1992 PPG Indy Car World Series


The 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 14th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 16 races. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, his third career CART title. Stefan Johansson was named the Rookie of the Year. The 1992 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Al Unser, Jr. won the Indy 500 in the closest finish in the history of that event.
Starting in 1992, and continuing through 1996, the CART organization began operating under the name IndyCar. The term IndyCar was a registered trademark of IMS, Inc., and was licensed to CART from 1992–1996. The use of the term "CART" was curtailed in the series and in the media in favor of IndyCar during this period.
The circuit welcomed a new venue in 1992, New Hampshire International Speedway.
Bobby Rahal, who was in his first season as an owner/driver, won four races and three poles en route to the title. Rahal's three oval wins included a dominating wire-to-wire victory at Phoenix, where he led all 200 laps. Rahal fielded the "tried and true" Lola/Ilmor Chevrolet "A" combination. It was the final championship for the Ilmor Chevy A engine. Rahal managed to outperform the newer engines that joined the series in 1992, the Ford/Cosworth XB, as well as the Ilmor Chevy "B" engine, which was used by the Penske team. For the third time, Michael Andretti finished runner-up to Rahal in the points. Andretti promptly left Indy car racing the following year to race in Formula One.
A bevy of crashes, some serious, at the 1992 Indianapolis 500 injured several drivers, and shook up the driver lineup during parts of the season. Jovy Marcelo was fatally injured in a practice crash, while Nelson Piquet suffered devastating leg injures in another practice crash. Hiro Matsushita suffered a fractured leg and missed several races over the summer. Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Jimmy Vasser all sat out the race at Detroit while they recovered from injuries. In July, Mears dropped out of the Michigan 500 with nagging injuries, and ultimately sat out the rest of the season. Mears then unexpectedly retired from racing in December.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1992 Indy Car World Series season.
TeamChassisEngineTyresNoDriversRounds
Newman/Haas RacingLolaFord XB1 Michael AndrettiAll
Newman/Haas RacingLolaFord XB2 Mario Andretti1-4, 6-16
Newman/Haas RacingLolaFord XB2 Teo Fabi5
Chip Ganassi RacingLolaFord XB6 Arie Luyendyk4, 10
Chip Ganassi RacingLolaFord XB6 Robby Gordon5-7, 9, 11-13
Chip Ganassi RacingLolaFord XB6 Didier Theys16
Chip Ganassi RacingLolaFord XB9 Eddie CheeverAll
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevrolet4 Rick Mears1-4, 6-8, 10
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevrolet4 Paul Tracy5, 9, 11-13, 16
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevrolet4 Al Unser15
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevrolet5 Emerson FittipaldiAll
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevrolet7 Paul Tracy2, 4, 10, 14-15
Galles-Kraco RacingGalmerChevrolet3 Al Unser, Jr.All
Galles-Kraco RacingGalmerChevrolet18 Danny SullivanAll
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		15 Scott GoodyearAll
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 A. J. Foyt1
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Tero Palmroth2
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Johnny Rutherford4
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Jon Beekhuis10
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Mike Groff4-5, 12
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Dennis Vitolo14
Walker MotorsportLolaFord XB
Chevrolet		17 Willy T. Ribbs16
Rahal-Hogan RacingLolaChevrolet12 Bobby RahalAll
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		11 Hiro Matsushita1-3, 11-16
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		11 Raul Boesel4-8, 10
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		22 Scott Brayton1-10
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		23 Raul Boesel9, 11-16
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		44 Philippe Gache4
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		LolaChevrolet
Buick		90 Lyn St. James4
Hall/VDS RacingLolaChevrolet8 John AndrettiAll
Hall/VDS RacingLolaChevrolet38 Didier Theys4
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth19 Éric Bachelart1-7, 9-15
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth19 Dennis Vitolo10, 15-16
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth39 Ross Bentley1, 5-6, 9-13
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth39 Dennis Vitolo2
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth39 Brian Bonner4, 7-8, 14
Payton/Coyne RacingLolaCosworth39 Éric Bachelart16
Bettenhausen RacingPenskeChevrolet16 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.1-4, 6-7, 10
Bettenhausen RacingPenskeChevrolet16 Stefan Johansson5, 8-9, 11-16
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 Fabrizio Barbazza1-4
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 Johnny Parsons4
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 Jeff Wood5-10
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 Jacques Villeneuve, Sr.11-12
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 John Jones13-15
Arciero RacingLolaBuick30 Tero Palmroth16
Arciero RacingLolaBuick34 Jeff Wood4
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Nicola Marozzo1
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Vinicio Salmi6, 9, 12-13, 16
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Steve Chassey7-8, 10
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Tero Palmroth11
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Jeff Wood14
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth42 Guido Daccò15
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth50 Jovy Marcelo1-4
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth50 Christian Danner5, 9, 11-16
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth50 Nicola Marozzo6
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth50 Mike Groff7-8
EuromotorsportLolaCosworth50 George Snider10
Hayhoe-Cole RacingLolaFordXB
Chevrolet		17 Jimmy Vasser6, 11, 13
Hayhoe-Cole RacingLolaFordXB
Chevrolet		47 Jimmy Vasser1-4, 9, 14, 16
Leader Card RacingLolaBuick21 Buddy Lazier1-7, 9-16
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuick81 Pancho Carter4
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuick91 Stan Fox4
P.I.G. EnterprisesLolaChevrolet31 Ted Prappas1, 3-9, 11-16
TruesportsTruesportsChevrolet10 Scott PruettAll
RAL GroupTruesportsJudd24 Brian Till3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Gregor Foitek1, 3
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 George Snider2
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 A. J. Foyt2, 4
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Brian Bonner5
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Ross Cheever6-7, 11-13
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Pancho Carter8, 10
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Jon Beekhuis9
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet14 Mike Groff14-16
Gilmore RacingLolaChevrolet48 Jeff Andretti4
King MotorsportsLolaBuick26 Roberto Guerrero3
King MotorsportsLolaBuick26 Jim Crawford4
King MotorsportsLolaBuick36 Roberto Guerrero4
Menard RacingLolaBuick27 Al Unser4
Menard RacingLolaBuick51 Gary Bettenhausen4
Menard RacingLolaBuick59 Tom Sneva4
D.B. Mann DevelopmentLolaBuick93 John Paul, Jr.4
Burns RacingLolaChevrolet28 Dominic Dobson4
Burns RacingLolaBuick28 Jay Hill5
Burns RacingLolaCosworth28 Tony de Tommaso16
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuick92 Gordon Johncock4
TEAMKAR InternationalLolaChevrolet88 Kenji Momota4
Concept MotorsportsLolaBuick66 Mark Dismore4

Season Summary

Schedule

Oval/Speedway
Dedicated road course
Temporary street circuit
NC Non-championship event

Final driver standings


Note: Jovy Marcelo was killed in practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500. He was 27 years old.

Nation's Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
PosCountryPts
1 United States294
2 Brazil190
3 Canada137
4 Sweden47
5 Belgium11
6 Italy9
7 Japan3
8 Colombia1
9 Germany0
10 Netherlands0
11 Philippines0
12 Switzerland0
13 Scotland0
14 Finland0
15 France0
PosCountryPts

[Chassis] Constructor's Cup

PosChassisPts
1 Lola T9200/T9100/T9000311
2 Penske PC-21/PC-20218
3 Galmer G92170
4 Truesports 92C/91C68
PosChassisPts

[Engine] Manufacturer's Cup

PosEnginePts
1 Chevrolet A/B472
2 Ford XB232
3 Buick24
4 Judd8
5 Cosworth DFS2
PosEnginePts

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