Remembering Krosnoff on 20th anniversary of his death

Jeff Krosnoff

The 2016 Honda Indy Toronto marks the 20th anniversary of driver Jeff Krosnoff's death in a crash during the race, which also claimed the life of track marshal Gary Avrin. Racer.com's Marshall Pruett honored Krosnoff by resurrecting a six-part series he wrote on the driver's life five years ago. Pruett graciously permitted IndyCar.com to share memories of Krosnoff from friends and fellow competitors.

Krosnoff was a 31-year-old Indy car rookie who competed in just 11 races with Arciero-Wells Racing in the CART series before his untimely death July 14, 1996. He had built credibility as a factory driver in other racing disciplines with the likes of Toyota, Nissan and Jaguar before getting a chance to drive an Indy car.

Along the way, Krosnoff earned a host of admirers for his determination, typified by his motto to "Stay Hungry." Mike Hull is the managing director at Chip Ganassi Racing Teams and has been working in Indy car racing for nearly four decades. He said today's drivers would be wise to emulate Krosnoff.

"What Jeff represented to me was a guy that went out every day and got the most from what was given to him," Hull said. "And I think he was a success, very much a success, and showed the way that race drivers should represent themselves. Because if he was having a good day, he was getting the most out of it. If his day wasn't as successful, he was still getting the most from it.

Krosnoff's head about to hit steel column of bridge. A column that should never have been there.

"That's what I truly enjoyed about him was that positive attitude makes such a difference when you're working within a team environment," Hull continued. "You want somebody that's out there trying their darndest to get the most out of it in a very positive manner, and that was Jeff Krosnoff."

Bryan Herta, now co-owner of the Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian entry driven by Alexander Rossi, was in his third season as an Indy car driver in 1996 when he competed with Krosnoff.

"At the time," Herta said, "you don't think that he's just going to have a handful of races to be judged by after all these years. You think that he's working with a new team, a good team, but one that was still developing and a new engine that needs developing. … You just didn't really dwell on what he had right then because you expected a lot more to be right around the corner for him to show what he could really do. Unfortunately, that never happened for him."