Charles J. Ciprich is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former racing driver from Sayre, Pennsylvania

Sayre, Pennsylvania

Sayre is the largest borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, northwest of Scranton. In the past, various iron products were made there. In 1900, 5,243 people lived there; in 1910, 6,426 people lived there, and in 1940, 7,569 persons made their homes in Sayre. The population was 5,813 at the 2000...

. A successful modified stock car racer

Stock car racing

Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

 who won numerous championships throughout the northeast, Ciprich tried his hand at Championship Car racing in 1983 and 1984. He first attempted to qualify for the 1983 Indianapolis 500

1983 Indianapolis 500

Results of the 1983 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1983.-Recap:Three-time runner up Tom Sneva is stuck behind the lapped car of Al Unser, Jr., who is helping protect the lead of his father Al Unser despite being shown the blue "move-over" flag...

 in an unsophisticated Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 powered Finley chassis fielded by Pace Racing. He made his CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 Champ Car debut later that year at Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...

 but qualified near the back of the field and was knocked out after 38 laps by a transmission failure. Ciprich and the Pace team arrived for the first oval race of the 1984 season at Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the Indycar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series...

 with a more advanced, yet year-old March

March Engineering

March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

-Cosworth

Cosworth

Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

 combination yet failed to make the field. Their attempt to qualify the car for the 1984 Indianapolis 500

1984 Indianapolis 500

Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,...

was equally unsuccessful and Ciprich returned to Modifieds. Ciprich retired some years later and now resides in Florida.