Today marks nine years since Tony Renna, who had signed for Target Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2004 IndyCar season, passed away in a testing accident at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at age 26.
Renna succeeded in Indy Lights competition in the late 1990s for three seasons, where he was Scott Dixon's teammate at PacWest Racing in Dixon's championship season of 2000.
Two years later, he got an IndyCar call-up to replace Al Unser Jr. at Kelley Racing in 2002. A fourth-place finish in his second start at Michigan secured him a third car for the remainder of the season.
He reprised the role in the 2003 Indianapolis 500, qualifying eighth and finishing seventh. He was set to replace Tomas Scheckter at Ganassi before his fatal accident, with his place subsequently taken by Darren Manning.