Mark Donohue (Mark Neary Donohue, Jr.)

Mark Neary Donohue, Jr. (b. Summit, New Jersey, March 18, 1937 - d. Graz, Austria, August 19, 1975) was an American racecar driver.

He was graduated from Brown University with an engineering degree, and began racing sports cars casually at the age of 22. He got a break in 1966, catching early season rides at Daytona and Sebring, and was signed by Roger Penske to race USRRC and CanAm for the remainder of the season.

He dominated the 1967 USRRC championship, winning six of eight races, and the Trans-Am championship, winning ten of thirteen. He was the leading US sports car racer of the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning three Trans-Am championships between 1967 and 1971 and dominating the CanAm circuit as well.

In 1969 he was seventh in the Indianapolis 500, winning rookie of the year, and debuted in Formula One on September 19, 1971 with the McLaren team, finishing third.

Donohue won the 1972 Indianapolis 500, driving for Roger Penske, with a then record speed of 162 mph. On January 21, 1973, driving an AMC Matador for Penske at the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) race at Riverside, California, he won the season-opener and remains the last non-regular driver (road course ringer) to win. After winning the 1973 Race of Champions he announced his retirement, only to be lured back to full-time driving when Penske formed a Formula One team to compete in the final two events of the 1974 F1 World Championship, and then—to contest the entire 1975 season.

Donohue was the 1974 IROC champion. Donohue set the then world closed-course record driving a Porsche 917-30 at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama in August 9, 1975. His average speed was 221.120 mph. Mark Donohue was killed ten days later. The current record of 241.328 mph is held by Brazilian driver Gil de Ferran in a Reynard-Honda at California Speedway in Fontana, California on September 27, 1997, during practice for a CART race.

During practice for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix, Donohue lost control when a tire failed and he crashed into catch fencing. A track marshal was killed by debris from the accident, but Donohue didn't appear to be injured significantly. However, a resulting headache worsened and after going to the hospital the next day, Donohue lapsed into a coma from a brain hemorrhage, and died.

Donohue's racing legacy lives on in his son, David Donohue, who currently races a Daytona Prototype for Red Bull Brumos Racing in the Grand-Am racing series.