1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series explained

The 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 8th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 17 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Chip Robinson. The 1986 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500, and would later become the first driver since 1980 to win Indy and the CART championship in the same season.

The first two races of the season were won by Kevin Cogan (Phoenix) and Michael Andretti (Long Beach), respectively, the first career wins for both drivers on the CART circuit. Rain delayed the Indianapolis 500, postponing it for six days. Bobby Rahal, driving for Truesports, passed Kevin Cogan with two laps to go, and won for car owner Jim Trueman, who was stricken with cancer. Trueman died less than two weeks later.

The season would shape up as a two-man battle between Rahal and Michael Andretti. Andretti won at Milwaukee, which put him in the points lead for the first time. On Father's Day, Andretti was leading on the final lap at Portland. His car ran out of fuel on the final turn of the final lap, and his father Mario beat him to the finish line by 0.07 seconds. It would go down in lore as one of the most shocking finishes in Indy car history, as well as the closest finish in Indy car history on a road course (until 1997).

Rahal was back in victory lane in July, winning the inaugural Molson Indy Toronto, but Michael Andretti still held the points lead. Rahal won four out of five races during a stretch in August and September, and emerged with a 9-point lead in the standings with two races left. Michael Andretti won a key victory at the second-to-last race of the season at Phoenix, while Rahal finished 3rd.

Going into the season finale at Tamiami Park, Rahal held a scant 3-point lead over Andretti. Neither driver was a factor at Miami, and just past the halfway point, Andretti dropped out with a broken halfshaft. Rahal effectively clinched the championship when Andretti dropped out. Roberto Guerrero won the pole and dominated the race, leading the first 111 laps. But on the final lap, his car sputtered and he ran out of fuel. Al Unser Jr. slipped by to steal the victory, his lone win of 1986. Unser Jr. won from 19th starting position, the furthest back any driver had won a CART road/street course race at the time.

Drivers and Teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1986 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires.

TeamChassisEngineNo*DriversRounds
Bignotti-Cotter RacingMarch 86CCosworth DFX2 (5) Roberto GuerreroAll
Curb-All American RacersMarch 86CCosworth DFX33 Tom SnevaAll
66 Ed PimmAll except 8, 11-12, 14
Derek Daly8, 11-12, 14
Eagle 86GC98 Jan Lammers1-3
Dick Simon RacingLola T86/00Cosworth DFX22 Raul BoeselAll
23 Dick Simon3, 10, 12
Chip Robinson6-7, 17
Ian Ashley8, 11, 14
Galles RacingLola T86/00 (2-11, 13-17)[1]
March 86C(1, 12)[2] 		Cosworth DFX (1-4, 12-17)[3]
Honda/Judd (5-11)[4] 		8 Geoff BrabhamAll
Lola T86/00Cosworth DFX9 Roberto Moreno1-11, 13-17
Pancho Carter12
153, 9-10
Hemelgarn RacingMarch 86C (1, 3, 9-10, 13)[5] Cosworth DFX (1, 9-10, 13)[6]
Buick V-6 (3)[7] 		71 Scott Brayton1, 3, 9-10, 13
Cosworth DFX Jacques Villeneuve Sr.2, 4-8, 11-12, 14-17
813
Kraco RacingMarch 86CCosworth DFX18 Michael AndrettiAll
Leader Card RacingMarch 86CCosworth DFX24 Gary Bettenhausen1, 3-4, 9-10, 12-13, 16
Dominic Dobson2, 5-8, 11, 14-15, 17
March 85C42 Phil Krueger3
Machinists Union RacingMarch 86CCosworth DFX55 Josele Garza1-11, 17
Johnny Parsons12-13, 16
Desiré Wilson14-15
5911
Chip Ganassi1, 3
Johnny Parsons4, 7, 9-10
953
Alex Morales MotorsportsMarch 86CCosworth DFX6 Rich Vogler3
21 Johnny RutherfordAll
Newman/Haas RacingLola T86/00Cosworth DFX5 (2) Mario AndrettiAll
Patrick RacingMarch 86CCosworth DFX7 Kevin CoganAll
20 Emerson FittipaldiAll
Penske RacingMarch 86C (1, 3-5, 7-11, 13-16)[8]
Penske PC-15 (2, 6, 12, 17)[9] 		Cosworth DFX (1, 3-5, 7-10)[10]
Chevy 265A (2, 6, 11-17)[11] 		1/ 86 (4) Rick MearsAll
March 86C (1-16)[12]
Penske PC-15 (17)		Cosworth DFX (1-16)[13]
Chevy 265A (17)		4 (1) Danny SullivanAll
March 86C (9-10, 17)
Penske PC-15 (1, 3)		Chevy 265A (1, 3, 9-10, 1711 Al Unser1, 3, 9-10, 17
Doug Shierson RacingLola T86/00Cosworth DFX30 Al Unser Jr.All
TruesportsMarch 86CCosworth DFX3 Bobby RahalAll
Part-time entries <-- .....Indy 500 only entries and partial season entries........ -->
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesMarch 86CCosworth DFX14 A. J. Foyt1, 3-4, 9-10, 13, 16-17
Chevy V644 Mike Nish3
Cosworth DFX84 George Snider3, 9
Sammy Swindell10
Arciero RacingMarch 86CMarch 85C (11, 13)Cosworth DFX12 Randy Lanier1-9
Steve Chassey11, 14-16
Eddie Cheever17
Jeff MacPherson13
Bettenhausen MotorsportsMarch 86CCosworth DFX16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr.3
Lola T86/00/ March 86C61 Arie LuyendykAll except 5 and 12
Dale Coyne RacingCoyne DC-1Chevy19 Dale CoyneAll except 3-4
Gohr RacingMarch 86CBuick V-6 (Until Mid-Ohio)Cosworth DFX56 Steve Chassey3-4, 9
Rocky Moran6-7, 10-11, 13-17
John Morton8
March 85CBuick V-665 Rupert Keegan3
J.P. RacingLola T900Cosworth DFX10 Spike Gehlhausen3, 9-10, 13
March EngineeringMarch 86CBuick V-625 Danny Ongais3
31 Jim Crawford3
Mosquito AutosportMarch 85CCosworth DFX16 (19) Rick Miaskiewicz2-4, 6-8
Pace RacingLola T86/00Cosworth DFX36 Randy Lewis2, 6-8, 11, 14-15, 17
Dennis Firestone3, 9-10, 12, 13, 16
Team MenardMarch 86CCosworth DFX28 Herm Johnson3

Season Summary

Schedule

!Rd!Date!Name!Circuit!Location!TV Broadcaster
1April 6 Dana 200 for Special Olympics Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaESPN
2April 13 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Streets of Long BeachLong Beach, CaliforniaNBC
3May 31* Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis, IndianaABC
4June 8** Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays Milwaukee MileWest Allis, WisconsinESPN
5June 15 Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Portland International RacewayPortland, OregonESPN
6June 29 Chase Grand Prix at the Meadowlands Meadowlands Sports ComplexEast Rutherford, New JerseyNBC
7July 6 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, OhioESPN
8July 20 Molson Indy Toronto Streets of TorontoToronto, OntarioESPN
9August 2 Michigan 500 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganNBC
10August 17 Domino's Pizza 500 Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, PennsylvaniaESPN
11August 31 Escort Radar Warning 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, OhioESPN
12September 7 Molson Indy Montreal Sanair Super SpeedwaySaint-Pie, QuebecESPN
13September 28 Pepsi Cola 250 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganESPN
14October 4*** Race For Life 200 Road AmericaElkhart Lake, WisconsinUntelevised
15October 12 Nissan Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300 Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, CaliforniaESPN
16October 19 Circle K/Fiesta Bowl 200 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaESPN
17November 9 Nissan Indy Challenge Tamiami ParkMiami, FloridaNBC
Oval/Speedway
Road/Street course
NC Non-championship event
*The Indianapolis 500 was scheduled for May 25, but postponed due to rain.
**The Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays was scheduled for June 1, but postponed due to the delay of running the Indianapolis 500 on May 31.
***The Road America race was started on September 21, but stopped after a few laps due to rain, the rest was run on October 4.

Race results

RdEvent NamePole PositionWinnerWinning teamRace time
1Dana 200 for Special Olympics Mario Andretti Kevin CoganPatrick Racing1:39:42
2Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Danny Sullivan Michael AndrettiKraco Racing1:57:34
3Indianapolis 500 Rick Mears Bobby RahalTruesports2:55:43
4Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays Michael Andretti Michael AndrettiKraco Racing1:42:45
5Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Emerson Fittipaldi Mario AndrettiNewman/Haas Racing1:50:53
6Chase Grand Prix at the Meadowlands Michael Andretti Danny SullivanTeam Penske1:49:17
7Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Danny Sullivan Danny SullivanTeam Penske1:43:01
8Molson Indy Toronto Emerson Fittipaldi Bobby RahalTruesports2:05:50
9Michigan 500 Rick Mears Johnny RutherfordAlex Morales Motorsports3:38:45
10Domino's Pizza 500 Michael Andretti Mario AndrettiNewman/Haas Racing3:17:13
11Escort Radar Warning 200 Mario Andretti Bobby RahalTruesports1:56:18
12Molson Indy Montreal Rick Mears Bobby RahalTruesports1:48:05
13Pepsi Cola 250 Rick Mears Bobby RahalTruesports1:22:33
14Race for Life 200 Bobby Rahal Emerson FittipaldiPatrick Racing2:26:42
15Champion Spark Plug 300k Mario Andretti Bobby RahalTruesports1:33:20
16Circle K/Fiesta Bowl 200 Bobby Rahal Michael AndrettiKraco Racing1:29:06
17Nissan Indy Challenge Roberto Guerrero Al Unser Jr.Doug Shierson Racing1:52:45

Drivers points standings

See also: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems.

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  2. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  3. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  4. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  5. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  6. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  7. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  8. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  9. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  10. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  11. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  12. Web site: Driver Season Stats.
  13. Web site: Driver Season Stats.

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