Nelson Philippe

Nelson Philippe
Nelson Philippe at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2009.
Nationality	French
Born	Valence, Drôme
Related to	Richard Philippe (brother)
IRL IndyCar Series
Years active	2009
Teams	HVM Racing Conquest Racing
Starts	2
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	35th in 2009

Nelson Philippe (born July 23, 1986 in Valence, Drôme) is a French race car driver.

Philippe raced go-karts from 1998-2002. In 2003, he raced in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, finishing the season with one podium, and four top five finishes.

With just one year of experience in cars, Philippe tested with two Champ Car teams, before signing with Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports Racing team. At 17, he became the youngest driver to ever race in Champ Car.

Through the first five races of the 2004 season, Philippe generally stayed out of trouble but usually ran at the back of the pack. Philippe was abruptly dropped from the Rocketsports team before the Molson Indy Toronto. After sitting out several races, Philippe rejoined the series later in the year for Mi-Jack Conquest Racing. In 2005, he continued to race for the Conquest team alongside fellow teenager Andrew Ranger. Philippe made a total of 19 starts for Eric Bachelart's Conquest Racing in 2004 and 2005. Although he struggled with consistency, Phillippe often qualified and ran mid-pack, outpacing the more highly regarded Ranger towards the end of the year. While driving for Conquest in 2005, Philippe was voted by his peers as the Bosch Most Improved Driver in the Series, and won the award in 2006 as well.

For the 2006 season, Philippe moved to CTE-HVM Racing and earned his first podium finishes at Milwaukee and Montreal before claiming his first victory at Surfers Paradise. With his victory at Surfers Paradise, Philippe became the youngest winner in Champ Car World Series history, and again being awarded most improved driver in 2006. However, this success was not enough to find Philippe a drive in 2007, whose financial climate stipulated that most drivers had to bring money to the team to race, something Philippe refused to do after his 2006 success.