1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series


The 1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 12th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 16 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Al Unser, Jr. was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Eddie Cheever. The 1990 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Arie Luyendyk won the Indy 500, his first-ever victory in championship-level competition, and the fastest 500 until the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
Al Unser, Jr. won a total of six races, one pole position, and had a total of ten podium finishes en route to the championship. He finished 4th at Indy, and won his first career oval race a week later at Milwaukee. He also tied a series record by winning four consecutive races during a stretch in July–August. Unser's victory at the Michigan 500 was his first superspeedway win. Michael Andretti was Unser's nearest competitor, winning five races and four poles. Andretti narrowed Unser's points lead to 37 points with two key victories late in the season. In the second-to-last race of the season at Nazareth, Unser crashed out, giving Andretti a huge opportunity to close the gap. Andretti managed only a 6th-place finish, and could not capitalize on Unser's misfortune. Unser left Nazareth with a 27-point lead, enough to clinch the championship regardless of the results at the season finale at Laguna Seca.
For 1990, Bobby Rahal's team owned by Maurice Kranes merged with Rick Galles's and it became a two-car effort known as Galles-KRACO Racing. Al Unser, Jr. and Rahal became teammates, and Rahal got use of the Chevy Ilmor V-8 engine for the first time. Despite the upgrade in equipment, Rahal suffered a snake bitten season in 1990, finishing second five times, including runner-up finishes at both the Indy 500 and the Michigan 500. Despite finishing in the points in 14 races, it was the first season of his Indy car career he failed to win any races, and he managed only a 4th-place ranking in the final championship standings. Other team and driver shifts for 1990 included shake-ups at Penske and Patrick. Emerson Fittipaldi left Patrick Racing to join the Penske, and the original Patrick Racing Team transferred ownership to Chip Ganassi to become Chip Ganassi Racing. Pat Patrick returned with a new team, taking over the Alfa Romeo Indy car effort.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series.
TeamChassisEngineTiresNoDriversNotes
Newman/Haas RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear3 Michael AndrettiAll
Newman/Haas RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear6 Mario AndrettiAll
Doug Shierson RacingLolaJuddGoodyear11/28 Scott GoodyearAll
Doug Shierson RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear30 Arie LuyendykAll
Patrick RacingMarch/ LolaAlfa RomeoGoodyear20 Roberto GuerreroAll except 9
Patrick RacingMarch/ LolaAlfa RomeoGoodyear40 Al Unser3, 10
Porsche North AmericaMarchPorscheGoodyear4 Teo FabiAll
Porsche North AmericaMarchPorscheGoodyear41 John AndrettiAll
Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear1 Emerson FittipaldiAll
Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear2 Rick MearsAll
Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear7 Danny SullivanAll
Galles-Kraco RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear5 Al Unser, Jr.All
Galles-Kraco RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear18 Bobby RahalAll
TruesportsLolaJuddGoodyear8/19 Raul BoeselAll
TruesportsLolaJuddGoodyear21 Geoff Brabham3
Chip Ganassi RacingPenske/LolaChevroletGoodyear15/25 Eddie CheeverAll
Leader Card RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear29 Pancho Carter1, 3-10
Leader Card RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear29 Wally Dallenbach, Jr.11, 13, 16
U.S. EngineeringLolaCosworthGoodyear44 Jeff Wood1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16
Bettenhausen MotorsportsLolaCosworth/BuickGoodyear16 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.All except 1, 12, and 16
Bettenhausen MotorsportsLolaCosworth/BuickGoodyear16 Guido Daccò2
EuromotorsportLolaCosworthGoodyear50 Guido Daccò1
EuromotorsportLolaCosworthGoodyear50 Mike Groff3, 5-16
Greenfield EngineeringLolaCosworthGoodyear42 Michael Greenfield4, 7-9, 11, 13-15
Team MenardLolaBuickGoodyear51/15 Jim Crawford1, 3
Team MenardLolaBuickGoodyear51 Gary Bettenhausen3
Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/CosworthGoodyear12 Randy LewisAll
Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/CosworthGoodyear24 Steve Bren2
Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/CosworthGoodyear24 Buddy Lazier10
Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/CosworthGoodyear8 Rich Vogler3
Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear10 Hiro Matsushita2, 5-6, 8, 11-16
Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear22 Scott BraytonAll
Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear23/10 Tero Palmroth3, 6, 8, 10
Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear23 Joe Sposato16
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear19/39 Dean HallAll except 15
Gohr RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear56 Rocky Moran3
Gohr RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear56 Jon Beekhuis10
Gohr RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear56 John Morton6
Gohr RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear56 Fulvio Ballabio16
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLolaChevroletGoodyear14 A. J. FoytAll except 15-16
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLolaChevroletGoodyear14 Didier Theys16
Vince Granatelli RacingLola/PenskeBuickGoodyear9/70 Didier Theys1-3, 5-9, 11-13
Vince Granatelli RacingLola/PenskeBuickGoodyear11 Kevin Cogan3
Vince Granatelli RacingLola/PenskeBuickGoodyear9 Tom Sneva3
Bayside MotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear86 Dominic Dobson1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
P. I. G. RacingLolaJuddGoodyear31 Jon Beekhuis2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16
Raynor RacingLolaJuddGoodyear25 Willy T. Ribbs2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16
Mann MotorsportsLolaBuickGoodyear93 John Paul, Jr.3
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuickGoodyear71/81 Bill Vukovich III3, 10
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuickGoodyear71/91 Buddy Lazier3, 5-7, 9, 11-15
Kent Baker RacingLolaBuickGoodyear97 Stan Fox3
Andale RacingLolaBuickGoodyear69 Bernard Jourdain3
Burns Racing TeamLolaJuddGoodyear66 Guido Daccò3
TEAMKAR InternationalLolaCosworthGoodyear27/98 Jeff Andretti3-4
TEAMKAR InternationalLolaCosworthGoodyear98 Kenji Momota3
Conseco RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear17 Kevin Cogan10
Conseco RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear17 Johnny Rutherford3
Walther MotorsportsPenskeCosworthGoodyear77 Salt Walther3, 10
Nu-Tech MotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear33 Guido Daccò5, 9, 14-16
Spirit of VancouverLolaCosworthGoodyear27 Ross Bentley12

Season Summary

Schedule

RdDateRace NameTrackCity
1April 8Autoworks 200 Phoenix International RacewayPhoenix, Arizona
2April 22Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California
3May 27Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana
4June 3Miller Genuine Draft 200 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin
5June 17Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Streets of DetroitDetroit, Michigan
6June 24Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200 Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon
7July 8Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio
8July 15Marlboro Grand Prix Meadowlands Street CircuitEast Rutherford, New Jersey
9July 22Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario
10August 5Marlboro 500 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan
11August 26Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Streets of DenverDenver, Colorado
12September 2Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of VancouverVancouver, British Columbia
13September 16Red Roof Inns 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio
14September 23Texaco-Havoline 200 Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin
NCOctober 6Marlboro Challenge Nazareth SpeedwayLehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
15October 7Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth SpeedwayLehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
16October 21Champion Spark Plug 300k Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California

- The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.
Oval/Speedway
Dedicated road course
Temporary street circuit
NC Non-championship event

Final driver standings

Nation's Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
PosCountryPHXLBHINDYMILDETPORCLEMEATORMICDENVANMDOROANAZLAGPts
11121111111111121312
2523369361091869216151
3971195664519132621617990
4101610108221817910872212101439
51210181224713315242716191411733
61614231821819155172426891824
7141111132023287925161215
819DNQ1912161523171821231
9122827DNS1
1019150
11190
DNQ0
PosCountryPHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIC DEN VAN MDO ROA NAZ LAG Pts

[Chassis] Constructor's Cup

PosChassisPts
1 Lola T9000/T8900/T8800/T8700318
2 Penske PC-19/PC-18/PC-17264
3 March 90P/90CA/89P75
PosChassisPts

[Engine] Manufacturer's Cup

PosEnginePts
1 Chevrolet A351
2 Porsche72
3 Cosworth DFS/TC/DFX72
3 Judd59
4 Alfa Romeo24
5 Buick22
PosEnginePts

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