1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

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.

1990 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series


Al Unser Jr.
Season
Races17
Start dateApril 8
End dateOctober 21
Awards
Drivers' championUnited States Al Unser Jr.
Constructors' CupUnited Kingdom Lola
Manufacturers' CupUnited States Chevrolet
Nations' CupUnited States United States
Rookie of the YearUnited States Eddie Cheever
Indianapolis 500 winnerNetherlands Arie Luyendyk
← 1989
1991 →

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

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The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series. All cars used Goodyear tires.

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

Season Summary

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Schedule

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

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

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

Race results

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Rnd Race Name Pole position 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 Red Roof Inns 200   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

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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   Eddie Cheever  RY  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   Mike Groff  R  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   Dean Hall  R  15 18 17 16 23 14 11 19 19 23 23 15 11 15 21 4
26   Willy T. Ribbs  R  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   Buddy Lazier  R  DNQ DNQ 13 24 DNS 26 DNQ 12 23 DNS 14 1
31   Hiro Matsushita  R  19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1
32   Michael Greenfield  R  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   Jeff Andretti  R  DNQ 17 0
39   Joe Sposato  R  17 0
40   Ross Bentley  R  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)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie

Nations' Cup

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  • Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Pos Country PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIC DEN VAN MDO ROA NAZ LAG Pts
1   United States 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 312
2   Brazil 5 2 3 3 6 9 3 6 10 9 18 6 9 2 1 6 151
3   Netherlands 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 17 9 90
4   Canada 10 16 10 10 8 22 18 17 9 10 8 7 22 12 10 14 39
5   Italy 12 10 18 12 24 7 13 3 15 24 27 16 19 14 11 7 33
6   Colombia 16 14 23 18 21 8 19 15 5 17 24 26 8 9 18 24
7   Belgium 14 11 11 13 20 23 28 7 9 25 16 12 15
8   Japan 19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1
9   Finland 12 28 27 DNS 1
10   Scotland 19 15 0
11   Australia 19 0
  Mexico DNQ 0
Pos Country PHX   LBH   INDY   MIL   DET   POR   CLE   MEA   TOR   MIC   DEN   VAN   MDO   ROA   NAZ   LAG   Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

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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

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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

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  • "1990 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings". race-database.com. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  • Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1990". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "1990 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Official Box Score: 74th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Standings after Laguna Seca". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also

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