Bill Sweedler

William "Bill" Sweedler (born 11 October 1966) is an American businessman and racing driver who last competed in the GTD class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship for TR3 Racing. He is a past IMSA champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, both for Scuderia Corsa.

Sweedler began working at Ralph Lauren in 1989,^[3] before founding Windsong Allegiance Group in 1994 and later working for Iconix Brand Group from 2005 to 2006.^[4] Towards the end of the year, Sweedler founded Windsong Global and five years later co-founded Tengram Capital Partners.^[5][6]

Sweedler made his car racing debut in 2007, racing in the SCCA Mazda MX-5 Cup for PRX Comosport on a part-time schedule.^[7] Two years in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA for Orbit Racing then ensued, as well as a campaign in the Challenge cup of the 2009 American Le Mans Series, in which he scored a lone podium at Lime Rock to finish fifth in points.^[8]

Switching to ALMS powerhouse Alex Job Racing for 2010,^[9] Sweedler took a best result of second at the 12 Hours of Sebring and three third-place finishes across the rest of the year to end the year fifth in the GT Challenge standings.^[10] Remaining with Alex Job Racing for 2011, Sweedler finished second at Long Beach, Baltimore and the Petit Le Mans as he rounded out the year fourth in the GT Challenge points.^[11] During 2011, Sweedler also made his 24 Hours of Daytona debut, driving for fellow Porsche outfit Chris Smith Racing in the GT class.^[12]

At the start of 2012, Sweedler continued with AJR to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, the latter of which he won in the GT Challenge class.^[13][14] For the rest of the year, Sweedler continued with the team as it fielded a Lotus Evora in the GT class,^[15] scoring a best result of sixth at VIR to end the year 17th in the class standings.^[16] Sweedler continued with the team for 2013 as they switched to a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2,^[17] taking a best result of fourth at Laguna Seca as he rounded out the season 15th in the GT standings.^[18]

Continuing with Ferrari machinery for 2014, Sweedler joined Level 5 Motorsports to compete in the newly-renamed United SportsCar Championship,^[19] with whom he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in GTD alongside Townsend Bell, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Jeff Segal and Scott Tucker.^[20] After Level 5 withdrew from the series after the race,^[21] Sweedler joined AIM Motorsport for the rest of the year,^[22] taking a pair of second-place finishes at Sebring and Watkins Glen en route to fourth in the points standings.^[23][24]

Joining Scuderia Corsa alongside Bell for the following season,^[25] Sweedler scored a lone win at VIR and a podium at the 12 Hours of Sebring to clinch the GTD title at season's end.^[26][27] During 2015, Sweedler also raced for the team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing third in LMGTE Am at his first appearance at the event.^[28] In 2016, Sweedler began the year with O'Gara Motorsport, driving a Lamborghini Huracán for the 24 Hours of Daytona,^[29] before switching to fellow Lamborghini customer team Change Racing for the following two rounds.^[30] During 2016, Sweedler also returned to Scuderia Corsa for a one-off round of the Pirelli World Challenge and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the latter of which resulted in a historic LMGTE Am win for the all-American trio.^[31]

The following year, Sweedler returned to now-Audi-aligned Alex Job Racing for select rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, scoring a best result of sixth twice and ending the year 25th in the GTD standings.^[32] During 2017, Sweedler also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Scuderia Corsa, finishing third in LMGTE Am in his third appearance at the event.^[33] In 2018, Sweedler remained with Scuderia Corsa to race in the endurance rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which he took a best result of fifth at the 24 Hours of Daytona.^[34] After a year on the sidelines, Sweedler made select appearances in GT World Challenge America for Lamborghini squad TR3 Racing in both 2020 and 2021,^[35][36] before competing with them in the 24 Hours of Daytona the following year in GTD.^[37]

^† As Sweedler was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Bill Sweedler career summary at DriverDB.com