He is the son of Indycar racer Duane Carter. He was born while his parents were on the way to a race at the Milwaukee Mile. His father's nickname was "Pappy". Pappy referred to his wife's pregnancy as "little paunch," so they nicknamed the child Pancho. Carter is the half-brother of Johnny Parsons. His full brother, Dana Carter, also raced in USAC midgets, sprints and Silver Crown. He died of a heart attack in the early 1980s. Carter is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. He is married, to Carla; they have two children, and their son Cole is an aspiring racer.
Racing career
Midget cars
Carter's national career began while racing in a midget car. He won the 1972 USAC midget car championship. He won the 1972 and 1975Hut Hundred. He had 23 midget car feature wins by the time that he left the series in 1978.
Sprint cars
He won the 1974 and 1976 national USAC sprint car championships. He was the first driver to win the two USAC championships – midgets and sprint cars. He has wins in three USAC divisions – midgets, sprints and Silver Crown. On May 30, 1977, Carter won two USAC Midget features, one USAC sprint feature and finished second in the second USAC sprint feature at Salem Speedway on a day the temperatures were near 100 degrees. This was one day after he finished 15th in the Indianapolis 500. Carter ran well on dirt and pavement, but was exceptional on the paved high banks at Winchester and Salem, Ind., and Dayton, Ohio. He won the Joe James/Pat O'Conner Memorial race at the half-mile at Salem, Ind., on four consecutive occasions. Pancho was seriously injured during a testing crash at Phoenix International Speedway in November 1977. The injuries left him with a permanent disability in one of his legs that hampered his ability to perform well on road courses. He still ran very well on ovals. He made his return to racing at the end of March in 1978, winning a USAC Sprint race at the paved five-eighths mile Indianapolis Raceway Park on Saturday night and at the high-banked half-mile Winchester Speedway the next day – his first races back in the cockpit of a racecar. Carter was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.
Indy Cars
He drove his first Indianapolis 500 in 1974. He finished seventh, and was awarded the Rookie of the Year. In 1981 he finished third in the CART championship and captured his only Indy Car win at Michigan International Speedway. He finished third in the 1982 Indianapolis 500 behind the now-famous duel between Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears. In 1985, Carter drove the brand new Buick V6 engine to the pole position of the 1985 Indianapolis 500. He retired with mechanical problems after completing just six laps, becoming the first pole-sitter since Cliff Woodbury to finish dead-last. His last year as a full-time Indy Car driver was 1990 and his last appearance in an Indy Car was failing to qualify for the 1994 Indianapolis 500. In more recent years, Carter has served as a spotter for Sam Hornish, Jr., Vítor Meira, Dillon Battistini, Dan Wheldon, Martin Plowman and Adrián Campos Jr..In 2019 he was the spotter for Rookie Santino Ferrucci who also finished 7th and was Rookie of the Year as was Carter in his Indy 500 debut
