Doug Shierson Racing is a former racing team that competed in the CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 Championship Car Series from 1982 to 1990. The team was sponsored by Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....

 for its entire run in CART.

Early years

Shierson was instrumental in the development of the Toyota Atlantic series in the late 1970s, winning the championship with Howdy Holmes

Howdy Holmes

Howdy S. Holmes , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He began racing in the early 1970s and was based in Stockbridge, Michigan, about northeast of Chelsea....

 in 1978 and Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve (elder)

Jacques Villeneuve Sr. also known as Jacquo or Uncle Jacques is a Canadian racer. He is the younger brother of the late Gilles Villeneuve, and uncle to Jacques Villeneuve . He was born in the small town of Berthierville, Quebec, Canada. He is now frequently known as Uncle Jacques because of the...

 the Elder in 1980 and 1981. Bobby Rahal

Bobby Rahal

Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...

 drove for the team in 1976 and suffered a season fraught with difficulties and he considered leaving the sport, on Shierson's urging Rahal decided to stay with the series in 1977 and eventually had a tremendously successful racing career. The team was also active in Formula 5000

Formula 5000

Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...

. Shierson racing moved up to CART with Holmes in 1982. Holmes drove the team's car to 10th in its first Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

 and 13th in points with a 4th place finish at Milwaukee Mile

Milwaukee Mile

The Milwaukee Mile is a -long oval race track in West Allis, Wisconsin that seats about 40,000 spectators. It operated as a dirt track until 1953. The track was paved in 1954....

. Holmes repeated his 13th place points finish and finished 6th at Indy the following year.

Climb to the top

Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan

Daniel John "Danny" Sullivan III is a former racing driver from the United States. He is best known for winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500.-Before racing:...

 replaced Holmes in 1984 and brought the team its first three CART wins at Cleveland, Pocono

Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...

, and Sanair

Sanair Super Speedway

Sanair Super Speedway is a .826 mile paved triangular oval race track. The facility also holds a quarter mile dragstrip. It is located in Saint-Pie, Quebec. It hosted the Molson Indy Montreal from 1984 to 1986...

 on his way to 4th place in points. The team also experimented with its own DSR-1 chassis that was designed by Ian Reed of March Engineering

March Engineering

March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

 and built by laid off Williams F1 fabricators but it had been abandoned by Indianapolis when it was clearly off the pace and the team returned to Lola equipment. Sullivan was hired away by perennial superpower Penske Racing

Penske Racing

Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...

 following his successful 1984 season. Initially, Shierson signed John Paul, Jr.

John Paul, Jr.

John Lee Paul, Jr. is a former race car driver in CART and the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and winner of the 1982 12 Hours of Sebring while co-driving with his father John Paul, Sr....

; however, Paul would be jailed for racketeering in a case involving his father. After attempting to hire Al Unser

Al Unser

Alfred "Al" Unser is a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr....

, Shierson secured the services of Al Unser, Jr.

Al Unser, Jr.

Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...

, who would come into his own as a driver during his stint with the team. Unser finished runner up in the championship in 1985 and won back to back mid-season races at the Meadowlands and Cleveland

Grand Prix of Cleveland

The Grand Prix of Cleveland was an open wheel automobile racing event in the Champ Car World Series, held annually at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America. The 2006 race, held on June 25, marked the 25th anniversary of the event...

. The team fared strongly again in 1986 with Unser finishing 4th in points and winning the final race of the season. In 1987 Unser improved to 3rd place in points but did not win a race. At year end Unser elected to return to Galles Racing

Galles Racing

Galles Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Rick Galles that competed in the CART series, Can-Am and Indy Racing League, winning the 1990 CART Championship and 1992 Indianapolis 500 with driver Al Unser, Jr..-Early years:...

 who had the new Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

-Ilmor

Ilmor

Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983, is a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the...

 engine which would go on to dominate IndyCar until 1992. Shierson replaced Unser with Raul Boesel

Raul Boesel

Raul de Mesquita Boesel is a former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona...

. Boesel failed to win and only managed 8th and 11th in points in his two years with the team as the team was forced to use underpowered Cosworth

Cosworth

Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

 and Judd

Judd (engine)

Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England...

 engines. The highlight of the season, however, was a surprising third place at the Indy 500

1989 Indianapolis 500

The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Emerson Fittipaldi became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, he dropped to second in the waning laps. On the 199th lap, Al Unser, Jr. was...

.

For 1990 the team put veteran journeyman Arie Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk, originally Arie Luijendijk is a Dutch auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500....

 in the Domino's car for which it had secured Chevy-Ilmor power and expanded to a second car for Scott Goodyear

Scott Goodyear

Scott Goodyear is a former race car driver from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Goodyear ran the IRL and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994...

 running year-old equipment with Judd power. Luyendyk, who had never won a CART race before, shocked the establishment by winning the 1990 Indianapolis 500

1990 Indianapolis 500

The 74th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1990. Arie Luyendyk took the lead with 32 laps to go, and earned his first-ever victory in championship-level competition...

 from 3rd on the grid in what was the fastest "500" in history.

End of team

Shierson elected to close his team following the 1990 season having accomplished his goals in the sport. Longtime sponsor Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....

 was facing legal issues stemming from their "30 minutes or it's free" delivery guarantee. During the history of the team sponsorship, the Shierson entries traditionally carried the number 30, as a gesture to the "30-minutes or free" delivery policy. Some delivery drivers were reportedly breaking traffic laws and speeding to fulfill the guarantee. Such an instance caused a fatal traffic accident, and company officials deemed sponsoring a race car inappropriate given the circumstances.

Shierson died May 26, 2004 of cancer.

Drivers in CART

Howdy Holmes

Howdy Holmes

Howdy S. Holmes , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He began racing in the early 1970s and was based in Stockbridge, Michigan, about northeast of Chelsea....

 (1982-'83) Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan

Daniel John "Danny" Sullivan III is a former racing driver from the United States. He is best known for winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500.-Before racing:...

 (1984) Al Unser, Jr.

Al Unser, Jr.

Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...

 (1985-'87) Raul Boesel

Raul Boesel

Raul de Mesquita Boesel is a former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona...

 (1988-'89) Arie Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk, originally Arie Luijendijk is a Dutch auto racing driver, twice winner of the Indianapolis 500....

(1990)