Massimiliano "Max" Papis was born on 3 October 1969 and is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car.
38 Facts About Max Papis
2.
Max Papis was raised in Italy and got an interest in car racing at a young age, winning several go-kart races and several rounds for racing clubs in Italy.
3.
Max Papis is married to Tatiana Papis, daughter of the racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi, and has two children, cousins of Pietro Fittipaldi and Enzo Fittipaldi.
4.
Max Papis proved to be an unlucky driver, suffering a spectacular puncture and suspension failure on his debut race at Silverstone due to clipping the pit lane wall after a tire change, being left on the grid at Hockenheim due to a transmission failure, and spinning on dust and oil kicked up by David Coulthard at the Ascari Chicane on the first lap of the Italian GP, causing a pile-up and a restart.
5.
When Morbidelli returned, Max Papis was out of a drive and headed to America for 1996.
6.
Max Papis moved to CART Champ Car racing in 1996 as a replacement for Jeff Krosnoff, who was killed in the previous race in Toronto.
7.
Max Papis started the next year by winning the 2000 season-opener, but failed to finish in the championship Top 10.
8.
Max Papis raced in the 2002 and 2006 Indianapolis 500s for Cheever Racing, claiming a 14th-place finish in his second appearance.
9.
Max Papis mostly concentrated on sportscars since 2001, remarking that "Champ Car needs me more than I need it" as the series struggled to fill its grid for 2003 after many teams defected to the IRL.
10.
Max Papis has raced for Roger Penske, Andretti-Green Racing and Panther Racing from 2001 to 2009.
11.
Max Papis is a long-time friend of drivers Tony Kanaan and Alex Zanardi.
12.
In 2016, Max Papis was hired by the IndyCar Series as a race steward along with Arie Luyendyk and Dan Davis.
13.
On 8 June 2003, Max Papis made his debut in the ASCAR Racing Series by joining Team HTML in the British Stock Car racing series.
14.
Max Papis made his debut in Round 3 of the championship driving the No 68 Pontiac, placing 14th overall at Rockingham Motor Speedway.
15.
Max Papis made his NASCAR debut in August 2006, competing in the Busch Series race at Watkins Glen International Raceway for McGill Motorsports following the release of Tim Sauter from the ride.
16.
Max Papis attempted to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series race but failed to qualify.
17.
Max Papis announced that he would run 2 races in 2007 for James Finch's Phoenix Racing No 01 Chevy.
18.
Max Papis made his Cup Series debut at Infineon Raceway in 2008, piloting the No 66 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet in place of regular driver Scott Riggs.
19.
Max Papis was scheduled to drive the No 64 car for Rusty Wallace, Inc on three road course races in the 2008 Nationwide Series.
20.
Haas CNC Racing hired Max Papis to drive the No 70 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the course at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup Series in August 2008.
21.
Max Papis was announced as the driver of the No 13 GEICO Toyota in 18 races in the 2009 and a full-time ride in the 2010 Sprint Cup.
22.
In February at Daytona in 2010, Max Papis had the fastest truck in the truck series event, nearly winning his first Truck series event after leading for some laps.
23.
Max Papis was collected in an accident with 15 laps left in the race, while going towards the lead.
24.
Also in 2010, Max Papis recorded a top-30 finish in the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify at Bristol.
25.
Max Papis nearly had a top ten running at Talladega but was caught up in an accident.
26.
At Montreal in the Nationwide Series, Max Papis drove for Richard Childress Racing and while leading on the final lap, took too much of a last-turn curb, got passed by Boris Said, and recorded a second-place finish.
27.
In 2011, Max Papis raced in the Truck Series partly for Germain, resulting in an 18th-place finish in the standings.
28.
From 2011 to 2013, Max Papis had good runs on the road-course races but did not win any of them.
29.
Also in 2012, Max Papis ran one race in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at Kawartha Speedway driving No 24 Dodge for Scott Steckly, he started 16th and finished 21st.
30.
In 2013 at Road America, Max Papis, who spent nearly the entire race in the top five, found himself being spun out twice in the waning laps.
31.
When he spoke to reporters, Max Papis apologized for the slap.
32.
In early August 2013, Max Papis was named to substitute for Tony Stewart in the No 14 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen International after Stewart suffered a broken leg in a sprint car accident.
33.
Max Papis competed in the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Richard Childress Racing, finishing in fourth place.
34.
Max Papis drove for NTS Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series' inaugural race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 250, in September 2013.
35.
Also in 2013, Papis ran 4 races in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 1 Division, he ran two races driving No 33 Chevrolet for OverDrive team and two races driving No 19 Chevrolet for his own team.
36.
In 2014, Max Papis' team fielded the No 99 car for the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for Kevin Gilardoni in the Elite 1 Division.
37.
In 2016, Max Papis made his debut in Stadium Super Trucks series, running the Honda Indy Toronto rounds in the No 9 truck.
38.
At one point late in the race, Max Papis came into the pits for fuel, spectacularly racing down the pit lane at near full speed.