching his second-place finish in 2005. Meira chased the eventual winner,Scott Dixon, closing the gap to as little as 0.4 seconds until losing ground due to late race traffic. Meira set his fastest lap on lap 195 of 200.^[1]

Meira drove the No. 14 forA. J. Foyt Enterprises in 2009, replacingDarren Manning. During the2009 Indianapolis 500, Meira's car survived a spectacular fire in the pits and he later broke two vertebrae in his lower back during a crash involvingRaphael Matos on lap 174. Meira did not need surgery and the fracture was treated with a back brace.^[6] Meira was out for the rest of the 2009 season.^[7]

Meira drove to a podium finish in his first race back after his injury; a third place finish in his home country of Brazil. This would be his best finish of the year. Meira drove to a twelfth place overall finish in the points standings for the 2010IndyCar Series season.

Meira returned toA. J. Foyt Enterprises driving the No. 14ABC Supply Company IndyCar. He finished fifteenth overall, with a best of fifth place of Toronto. He was involved in the fifteen-car accident that killedDan Wheldon during the2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship race.^[8] Meira was left without a ride for the2012 IndyCar season, and he left American racing as a result.^[9]

Meira attempted a come back for the2015 Indianapolis 500,^[10] but failed to find a ride.

After his American racing career, Meira started a self-storage facility business in Brazil, and took over an advertising agency started by his father.^[11]

(key)

(key)

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

† Ineligible for championship points.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toVitor Meira.

• Vitor Meira's Official Site
• IndyCar Driver Page

• 1977 births
• Living people
• Brazilian racing drivers
• Stock Car Brasil drivers
• Sportspeople from Brasília
• British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
• A1 Team Brazil drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• Brazilian IndyCar Series drivers
• Auto GP drivers
• Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers
• Formula Ford drivers
• American Le Mans Series drivers
• Highcroft Racing drivers
• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
• Panther Racing drivers
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
• Vision Racing drivers
• A1 Grand Prix drivers
• Charouz Racing System drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from March 2010
• All BLP articles lacking sources
• Commons link from Wikidata