Fast, funny, and fearless, red-haired Johnny O’Connell is as quick with a quip as he is with a race car. Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., this transplanted Yankee now lives in Flowery Branch, GA. He began his racing career in open-wheel cars but found a home at Corvette Racing. He shared the ALMS GT1 drivers championship with Ron Fellows in 2003-04 and was on board for Corvette Racing’s historic overall victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona and its first Le Man’s class victory in 2001.

O’Connell is recognized as one of North America’s most talented and versatile racing drivers. His racing career began in single-seaters. Competing professionally for the first time in the Formula Atlantic series in 1987, he won five races en route to the championship and Rookie of the Year honors. Success followed in the road racing arena, where O’Connell scored a class victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1993, an overall win in 1994, and another class victory in 1995. He also won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1994 in his first outing in the prestigious endurance race.

O’Connell subsequently ran a season of Indy Car and then returned to sports car racing with Panoz in the late 90s. He joined the factory Corvette effort in 2001, scoring an overall victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona in his first race behind the wheel of the Corvette C5-R, followed by Corvette Racing’s first class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Since then, he has helped G.M.’s factory team capture eight straight manufacturers titles. He shared the driver’s championship for the GTS class with teammate Fellows in 2003-04 and dominated the GT1 class with teammate Jan Magnussen in 2008, scoring eight wins en route to the class championship. O’Connell became the all-time leader in Sebring victories with their seventh career win on the historic circuit.

All the conclusion of the 2008 season, O’Connell held numerous ALMS records, including the most career starts (95), most podium finishes (74), most top-five finishes (87), and most top-10 finishes (93)

Johnny O’Connell is a three-time World Challenge G.T. Driver Champion. He races the number 3 Cadillac Racing ATS-VR Coupe. With back-to-back-to-back G.T. driver’s championships in 2012, 2013, and 2014 he was instrumental in Cadillac winning consecutive manufacturer titles. O’Connell’s intensity of attacking and defending in a battle is wicked.

It’s been well-defined that when the green flag drops, O’Connell is a force to be reckoned with on any day, in any car, on any track across the globe. O’Connell is the illusionist, an extraordinary magician that simply disappears at the starting line. But what makes O’Connell a pure racer is that his racecraft is exceptional and mesmerizing at systematizing agility, grip, weight transfer, and carrying speed that leaves others spellbound.