1992 PPG Indy Car World Series explained
The 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 14th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART (d.b.a "IndyCar"). The season consisted of 16 races. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, his third and final 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 to 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.
| Team | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | No | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|
| Newman/Haas Racing | Lola | Ford-Cosworth XB | | 1 |  Michael Andretti | All |
| 2 | Mario Andretti | 1-4, 6-16 |
 Teo Fabi | 5 |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | Lola | Ford-Cosworth XB | | 6 |  Arie Luyendyk | 4, 10 |
| Robby Gordon | 5-7, 9, 11-13 |
 Didier Theys | 16 |
| 9 | Eddie Cheever | All |
| Marlboro Team Penske | Penske | Chevrolet B | | 4 | Rick Mears | 1-4, 6-8, 10 |
 Paul Tracy | 5, 9, 11-13, 16 |
| Al Unser | 15 |
| 5 |  Emerson Fittipaldi | All |
| 7 | Paul Tracy | 2, 4, 10, 14-15 |
| Galles-Kraco Racing | Galmer | Chevrolet | | 3 | Al Unser Jr. | All |
| 18 | Danny Sullivan | All |
| Walker Motorsport | Lola | Ford-Cosworth XB
Chevrolet | | 15 | Scott Goodyear | All |
| 17 | A. J. Foyt | 1 |
 Tero Palmroth | 2 |
| Johnny Rutherford | 4 |
| Mike Groff | 4-5, 12 |
| Jon Beekhuis | 10 |
| Dennis Vitolo | 14 |
| Willy T. Ribbs | 16 |
| Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola | Chevrolet | | 12 | Bobby Rahal | All |
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports | Lola | Chevrolet
Buick | | 11 |  Hiro Matsushita | 1-3, 11-16 |
| Raul Boesel | 4-8, 10 |
| 22 | Scott Brayton | All |
| 23 | Raul Boesel | 9, 11-16 |
| 44 |  Philippe Gache | 4 |
| 90 | Lyn St. James | 4 |
| Hall/VDS Racing | Lola | Chevrolet | | 8 | John Andretti | All |
| 38 | Didier Theys | 4 |
| Payton/Coyne Racing | Lola | Cosworth | | 19 | Éric Bachelart | 1-7, 9-15 |
| Dennis Vitolo | 10, 15-16 |
| 39 | Ross Bentley | 1, 5-6, 9-13 |
| Dennis Vitolo | 2 |
| Brian Bonner | 4, 7-8, 14 |
| Éric Bachelart | 16 |
| Bettenhausen Racing | Penske | Chevrolet | | 16 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | 1-4, 6-7, 10 |
 Stefan Johansson | 5, 8-9, 11-16 |
| Arciero Racing | Lola | Buick | | 30 | Fabrizio Barbazza | 1-3 |
| Johnny Parsons | 4 |
| Jeff Wood | 5-10 |
| Jacques Villeneuve Sr. | 11-12 |
| John Jones | 13-15 |
| Tero Palmroth | 16 |
| 34 | Jeff Wood | 4 |
| Euromotorsport | Lola | Cosworth | | 42 | Nicola Marozzo | 1 |
| Fabrizio Barbazza | 4 |
| Vinicio Salmi | 6, 9, 12-13, 16 |
| Steve Chassey | 7-8, 10 |
| Tero Palmroth | 11 |
| Jeff Wood | 14 |
| Guido Daccò | 15 |
| 50 | Jovy Marcelo | 1-4 |
 Christian Danner | 5, 9, 11-16 |
| Nicola Marozzo | 6 |
| Mike Groff | 7-8 |
| George Snider | 10 |
| Hayhoe-Cole Racing | Lola | Ford-Cosworth XB
Chevrolet | | 17 | Jimmy Vasser | 6, 11, 13 |
| 47 | 1-4, 9, 14, 16 |
| Leader Card Racing | Lola | Buick | | 21 | Buddy Lazier | 1-7, 9-16 |
| Hemelgarn Racing | Lola | Buick | | 81 | Pancho Carter | 4 |
| 91 | Stan Fox | 4 |
| 92 | Gordon Johncock | 4 |
| P.I.G. Enterprises | Lola | Chevrolet | | 31 | Ted Prappas | 1, 3-9, 11-16 |
| Truesports | Truesports | Chevrolet | | 10 | Scott Pruett | All |
| RAL Group | Judd | 24 | Brian Till | 3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16 |
| Gilmore Racing | Lola | Chevrolet | | 14 |  Gregor Foitek | 1, 3 |
| George Snider | 2 |
| A. J. Foyt | 2, 4 |
| Brian Bonner | 5 |
| Ross Cheever | 6-7, 11-13 |
| Pancho Carter | 8, 10 |
| Jon Beekhuis | 9 |
| Mike Groff | 14-16 |
| 48 | Jeff Andretti | 4 |
| King Motorsports | Lola | Buick | | 26 |  Roberto Guerrero | 3 |
 Jim Crawford | 4 |
| 36 | Roberto Guerrero | 4 |
| Menard Racing | Lola | Buick | | 27 | Al Unser | 4 |
| 51 | Gary Bettenhausen | 4 |
| 59 | Tom Sneva | 4 |
| D.B. Mann Development | Lola | Buick | | 93 | John Paul Jr. | 4 |
| Mark Dismore | 4 |
| Burns Racing Team | Lola | Chevrolet | Rowspan=3 | | 68 | Dominic Dobson | 4 |
| Buick | 28 | Jay Hill | 5 |
| Cosworth | Tony de Tommaso | 16 |
| TEAMKAR International | Lola | Chevrolet | | 88 | Kenji Momota | 4 |
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Season summary
Schedule
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Circuit | City/Location |
|---|
| 1 | March 22 |  Daikyo IndyCar Grand Prix | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Australia |
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| 2 | April 5 | Valvoline 200 Presented by Phoenix International Raceway and the Fiesta Bowl | Phoenix International Raceway | Phoenix, Arizona |
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| 3 | April 12 | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California |
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| 4 | May 24 | 76th Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
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| 5 | June 7 | ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix | The Raceway on Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan |
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| 6 | June 21 | Texaco/Havoline Presents the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 | Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
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| 7 | June 28 | Miller Genuine Draft 200 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
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| 8 | July 5 | New England 200 | New Hampshire International Speedway | Loudon, New Hampshire |
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| 9 | July 19 | Molson Indy Toronto | Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
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| 10 | August 2 | Marlboro 500 | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan |
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| 11 | August 9 | Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland | Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport | Cleveland, Ohio |
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| 12 | August 23 | The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
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| 13 | August 30 | Molson Indy Vancouver | Streets of Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia |
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| 14 | September 13 | Pioneer Electronics 200 Presented by Budweiser | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
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| NC | October 3 | Marlboro Challenge | Pennsylvania International Raceway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
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| 15 | October 4 | Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix |
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| 16 | October 18 | Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Kodalux Processing 300 | Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California |
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Oval/Speedway
Road/Street course
Non-championship event
- Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the PPG Indy Car title.
Race results
Final driver standings
See also: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems.
| | 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) | | 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|}|}|} Note: Jovy Marcelo was killed in practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500. He was 27 years old.
Nations' Cup
- Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Chassis Constructors' Cup
Engine Manufacturers' Cup
References
See also
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