1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series explained

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.

This was the final year in which March Engineering chassis were run.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No	Drivers	Notes
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	3	Michael Andretti	All
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	6	Mario Andretti	All
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	11/28	Scott Goodyear	All
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	30	Arie Luyendyk	All
Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	Goodyear	20	Roberto Guerrero	All except 9
Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	40	Al Unser	3, 10
Porsche North America	March	Porsche	Goodyear	4	Teo Fabi	All
Porsche North America	March	Porsche	41	John Andretti	All
Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	Goodyear	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	All
			2	Rick Mears	All
			7	Danny Sullivan	All
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	5	Al Unser Jr.	All
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	18	Bobby Rahal	All
Truesports	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	8/19	Raul Boesel	All
Truesports	Lola	Judd	21	Geoff Brabham	3
Chip Ganassi Racing	Penske/Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	15/25	Eddie Cheever	All
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	29	Pancho Carter	1, 3-10
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	11, 13, 16
U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	44	Jeff Wood	1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	Goodyear	16	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All except 1, 12, and 16
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	Guido Daccò	2
Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	50	Guido Daccò	1
Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	Mike Groff	3, 5-16
Greenfield Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	42	Michael Greenfield	4, 7-9, 11, 13-15
Team Menard	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	51/15	Jim Crawford	1, 3
Team Menard	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	51	Gary Bettenhausen	3
Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick/Cosworth	Goodyear	12	Randy Lewis	All
				24	Steve Bren	2
				24	Buddy Lazier	10
				8	Rich Vogler	3
Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	10	Hiro Matsushita	2, 5-6, 8, 11-16
				22	Scott Brayton	All
				23/10	Tero Palmroth	3, 6, 8, 10
				23	Joe Sposato	16
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	19/39	Dean Hall	All except 15
Gohr Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	56	Rocky Moran	3
					Jon Beekhuis	10
					John Morton	6
					Fulvio Ballabio	16
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	14	A. J. Foyt	All except 15-16
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	14	Didier Theys	16
Vince Granatelli Racing	Lola/Penske	Buick	Goodyear	9/70	Didier Theys	1-3, 5-9, 11-13
				11	Kevin Cogan	3
				9	Tom Sneva	3
Bayside Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	86	Dominic Dobson	1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
P. I. G. Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	31	Jon Beekhuis	2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16
Raynor Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	25	Willy T. Ribbs	2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16
Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	93	John Paul Jr.	3
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	71/81	Bill Vukovich III	3, 10
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	71/91	Buddy Lazier	3, 5-7, 9, 11-15
Kent Baker Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	97	Stan Fox	3
Andale Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	69	Bernard Jourdain	3
Burns Racing Team	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	66	Guido Daccò	3
TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27/98	Jeff Andretti	3-4
TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	98	Kenji Momota	3
Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Kevin Cogan	10
Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Johnny Rutherford	3
Walther Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	77	Salt Walther	3, 10
Nu-Tech Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	33	Guido Daccò	5, 9, 14-16
Spirit of Vancouver	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27	Ross Bentley	12

Season Summary

Schedule

Two new races were added to the schedule in the form of street courses at Denver and Vancouver. Pocono was dropped from the schedule with the series citing safety concerns.

Rd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	April 8	Autoworks 200 Presented by Phoenix International Raceway and the Fiesta Bowl	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
2	April 22	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California
3	May 27	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
4	June 3	Miller Genuine Draft 200, in Honor of Rex Mays	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
5	June 17	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan
6	June 24	Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
7	July 8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
8	July 15	Marlboro Grand Prix	Meadowlands Street Circuit	East Rutherford, New Jersey
9	July 22	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
10	August 5	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
11	August 26	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado
12	September 2	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia
13	September 16	Red Roof Inns 200 Presented by Budweiser	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
14	September 23	Texaco/Havoline 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
NC	October 6	Marlboro Challenge	Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
15	October 7	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
16	October 21	Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California

- The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.
Oval/Speedway
Road/Street course
Non-championship event

Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.

Race results

Rnd	Race Name		Winning driver	Winning team	Race time
1	Autoworks 200	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:35:01
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Al Unser Jr.	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:53:00
3	Indianapolis 500	Emerson Fittipaldi	Arie Luyendyk	Doug Shierson Racing	2:41:48
4	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Rick Mears	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:29:46
5	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:49:32
6	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:48:22
7	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Rick Mears	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:24
8	Marlboro Grand Prix	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:52:34
9	Molson Indy Toronto	Danny Sullivan	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:13:26
10	Marlboro 500	Emerson Fittipaldi	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:38:07
11	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Teo Fabi	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:00
12	Molson Indy Vancouver	Michael Andretti	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:13
13		Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:19:27
14	Texaco/Havoline 200	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:53:00
NC	Marlboro Challenge	Michael Andretti	Rick Mears	Team Penske	0:39:06
15	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Bobby Rahal	Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	1:46:28
16	Champion Spark Plug 300K	Danny Sullivan	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:45

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	MAR	NAZ	LAG	Pts
1	Al Unser Jr.	3	1*	4	1	27	3	15*	11	1*	1	1*	1*	3	4	3	16	2	210
2	Michael Andretti	20	4	20	5*	1*	1*	25	1*	2	15	5	20	1*	1	6*	5	3	181
3	Rick Mears	1*	6	5	2	4	5	8	2	12	14	7	4	7	3	1	2	4	168
4	Bobby Rahal	2	12	2	4	2	11	2	25	22	2	3	8	6	7	7	3	5	153
5	Emerson Fittipaldi	5	2	3*	3	7	9	3	6	20	17*	18	6	12	2	2	1*	6	144
6	Danny Sullivan	6	3	32	8	14	4	1	14	4	21	2	2	5	16*	8	18	1*	139
7	Mario Andretti	4	5	27	21	25	2	4	24	6	3	4	3	2	5	5	4	26	136
8	Arie Luyendyk	9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	4	17	9	90
9		7	13	8	11	3	19	16	21	3	4	20	14	4	9	10	6	10	80
10	John Andretti	17	21	21	7	22	21	5	7	13	7	6	5	13	22		19	8	51
11	A. J. Foyt	22	24	6	9	17	10	7	5	16	6	10	13	15	20				42
12	Raul Boesel	18	8	28	6	6	18	20	13	10	9	28	19	9	10		8	11	42
13	Scott Goodyear	10	17	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12		10	14	36
14	Teo Fabi	24	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	25	9	11	7	33
15	Scott Brayton	13	9	7	20	10	25	22	9	14	16	12	9	8	13		12	24	28
16	Roberto Guerrero	16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8		9	18	24
17				DNQ		15	23	9	26	11	11	14	22	10	17		7	15	17
18	Didier Theys	14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16				12	15
19	Dominic Dobson	23	15	22		26	24		8	8		25	11		19			20	12
20	Pancho Carter	8		29	15	9	15	14	18	18	18								9
21	Jon Beekhuis		16			18				25	8	22	21	24	11			27	7
22	Jeff Wood	11		DNQ		11		10	20	24	25	19		14	23			19	7
23	Kevin Cogan			9							20								4
24	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.		DNQ	26	13	16	17	12	10	26	22	24		20	DNS		22		4
25		15	18	17	16	23	14	11	19	19	23	23	15	11	15			21	4
26			20			20			23	27		26	10	27				13	3
27	Wally Dallenbach Jr.											11		18				25	2
28	Randy Lewis	21	22	14	14	12	16	21	22	17	12	16	17	28	21		20	22	2
29	Guido Daccò	12	23	DNQ		DNQ				23					14		13	16	1
30				DNQ		DNQ	13	24		DNS	26	DNQ	12	23	DNS		14		1
31			19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18		21	23	1
32					DNS			17	12	21		21		25	24		15		1
33	Tero Palmroth			12		28			27		DNS								1
34	Bill Vukovich III			24							13								0
35	Al Unser			13							Wth								0
36	Jim Crawford	19		15															0
37	John Paul Jr.			16															0
38				DNQ	17														0
39																		17	0
40													18						0
41	Geoff Brabham			19															0
42	Steve Bren		25																0
43	Rocky Moran			25															0
44	Tom Sneva			30															0
45	Gary Bettenhausen			31															0
46	Stan Fox			33															0
-	Fulvio Ballabio																	DNQ	0
-	Steve Barclay			DNQ															0
-	Steve Chassey			DNQ															0
-	Bernard Jourdain			DNQ															0
-	Kenji Momota			DNQ															0
-	John Morton					DNQ													0
-	Johnny Rutherford			DNQ															0
-	George Snider			DNQ															0
-	Rich Vogler			DNQ															0
-	Salt Walther			DNQ							DNS								0
Pos	Driver	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	MAR	NAZ	LAG	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th-6th place
Light Blue	7th-12th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 12)
Purple	Did not finish
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

align=center colspan=2

In-line notation

Bold

Pole position

Italics

Ran fastest race lap

*| align=center|Led most race laps|-|style="text-align:center"| |align=center|Rookie of the Year|-|style="text-align:center"| |align=center|Rookie|}|}|}

Nations' Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos	Country	PHX	LBH	INDY		DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts
1		1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	312
2		5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6	151
3		9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9	90
4		10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14	39
5		12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7	33
6		16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18	24
7		14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12	15
8			19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23	1
9				12		28			27		DNS							1
10		19		15														0
11				19														0
				DNQ														0
Pos	Country	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Lola T9000/T8900/T8800/T8700	318
2	Penske PC-19/PC-18/PC-17	264
3	March 90P/90CA/89P	75
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Chevrolet A	351
2	Porsche	72
3	Cosworth DFS/TC/DFX	72
3	Judd	59
4	Alfa Romeo	24
5	Buick	22
Pos	Engine	Pts

References

Web site: 1990 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings. race-database.com. 2010-12-06.
Web site: PPG Indy Car World Series 1990. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-19.
Web site: 1990 PPG Indy Car World Series. Champ Car Stats. 2009-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20090511144420/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1990.htm. 11 May 2009 . live.
Web site: Official Box Score: 74th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2009-05-19. 2008-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20080514015215/http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1990. dead.
Web site: Standings after Laguna Seca . Champ Car World Series . 2009-05-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080405124006/http://champcar.ws/Results/Standings.asp?Year=1990 . April 5, 2008 .