Jigger Sirois

Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois (born April 16, 1935) is a former American racing driver.

Though he never qualified for the Indianapolis 500, Sirois is most known in racing circles for events surrounding his qualifying attempt in 1969. He took to the track on Pole Day and achieved a speed of 161.535 mph before his qualifying attempt was called off by his car owner (who thought the speed was not fast enough to make the race). Shortly afterwards, it began to rain, and qualifying was washed out. If Sirois had completed his qualification attempt, he would have won the pole (as the race's slowest qualifier's speed of 160.851 mph was not enough to bump Sirois). However, he made two more unsuccessful qualifying attempts and did not make the field. After that he came back to attempt to make the field every year up until 1975, failing to make the field every time. Outside of the Indy 500, he made 10 other starts in USAC Championship Car racing. His best finish was 5th place at Phoenix International Raceway in 1969.

Sirois is the son of former Indy 500 mechanic Frenchy Sirois, who worked on the winning cars of Lee Wallard, Sam Hanks, and Jimmy Bryan. Jigger is named after driver Leon Duray.

The Jigger Award
In reflection of Sirois' infamous 1969 hard-luck qualifying gaffe, the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) created an annual award for the Indianapolis 500. The plaque consists of a gold-colored metal whiskey jigger attached to a base, awarded to the year's "hard-luck" driver during qualifying. Selection criteria is very loose, and "blanket" awards for the entire month have been selected on more than one occasion. However, the recipient is usually one of the last drivers bumped from the field, or a driver who fails to qualify (especially if he/she made several unsuccessful attempts). In 1991, car owner Roger Penske was voted the winner, after pulling Emerson Fittipaldi from the qualifying line on pole day. Shortly thereafter, it began to rain, and Fittipaldi lost his chance to qualify for the pole position.


 * 1969 Jigger Sirois
 * 1970 Tony Adamowicz
 * 1971 John Mahler
 * 1972 Art Pollard
 * 1973 Johnny Parsons, Jr.
 * 1974 Al Loquasto
 * 1975 AARWBA (for losing the trophy)
 * 1976 Salt Walther
 * 1977 Vern Schuppan
 * 1978 Larry Cannon & Roger Rager
 * 1979 USAC (race controversies)
 * 1980 Janet Guthrie
 * 1981 Bob Frey
 * 1982 Geoff Brabham
 * 1983 Johnny Rutherford
 * 1984 Bill Alsup
 * 1985 Chet Fillip
 * 1986 Mike Nish
 * 1987 Phil Krueger
 * 1988 Pancho Carter
 * 1989 Johnny Rutherford


 * 1990 Salt Walther
 * 1991 Roger Penske (owner of Emerson Fittipaldi's car)
 * 1992 Mike Groff
 * 1993 Robby Gordon (for causing A. J. Foyt's retirement)
 * 1994 Mark Smith ("Curse of the Smiths")
 * 1995 Emerson Fittipaldi
 * 1996 Two 500 miles races (Indy & Michigan)
 * 1997 25/8 rule
 * 1998 Scott Harrington
 * 1999 Mike Borkowski
 * 2000 Roberto Guerrero
 * 2001 Raul Boesel
 * 2002 Billy Roe
 * 2003 Jeff Ward
 * 2004 A. J. Foyt & Tony Stewart (for being "trouble makers")
 * 2005 Arie Luyendyk, Jr.
 * 2006 Marty Roth
 * 2007 P. J. Jones
 * 2008 Mario Dominguez
 * 2009 Bruno Junqueira
 * 2010 Jay Howard
 * 2011
 * 2012 Jean Alesi