|
Memo Gidley was born into a family that lived for excitement and
adventure. An hour after his birth in La Paz, Mexico, Memo was taken
out to the sailboat that would be his home until he was nearly eight
years old. Raised by Cass, a hard working commercial fisherman from
Canada, and Mary, a freelance writer from the Midwest, Memo spent
his early years on the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Northern California,
accompanied by his two sisters, Lupe and Sharon, and the family dog,
Huckleberry. The family lived as "anchor outs" in the San
Francisco Bay, maintaining a lifestyle straight out a Steinbeck novel.
Eventually, they would move to dry land and the town of San Rafael,
California. It is his time spent on the ocean that helped develop
a work ethic that would take Memo from seeing his first car race to
driving an Indy Car (now called ChampCars) in a mere seven years,
less than half the average time of most top-level drivers.
Memo learned to sail and began racing small sailboats at the age
of seven. When he was eleven, Memo purchased a motocross bike with
money he had earned from a paper route, doing yard work and working
odd jobs before and after school. Between the ages of eight and
eleven, he had successfully raced BMX bicycles and decided it was
time to try racing with a motor. Memo and sister Lupe would join
Cass on his motorcycle (which would tow a small trailer with Memo’s
bike) head out to the races and sleep under the stars. Gidley went
on to win mutable 125 and 250cc Championships and continued to travel
this way until "the kids grew too large to fit on Dad’s
bike."
Shortly after high school, Memo decided to pursue his dream of
racing cars. A dream that was born in 1991 after his uncle, Jon,
had taken him to see a ChampCar race at the legendary Leguna Seca
Raceway near Monterey. The first time he saw the sleek, gleaming
cars race through the world famous "cork screw" section
of the track, he knew what he wanted to spend the rest of life pursuing
he needed to race and win in these 900 horsepower rocket ships.
Without the money to start his career, he referred to a flyer he
had found blowing around the infield of Laguna. Leaving his apartment
and moving into his pickup truck, Memo enrolled in the mechanics-training
program at the Jim Russell Racing School. In exchange for working
in the school’s shop, Memo was able to begin driving and raced
in the USAC Russell Championship Series. In his first race, Memo
surprised the competition by qualifying on the pole position and
leading the race from start to finish. Although it was his rookie
season, Memo went on to win the 1992 series championship, winning
nine of eleven races.
Memo’s natural driving talent, his desire and his dedication
was noticed by TrackMagic Racing Karts of San Francisco, CA who
signed him to factory sponsorship. In 1993, his rookie season, Memo
won a total of 14 races in Region 11 and finished third overall
in the International Karting Federation’s 100cc KT light and
heavy classes.
In 1994, Memo moved up to the faster 80cc gearbox class and won
a total of seven of eight races entered, including the United States
Gearbox Championships in Phoenix, AZ. This year also saw Memo make
his professional auto racing debut in the Shelby Can-Am Pro Series.
Although only his rookie season, Memo finished in second place four
times, along with two pole positions, two fastest laps and one new
track record.
Memo made the step up to the ultra-competitive Formula Ford 2000
Championship series in 1995. He led the championship for most of
the year and only lost it on the last lap of the last race due to
a flat tire. Memo however did win the Rookie of the Year and Oval
Course Champion titles and was selected as the Team USA Valvoline
F3 scholarship winner with a sponsored Formula 3 race in Donington
Park, England.
In 1996, Memo competed in various series, including ACRL Pro, Barber
Dodge and GT America Stock Car. Gidley had a first, second, and
third place finish along with five top ten finishes. Gidley also
raced 125cc shifter karts for TrackMagic Karts. Of eight races entered,
Gidley won five and set four new track records. He also won the
prestigious NSKA United States 125 Gearbox Kart Championships in
Las Vegas.
In 1997, Memo was awarded the opportunity to drive for Lynx Racing
in the Kool/Toyota Atlantic Championship. He finished second overall
along with winning the Player’s Challenge Championship, which
consists of the four Canadian races. Memo also won the Reno Grand
Prix driving a GTA stock car.
In 1998, he finished third overall in the Atlantic Championship.
Memo won three races including the Long Beach Grand Prix, two poles,
led the most laps, and received the Kool/Toyota Atlantic achievement
prize and the excellence in driving award.
1999 found Memo making his Champ Car debut in Portland, Oregon
at the G.I. Joe’s 200. Gidley was given the opportunity with
Walker Motorsports after regular driver Naoki Hattori was injured
in a racing accident. With only three days of testing, the 28-year-old
rookie drove from 25th to 15th. The following race in Cleveland
gave Memo his first taste of rain in a ChampCar. After qualifying
21st, Memo drove through heavy rain and spinning cars to an impressive
11th place finish, scoring points in his second ever ChampCar race.
Memo continued with Walker for two additional races, scoring points
in Toronto.
Memo’s impressive results with the Derrick Walker team led
to interest and a six race contract with the Payton-Coyne Herdez
ChampCar team. Memo, driving a Ford powered Lola, finished an average
of 12th, scored points in two additional races and finished the
1999 season third in Rookie Of The Year points, having only competed
in ten of the twenty Fed Ex/CART races.
In 1999, Memo was also asked to drive the Panoz Spyder GT-1 Roadster
in the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in September. Driving
alongside team drivers Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnusson,
the group qualified third, ran between second and third during the
race before an engine miscue dropped them to fifth overall.
In addition, Memo competed and won the 1999 SKUSA North American
ShifterKart Championships in Las Vegas, NV. Driving for longtime
kart sponsor TrackMagic, Memo qualified on pole, won all his heat
races and drove away to a 2.2 second victory over 70 of the best
125cc kart racers from North America. Gidley has competed in this
event three times and is the only driver ever to win the US ShifterKart
Championships twice.
The beginning of the 2000 season saw Memo compete in his first
24 Hours Of Daytona teamed up alongside ex-Formula One and IndyCar
driver Stefan Johansson, Indy Lights driver Guy Smith and team owner
Jim Mathews. Although qualifying fourth, the team dropped from third
to 23rd in the GT-1 field after multiple gearbox problems.
April 2000 saw Memo blaze through his rookie test at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway in just 71 minutes and on one set of tires. Memo
was driving a year old Dallara loaned to him by Dale Pelfrey. Memo’s
break came after Pelfry contacted him at 10:30 p.m. the night before
his eye-opening run.
In 2000 Memo also competed in a total 12 CART/Fed Ex Series races
for two different teams. It began in April when Memo was asked to
fill in for injured regular driver, Patrick Carpentier in the #32
Players/Forsythe Ford Reynard. Memo competed in Long Beach, Brazil,
and Japan finished a then career best 8th in Brazil, and led his
first ChampCar lap in Long Beach before a fuel pickup problem ended
his race. Shortly after his Players stint ended, Memo was drafted
by Della Penna Motorsports to fill in at the Michigan 500 for their
regular driver Noberto Fontana who lacked oval experience. Memo
finished in 10th place, the team’s best finish of the season.
Due to his impressive result, Della Penna Motorsports announced
that Memo would run the remaining eight races of the season with
the team. His signing with Della Penna produced some excellent results:
including 10th at Michigan, 10th at Chicago, 12 th at Mid-Ohio,
and a career best 6 th at Road America scoring in total 20 CART/Fed
Ex Championship season points.
In 2001 Gidley, for the third time, saw the FedEx ChampCar season
start without him in the lineup. While continuing to drive his trusty,
but well worn Toyota pickup (helmets and driving suits in the back)
to all of the CART and most IRL races, in hopes of landing a full-time
ride, he stayed "sharp" by working out four hours a day
and running his shifter kart every day he wasn't on the road. After
a near miss (by only 40 inches over the ten mile qualifying run
or less than 2/100’s of a second) at making the 2001 Indy
500, aboard The Cure Autism Now, Dallara/IRL Car (after only four
laps of practice), Gidley received the call of a lifetime: Chip
Ganassi, owner of the four-time CART/Fed Ex Champions and the 2000
Indy 500 winner, tapped Memo to replace rookie driver Nicolas Minassian
in the bright red number twelve, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Toyota-powered
Lola for the final fifteen races of the 2001 season. Gidley exploded
on the scene with a second place finish at Cleveland. He set the
fastest race lap and led nearly the entire race, before being cut
off near the end, while trying to get around a lapped car. Memo
went on to repay Ganassi’s belief with two 2nd’s, a
3rd, a 5th, two top 10 and four top 5, finishes. He also finished
5th in overall laps led (with six less races than everyone else)
and completed the season, 7th overall, in finishes per start (all,
without a single day of pre or during season testing). |
