Aaron Telitz

Aaron Telitz (born December 13, 1991) is an American race car driver. He currently competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving for AIM Vasser Sullivan.

Aaron Telitz
Telitz at Road America in 2018
Nationality American
Born (1991-12-13) December 13, 1991
Birchwood, Wisconsin
Indy Lights career
Debut season2017
Current teamBelardi Auto Racing
Car number4
Starts39
Wins3
Poles3
Fastest laps4
Previous series
2014–2015
2016		U.S. F2000 National Championship
Pro Mazda Championship
Awards
2014Team USA Scholarship

Career

Born in Birchwood, Wisconsin, Telitz began his racing career in karting in 1998. He remained in karting until 2012. In 2014, Telitz moved into open-wheel racing, competing in the U.S. F2000 National Championship with ArmsUp Motorsports. He claimed a win and six podiums in 14 races, ending fourth in the season standings. Telitz returned to the series in 2015, moving to Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing. He got a win and 11 podiums in 16 races, finishing third in the final classification.

In 2016, Telitz moved up the Road to Indy ladder, graduating into the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey.[1] He collected six wins and six second place finishes in 16 races, claiming the championship over teammate Patricio O'Ward.

Telitz's 2018 Indy Lights car at Road America

Belardi Auto Racing signed Telitz for the 2017 Indy Lights season, and he scored a second-place finish in the Freedom 100.[2] He stayed with the team for the following year.[3] Also during 2018, Telitz tested an IndyCar for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.[4]

After not finding enough funding to remain in open-wheel racing for 2019, Telitz was contacted by Jimmy Vasser in late 2018 to compete for his WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team for the four endurance championship events, starting with the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona with co-drivers Townsend Bell, Frankie Montecalvo and Jeff Segal. As part of the deal, Telitz would accompany Vasser's IMSA and IndyCar teams to all other events in hopes of moving to the IndyCar operation.[5] He started off the season with a second place at Daytona.[6]

Telitz still found his way into open-wheel racing during 2019; however, as he signed with Belardi for the Freedom 100, which was derailed with a broken half shaft.[7] A month later, he returned to Belardi for his home event at Road America.[8] His schedule expanded as the season went on, eventually winning a Lights contest in Toronto.[9]

For 2020, Telitz initially re-upped with AVS Vasser Sullivan for four WTSCC endurance events. That schedule was expanded to a full-time ride in June when original full-time driver Parker Chase found that the reconfigured schedule would clash with his educational pursuits.[10]

Personal life

Telitz is a painter and during his 2018 season sold paintings to pay for crash damage.[3]

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2014 U.S. F2000 National Championship ArmsUp Motorsports 14 1 0 1 6 246 4th
2015 U.S. F2000 National Championship Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing 16 1 0 3 11 348 3rd
2016 Pro Mazda Championship Team Pelfrey 16 6 10 4 13 421 1st
2017 Indy Lights Belardi Auto Racing 16 2 1 1 4 271 6th
2018 Indy Lights Belardi Auto Racing 16 0 1 1 5 316 6th
2019 Indy Lights Belardi Auto Racing 7 1 1 2 2 133 9th
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD AIM Vasser Sullivan 4 0 0 0 1 96 25th
2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD AIM Vasser Sullivan 11 3 4 0 5 267 3rd
2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD Vasser Sullivan Racing 1 0 0 0 0 178 15th*

* Season still in progress.

U.S. F2000 National Championship
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2014 ArmsUp Motorsports STP
16		 STP
12		 BAR
5		 BAR
2		 IMS
3		 IMS
11		 LOR
1		 TOR
6		 TOR
3		 MDO
7		 MDO
2		 MDO
7		 SNM
2		 SNM
4		 4th 246
2015 Cape Motorsports
Wayne Taylor Racing		 STP
2		 STP
2		 NOL
2		 NOL
16		 BAR
1		 BAR
4		 IMS
3		 IMS
2		 LOR
3		 TOR
6		 TOR
5		 MDO
3		 MDO
3		 MDO
2		 LAG
4		 LAG
2		 3rd 348

Pro Mazda Championship
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2016 Team Pelfrey STP
2		 STP
1		 ALA
2		 ALA
2		 IMS
7		 IMS
2		 LOR
5		 RDA
1		 RDA
1		 TOR
1		 TOR
1		 MOH
2		 MOH
3		 LGA
2		 LGA
5		 LGA
1		 1st 421

Indy Lights
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2017 Belardi Auto Racing STP
1		 STP
5		 ALA
13		 ALA
5		 IMS
6		 IMS
13		 INDY
2		 RDA
11		 RDA
5		 IOW
9		 TOR
5		 TOR
2		 MDO
8		 MDO
5		 GMP
15		 WGL
1		 6th 271
2018 Belardi Auto Racing STP
DNS		 STP
9		 ALA
8		 ALA
4		 IMS
3		 IMS
2		 INDY
6		 RDA
5		 RDA
3		 IOW
7		 TOR
4		 TOR
3		 MDO
7		 MDO
7		 GTW
5		 POR
6		 POR
2		 6th 316
2019 Belardi Auto Racing STP
 STP
 COA
 COA
 IMS IMS INDY
9		 RDA
3		 RDA
5		 TOR
1		 TOR
6		 MDO
8		 MDO
6		 GTW POR POR LAG LAG 9th 133

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2019 AIM Vasser Sullivan GTD Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 5.0 L V8 DAY
2		 SEB
9		 MDO DET WGL
9		 MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET
11		 25th 96
2020 AIM Vasser Sullivan GTD Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 5.0 L V8 DAY
12		 DAY
1		 SEB
1†		 ELK
3		 VIR
4		 ATL
5		 MDO
1		 CLT
8		 PET
2		 LGA
11		 SEB
12		 3rd 267
2021 Vasser Sullivan Racing GTD Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 5.0 L V8 DAY
16		 SEB
 MDO
 DET
 WGL
 MOS
 LIM
 ELK
 VIR
 LGA
 LBH
 PET
 15th* 178*

† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship. * Season still in progress.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Telitz thrilled with second place in Freedom 100". IndyCar on NBC. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  3. Kallman, Dave. "Indianapolis 500 hopeful Aaron Teltiz sells paintings to stay on track". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  4. Pruett, Marshall. "Telitz finding unique ways to pay off crash damage". RACER. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  5. Kallman, Dave. "Sports cars might not be the detour they seem for Indy hopeful Aaron Telitz". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  6. Glendenning, Mark. "AIM Vasser Sullivan tie validates Telitz's IndyCar ambitions". RACER. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  7. "Tough Going for Belardi Auto Racing in the Freedom 100". Indy Lights. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  8. "Telitz returns to Belardi Indy Lights team for Road America". RACER. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  9. Allan, Lance (October 7, 2019). "Wisconsin native hoping for call-up to IndyCar Series". WMTJ. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  10. Allaway, Phil (June 24, 2020). "Aaron Telitz to Drive Remainder of 2020 for AVS Vasser Sullivan". Frontstretch. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Santiago Urrutia		 Pro Mazda
Champion
2016		 Succeeded by
Victor Franzoni
Preceded by
Zach Robichon		 WeatherTech Sprint Cup
Champion
2020
With: Jack Hawksworth		 Succeeded by
Incumbent

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