1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

American motorsport season February 2025 1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series 200px200pxAl Unser Jr. 17 April 8 October 21 USA Al Unser Jr. GBR Lola USA Chevrolet USA Eddie Cheever USA United States NLD Arie Luyendyk 1989 1991 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. All cars used Goodyear tires. TeamChassisEngineNoDriversNotes USA Newman/Haas Racing Lola Chevrolet 3 USA Michael AndrettiAll 6 USA Mario AndrettiAll USA Doug Shierson Racing Lola Judd 11/28 CAN Scott GoodyearAll Chevrolet 30 NLD Arie LuyendykAll USA Patrick Racing March/ Lola Alfa Romeo 20 COL Roberto Guerrero All except 9 40 USA Al Unser 3, 10 USA Porsche North America March Porsche 4 ITA Teo FabiAll 41 USA John AndrettiAll USA Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 1 BRA Emerson FittipaldiAll 2 USA Rick MearsAll 7 USA Danny SullivanAll USA Galles-Kraco Racing Lola Chevrolet 5 USA Al Unser Jr.All 18 USA Bobby RahalAll USA Truesports Lola Judd 8/19 BRA Raul BoeselAll 21 AUS Geoff Brabham 3 USA Chip Ganassi Racing Penske/Lola Chevrolet 15/25 USA Eddie CheeverAll USA Leader Card Racing Lola Cosworth 29 USA Pancho Carter 1, 3-10 USA Wally Dallenbach Jr. 11, 13, 16 USA U.S. Engineering Lola Cosworth 44 USA Jeff Wood 1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16 USA Bettenhausen Motorsports Lola Cosworth/Buick 16 USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr. All except 1, 12, and 16 ITA Guido Daccò 2 ITA Euromotorsport Lola Cosworth 50 ITA Guido Daccò 1 USA Mike Groff 3, 5-16 USA Greenfield Engineering Lola Cosworth 42 USA Michael Greenfield 4, 7-9, 11, 13-15 USA Team Menard Lola Buick 51/15 UK Jim Crawford 1, 3 51 USA Gary Bettenhausen 3 USA Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/Cosworth 12USA Randy LewisAll 24USA Steve Bren 2 USA Buddy Lazier 10 8 USA Rich Vogler 3 USA Dick Simon Racing LolaCosworth 10JPN Hiro Matsushita 2, 5-6, 8, 11-16 22 USA Scott BraytonAll 23/10FIN Tero Palmroth 3, 6, 8, 10 23 USA Joe Sposato 16USA Dale Coyne RacingLola Cosworth 19/39USA Dean Hall All except 15USA Gohr RacingLolaCosworth 56USA Rocky Moran 3 USA Jon Beekhuis 10 USA John Morton 6 ITA Fulvio Ballabio 16 USA A. J. Foyt Enterprises LolaChevrolet 14USA A. J. Foyt All except 15-16 BEL Didier Theys 16 USA Vince Granatelli Racing Lola/Penske Buick 9/70 BEL Didier Theys 1-3, 5-9, 11-13 11USA Kevin Cogan 3 9USA Tom Sneva 3USA Bayside MotorsportsLola Cosworth 86USA Dominic Dobson 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16USA P. I. G. RacingLolaJudd 31USA Jon Beekhuis 2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16 USA Raynor Racing LolaJudd 25 USA Willy T. Ribbs 2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16 USA Mann Motorsports LolaBuick 93 USA John Paul Jr. 3 USA Hemelgarn Racing LolaBuick 71/81 USA Bill Vukovich III 3, 10 71/91USA Buddy Lazier 3, 5-7, 9, 11-15 USA Kent Baker RacingLolaBuick 97USA Stan Fox 3 USA Andale Racing Lola Buick 69 MEX Bernard Jourdain 3USA Burns Racing TeamLola Judd 66ITA Guido Daccò 3 USA TEAMKAR International Lola Cosworth 27/98 USA Jeff Andretti 3-4 98JPN Kenji Momota 3 USA Conseco Racing LolaCosworth 17 USA Kevin Cogan 10 USA Johnny Rutherford 3USA Walther MotorsportsPenske Cosworth 77USA Salt Walther 3, 10 USA Nu-Tech Motorsports Lola Cosworth 33 ITA Guido Daccò 5, 9, 14-16 CAN Spirit of VancouverLolaCosworth 27CAN Ross Bentley 12 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. Icon Legend white O silver Oval/Speedway lightblue R silver Road course peachpuff S silver Street circuitNC Non-championship race Rd Date Race Name Track City 1 April 8 Autoworks 200 white O silver Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona 2 April 22 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach peachpuff S silver Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California 3 May 27 Indianapolis 500* white O silver Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 4 June 3 Miller Genuine Draft 200 white O silver Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 5 June 17 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix peachpuff S silver Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan 6 June 24 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 lightblue R silver Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 7 July 8 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix peachpuff S silver Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 8 July 15 Marlboro Grand Prix peachpuff S silver Meadowlands Street Circuit East Rutherford, New Jersey 9 July 22 Molson Indy Toronto** peachpuff S silver Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 10 August 5 Marlboro 500 white O silver Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 11 August 26 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver peachpuff S silver Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado 12 September 2 Molson Indy Vancouver peachpuff S silver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia 13 September 16 Red Roof Inns 200 lightblue R silver Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 14 September 23 Texaco/Havoline 200 lightblue R silver Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin NC October 6 Marlboro Challenge white O silver Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 15 October 7 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix white O silver Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 16 October 21 Toyota Monterey Grand Prix lightblue R silver Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California * Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title. ** The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain. Results Rnd Race Name Pole position Winning driver Winning teamRace time 1 Autoworks 200 USA Rick Mears USA Rick Mears Team Penske1:35:01 2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach USA Al Unser Jr. USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:53:00 3Indianapolis 500 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi NLD Arie Luyendyk Doug Shierson Racing2:41:48 4 Miller Genuine Draft 200 USA Rick Mears USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:29:46 5 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix USA Michael Andretti USA Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:49:32 6 Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200 USA Danny Sullivan USA Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:48:22 7 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix USA Rick Mears USA Danny Sullivan Team Penske1:47:24 8 Marlboro Grand Prix USA Michael Andretti USA Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:52:34 9 Molson Indy Toronto USA Danny Sullivan USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:13:26 10 Marlboro 500 Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:38:07 11 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver ITA Teo Fabi USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:08:00 12 Molson Indy Vancouver USA Michael Andretti USA Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:08:13 13Red Roof Inns 200 USA Michael Andretti USA Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing2:19:27 14 Texaco/Havoline 200 USA Danny Sullivan USA Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:53:00NC Marlboro Challenge USA Michael Andretti USA Rick Mears Team Penske0:39:06 15 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix USA Bobby Rahal Brazil 1968 Emerson Fittipaldi Team Penske1:46:28 16Champion Spark Plug 300K USA Danny Sullivan USA Danny Sullivan Team Penske1:47:45 Final driver standings List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MOH ROA MAR NAZ LAG Pts 1USA Al Unser Jr. 3 1* 4 1 27 3 15* 11 1* 1 1* 1* 3 4 3 16 2 210 2USA Michael Andretti 20 4 20 5* 1* 1* 25 1* 2 15 5 20 1* 1 6* 5 3 181 3USA Rick Mears 1* 6 5 2 4 5 8 2 12 14 7 4 7 3 1 2 4 168 4USA Bobby Rahal 2 12 2 4 2 11 2 25 22 2 3 8 6 7 7 3 5 153 5BRA Emerson Fittipaldi 5 2 3* 3 7 9 3 6 20 17* 18 6 12 2 2 1* 6 144 6USA Danny Sullivan 6 3 32 8 14 4 1 14 4 21 2 2 5 16* 8 18 1* 139 7USA Mario Andretti 4 5 27 21 25 2 4 24 6 3 4 3 2 5 5 4 26 136 8NLD Arie Luyendyk 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 4 17 9 90 9USA Eddie Cheever yellow RY silver 7 13 8 11 3 19 16 21 3 4 20 14 4 9 10 6 10 80 10USA John Andretti 17 21 21 7 22 21 5 7 13 7 6 5 13 22 19 8 51 11USA A. J. Foyt 22 24 6 9 17 10 7 5 16 6 10 13 15 20 42 12BRA Raul Boesel 18 8 28 6 6 18 20 13 10 9 28 19 9 10 8 11 42 13CAN Scott Goodyear 10 17 10 10 8 22 18 17 9 10 8 7 22 12 10 14 36 14ITA Teo Fabi 24 10 18 12 24 7 13 3 15 24 27 16 19 25 9 11 7 33 15USA Scott Brayton 13 9 7 20 10 25 22 9 14 16 12 9 8 13 12 24 28 16COL Roberto Guerrero 16 14 23 18 21 8 19 15 5 17 24 26 8 9 18 24 17USA Mike Groff orange R silver DNQ 15 23 9 26 11 11 14 22 10 17 7 15 17 18BEL Didier Theys 14 11 11 13 20 23 28 7 9 25 16 12 15 19USA Dominic Dobson 23 15 22 26 24 8 8 25 11 19 20 12 20USA Pancho Carter 8 29 15 9 15 14 18 18 18 9 21USA Jon Beekhuis 16 18 25 8 22 21 24 11 27 7 22USA Jeff Wood 11 DNQ 11 10 20 24 25 19 14 23 19 7 23USA Kevin Cogan 9 20 4 24USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Wth 26 13 16 17 12 10 26 22 24 20 DNS 22 4 25USA Dean Hall orange R silver 15 18 17 16 23 14 11 19 19 23 23 15 11 15 21 4 26USA Willy T. Ribbs orange R silver 20 20 23 27 26 10 27 13 3 27USA Wally Dallenbach Jr. 11 18 25 2 28USA Randy Lewis 21 22 14 14 12 16 21 22 17 12 16 17 28 21 20 22 2 29ITA Guido Daccò 12 23 Wth DNQ 23 14 13 16 1 30USA Buddy Lazier orange R silver DNQ DNQ 13 24 DNS 26 DNS 12 23 DNS 14 1 31JPN Hiro Matsushita orange R silver Wth 19 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1 32USA Michael Greenfield orange R silver Wth 17 12 21 21 25 24 15 1 33FIN Tero Palmroth 12 28 27 Wth 1 34USA Bill Vukovich III 24 13 0 35USA Al Unser 13 Wth 0 36UK Jim Crawford 19 15 0 37USA John Paul Jr. 16 0 38USA Jeff Andretti orange R silver DNQ 17 0 39USA Joe Sposato orange R silver 17 0 40CAN Ross Bentley orange R silver 18 0 41AUS Geoff Brabham 19 0 42USA Steve Bren 25 0 43USA Rocky Moran 25 0 44USA Tom Sneva 30 0 45USA Gary Bettenhausen 31 0 46USA Stan Fox 33 0 -USA Salt Walther DNQ Wth 0 -USA Johnny Rutherford DNQ 0 -USA Rich Vogler DNQ 0 -USA John Morton DNQ 0 -ITA Fulvio Ballabio DNQ 0 -USA Steve Chassey Wth 0 -MEX Bernard Jourdain Wth 0 Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MOH 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 notparticipate(DNP) Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race lapsyellow RY silver Rookie of the Yearorange R silver Rookie Nations' Cup Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup. Pos Country PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIC DEN VAN MOH 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 USA LBH USA INDY USA MIL USA DET USA POR USA CLE USA MEA USA TOR CAN MIC USA DEN USA VAN CAN MOH USA ROA USA NAZ USA LAG USA Pts Chassis Constructors' Cup Pos Chassis Pts 1 GBR Lola T9000/T8900/T8800/T8700 318 2 USA Penske PC-19/PC-18/PC-17 264 3 GBR March 90P/90CA/89P 75 Pos Chassis Pts Engine Manufacturers' Cup Pos Engine Pts 1 USA Chevrolet A 351 2 GER Porsche 723GBR Cosworth DFS/TC/DFX72 3 GBR Judd 59 4 ITA Alfa Romeo 24 5 USA Buick 22 Pos Engine Pts References https://www.race-database.com/cc/index.php/ 1990 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings race-database.com 2010-12-06 http://www.driverdb.com/standings/5-1990/ PPG Indy Car World Series 1990 Åberg, Andreas Driver Database 2009-05-19 http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1990.htm 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 http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1990/ 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 http://champcar.ws/Results/Standings.asp?Year=1990 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 See also 1990 Indianapolis 500 1990 American Racing Series season Category:Champ Car seasons IndyCar