Formula One debut for
Footwork at the
1995 British Grand Prix. After a spell as the
Lotus team's test driver in , Papis replaced
Gianni Morbidelli in the
Footwork team for seven races in the middle of the
1995 Formula One season, as he brought valuable sponsorship to the cash-strapped outfit. Despite being a race-winner in
Formula 3000, he often struggled with the unfamiliar car, and was occasionally outpaced by his much-maligned teammate,
Taki Inoue. He also proved to be an unlucky driver, suffering a spectacular puncture and suspension failure on his début race at
Silverstone due to clipping the pit lane wall after a tire change, being left on the grid at
Hockenheim due to a transmission failure, and spinning on dust and oil kicked up by
David Coulthard at the Ascari Chicane on the first lap of the
Italian GP, causing a pile-up and a restart. However, Papis only missed out on a point in the restarted race when he was overtaken by
Jean-Christophe Boullion's
Sauber on the last lap. When Morbidelli returned, Papis was out of a drive and headed to America for 1996.
Champ Car Papis moved to
CART Champ Car racing in 1996 as a replacement for
Jeff Krosnoff, who was killed in the previous race in Toronto. In 1999, he joined the more competitive
Rahal team, almost winning the
US 500 before running out of fuel, and finishing fifth in the series. He started the next year by winning the 2000 season-opener, but failed to finish in the championship top-ten. In 2001, he won twice and finished sixth overall, but was dropped by the team, mainly due to two collisions with teammate
Kenny Bräck. In 2002, he competed with
Sigma Autosport, scoring two third places finishes at Long Beach and Milwaukee, before the team folded due to financial problems. He did a partial season with
PK Racing in 2003, with a best result of fourth at Road America. Papis also raced in the
2002 and
2006 Indianapolis 500s for
Cheever Racing, claiming a fourteenth place finish in his second appearance. He mostly concentrated on sportscars since 2001, remarking that "Champ Car needs me more than I need it" as the series struggled to fill its grid for 2003 after many teams defected to the
IRL.
IndyCar Papis raced in the IRL early in his career. He has raced for Roger Penske, Andretti-Green Racing and Panther Racing from 2001 to 2009. Papis is a long-time friend of drivers
Tony Kanaan and
Alex Zanardi. In 2013 at the Indianapolis 500, Papis and Zanardi were present in the victory celebration when Kanaan won his first Indy 500. In 2016, Papis was hired by the IndyCar Series as a race steward along with
Arie Luyendyk and Dan Davis.
ASCAR On 8 June 2003, Papis made his debut in the
ASCAR Racing Series by joining Team HTML in the British Stock Car racing series. He made his debut in Round 3 of the championship driving the No.68
Pontiac, placing fourteenth overall at
Rockingham Motor Speedway. This would be his only race during the season and he was replaced by
Derek Hayes for the rest of the season.
NASCAR Papis made his
NASCAR debut in August 2006, competing in the
Busch Series race at
Watkins Glen International Raceway for
McGill Motorsports following the release of
Tim Sauter from the ride. He attempted to qualify for the
NASCAR Cup Series race but failed to qualify. Papis also announced that he would run two races in 2007 for James Finch's
Phoenix Racing No. 01 Chevy. In his first race, at Montreal in the inaugural NAPA 200, Papis avoided
Marcos Ambrose' crash (caused by a disqualified
Robby Gordon), with two laps left, to finish in third place. At Watkins Glen the next week, his engine failed on lap 2. Papis made his Cup Series debut at
Infineon Raceway in 2008, piloting the No. 66
Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet in place of regular driver
Scott Riggs. He was also scheduled to drive the No. 64 car for
Rusty Wallace, Inc. on three road course races in the 2008 Nationwide Series. Haas CNC Racing hired Papis to drive the No. 70 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the course at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup Series in August 2008. He was announced as the driver of the No. 13 GEICO Toyota in eighteen races in the 2009 and a full-time ride in the 2010 Sprint Cup. In his first Cup season with a dedicated ride, Papis recorded a career best eighth-place finish at Watkins Glen and fifteenth starting position at Fontana. He also recorded twelfth place finish at Infineon Raceway. In February at Daytona in 2010, Papis had the fastest truck in the truck series event, nearly winning his first Truck series event after leading for some laps. Papis was collected in an accident with fifteen laps left in the race, while going towards the lead. After Watkins Glen in 2010, the team announced that Papis would be replaced by
Casey Mears for 2011 and Papis would race in the Truck Series for the team. Also in 2010, Papis recorded a top-thirty finish in the
Daytona 500, but failed to qualify at Bristol. He nearly had a top-ten running at Talladega but was caught up in an accident. At Montreal in the Nationwide Series, Papis drove for
Richard Childress Racing and while leading on the final lap, took too much of a last-turn curb, got passed by
Boris Said, and recorded a second-place finish. In 2011, Papis raced in the Truck Series partly for Germain, resulting in an eighteenth place finish in the standings. From 2011 to 2013, Papis had good runs on the road-course races but did not win any of them. In 2011 at Road America, he had a good car, but he was spun out by
Jacques Villeneuve with two laps left. When the race ended, Papis blocked Villeneuve's car on pit road and they argued. In 2012, Papis finished in fourth place at Road America. Also in 2012, Papis ran one race in
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at
Kawartha Speedway driving No. 24
Dodge for
Scott Steckly, he started sixteenth and finished 21st. In 2013 at
Road America, Papis, who spent nearly the entire race in the top five, found himself being spun out twice in the waning laps. When the race was over, a furious Papis went up to
Billy Johnson (who spun him out one of the times) and slapped him. After being separated by officials Papis and Johnson exchanged shouts ending with Papis walking off. When he spoke to reporters, Papis apologized for the slap. He posted a solid top 15 finish. Papis also competed in the inaugural
Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Richard Childress Racing, finishing in fourth place. Papis drove for
NTS Motorsports in the
Camping World Truck Series' inaugural race at
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the
2013 Chevrolet Silverado 250, in September 2013. Finishing 6th in the event, he was slapped following the race by the girlfriend of driver
Mike Skeen, who he had crashed with on the final lap, suffering a dislocated jaw. Also in 2013, Papis ran four races in the
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Elite 1 Division, he ran two races driving No. 33
Chevrolet for OverDrive team and two races driving No. 19 Chevrolet for his own team (Max Papis Racing). Papis had a best finish of second at
Tours Speedway. In 2014, Papis' team fielded the No. 99 car for the
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series for Kevin Gilardoni in the Elite 1 Division. In 2017, Papis ran one race in
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driving No. 13
Toyota for
Eric McClure at
Watkins Glen International, he started seventeenth and finished eighteenth after the engine blew.
Other racing In 2016, Papis made his debut in
Stadium Super Trucks series, running the
Honda Indy Toronto rounds in the No. 9 truck. He finished eleventh and seventh. =="Mad Max"==