1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

The 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 5th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 13 races. Al Unser was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Teo Fabi. The 1983 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but an arrangement was made such that it counted towards the CART points championship. Tom Sneva won the Indy 500, after three previous runner-up finishes.

1983 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races13
Start dateApril 17
End dateOctober 29
Awards
Drivers' champion Al Unser
Constructors' Cup March
Manufacturers' Cup Cosworth
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year Teo Fabi
Indianapolis 500 winner Tom Sneva

Al Unser jumped out to the early points lead, with second-place finishes in the first three races of the season. Unser finished second at Indianapolis to Tom Sneva, but not without some controversy. Rookie Al Unser Jr. was accused of blocking for his father, but Sneva prevailed, making the winning pass with ten laps to go. Unser won at Cleveland, finished second at the Michigan 500, and third at Road America. After 6 of 13 races, Unser had a 35-point lead over Tom Sneva in the standings.

Rookie Teo Fabi made headlines at Indianapolis, becoming the first rookie to win the pole since 1950. His car dropped out, however, with a failed fuel o-ring. After a mixed start to the year, Fabi's season came alive in July, winning his first career race at the Pocono 500. Fabi jumped from 8th in points to as high as second following his win at Mid-Ohio. Fabi began to whittle away at Unser's point lead. Unser was running consistently, and had no finish worse than 11th.

In the next-to-last race of the season at Laguna Seca, Fabi dominated. He won the pole position and led 95 of 98 laps, winning his third race of the season. With only one race to go, Unser's point lead was down to 15 points. At the season finale in Phoenix, Fabi put in another dominating performance. He won the pole and led 138 of 150 laps. Fabi's championship hopes, however, fell just short as Al Unser came home 4th. Al Unser won the title by a mere 5 points over Fabi.

Other top stories from 1983 included Newman/Haas Racing joining the series with driver Mario Andretti plus a new chassis from Lola, and the rookie debut of Al Unser Jr. Though Unser Jr. did not win any races, he had ten top-10 finishes en route to 7th in points.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1983 CART World Series.

Team/Car Owner No Drivers Rounds
Alex Morales Motorsports 21 Pancho Carter All
All American Racers 98 Jeff Wood 11-12
Alsup Racing 11 Bill Alsup 1, 3-5, 7, 9-10, 12-13
Arciero Racing 66 Pete Halsmer 1, 3-13
Johnny Parsons 2
Armstrong Mould Racing Team 43 Steve Krisiloff 2
BC Pace Racing 36 Chuck Ciprich 7
Bettenhausen Racing 10 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. All
82 Gary Bettenhausen 13
90 Derek Daly 6, 9, 11-13
Bignotti-Cotter Racing 5 Tom Sneva All
6 Kevin Cogan 1, 3-13
16 2
Bob Ward Racing 47 Bob Ward 8
Brayton Racing 35 Patrick Bedard 2, 5, 7
37 Scott Brayton 2, 4-5, 7, 10-11
Circle Bar Auto Racing 38 Chet Fillip 1-2, 10
Circle Bar Auto Racing w/ Caliva Racing Phil Caliva 8
Dick Simon Racing 32 Dick Simon 6
22 1-3, 5, 8-11, 13
Jorge Koechlin 12
Doug Shierson Racing 30 Howdy Holmes All
Douglas Schulz 48 Tom Klausler 6, 8
Forsythe Racing 33 Teo Fabi All
Galles Racing 17 Al Unser Jr. 1, 3-13
19 2
Gilmore Racing 1 George Snider 2
14 A. J. Foyt 2
Gohr Racing 56 Steve Chassey 1-8, 11-13
GTS Racing 86 Drake Olson 6
Al Loquasto 7
H&R Racing 28 Gary Bettenhausen 3, 7, 9
Herm Johnson 9
HBK Racing 70 Tom Bigelow 3
78 5
Herm Johnson Racing 42 Herm Johnson 4-5
Hoffman Racing 86 Dick Ferguson 5
Intercomp Racing X John Mahler 2
Interscope Racing 25 Danny Ongais 2
Jet Engineering 64 Greg Leffler 6, 8-9
Tom Bigelow 12
Joel McCray Racing 46 Phil Krueger 1, 3-4, 9
Kraco Enterprises 18 Mike Mosley 1-8, 10, 13
Geoff Brabham 11-12
99 8, 10
Michael Andretti 11-13
Leader Card Racers 8 Johnny Parsons 5
Tom Bagley 7
Randy Lewis 12
24 Chip Mead 9-10
Machinists Union Racing 9 Roger Mears 1-4, 6-13
55 Josele Garza 2, 4-12
McElreath Racing 23 Jim McElreath 1, 5, 7
Newman/Haas Racing 3 Mario Andretti All
Patrick Racing 40 Johnny Rutherford 1, 7, 10-11, 13
Danny Ongais 4-6
60 3
20 7-9
60 Chip Ganassi 2, 4-5, 7, 9-13
20 6
Gordon Johncock 1-5
Primus Racing 72 Chris Kneifel 2, 4-13
Racing Team VDS 12 John Paul Jr. 1, 4-13
Geoff Brabham 2
Rattlesnake Racing w/ Agajanian Curb 29 Mike Chandler 2
19 5
Dick Ferguson 7
Rhoades Racing 41 Doug Heveron 1
46 Jerry Karl 7-8
61 3, 5
Simpson Sports 90 Dennis Firestone 2
Team Penske 1 Rick Mears 1, 3-13
2 2
7 Al Unser All
Tempero Racing 15 Bill Tempero 4, 9
Truesports 2 Bobby Rahal 1, 3-12
4 2
Whittington Racing 91 Don Whittington 2, 5, 7
94 Bill Whittington 2, 4, 7
Wysard Racing 34 Derek Daly 1-2
Desiré Wilson 3, 6-9, 11-13
Geoff Brabham 5

Schedule
Logo of the series for this year

Of the notable changes to the schedule, there was the additions of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix which was formally a Formula One championship event and Laguna Seca Raceway. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio returned to the schedule after a 2 year hiatus, and finally starting this season there would only be one race per season at the Milwaukee Mile.

Rd Date Name Circuit Location
- March 20 Kraco Car Stereo 150  O  Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona
1 April 17 Kraco Dixie 200  O  Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia
2 May 29 Indianapolis 500  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana
3 June 12 Gould Rex Mays Classic  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
4 July 3 Budweiser Cleveland 500  S  Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
5 July 17 Norton Michigan 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
6 July 31 Provimi Veal 200  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
7 August 14 Domino's Pizza 500  O  Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania
8 August 29* Budweiser 500K  R  Riverside International Raceway Riverside, California
9 September 11 Escort Radar Warning 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
10 September 26 Detroit News Grand Prix  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
11 October 8 Caesars Palace Grand Prix  S  Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Nevada
12 October 23 Cribari Wines 300k  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California
13 October 29 Miller High Life 150  O  Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit

  • The season-opening Phoenix race was cancelled due to flooding.
  • The Riverside race was scheduled for August 28, but pushed a day due to rain.

Season Summary

Race results
Rd Race Name Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team Race time Report
1 Kraco Dixie 200 Rick Mears 26.730 Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing 1:22:29 Report
2 Indianapolis 500 Teo Fabi 2:53.582 Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter Racing 3:05:03 Report
3 Dana-Rex Mays Classic Teo Fabi 26.259 Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter Racing 1:17:42 Report
4 Budweiser Cleveland 500 Mario Andretti 1:13.516 Al Unser Penske Racing 2:51:54 Report
5 Norton Michigan 500 Teo Fabi 35.621 John Paul Jr. VDS Racing 3:42:27 Report
6 Promi Veal 200 Mario Andretti 1:58.898 Mario Andretti Newman/Haas Racing 2:00:42 Report
7 Domino's Pizza 500 Tom Sneva 46.912 Teo Fabi Forsythe Racing 3:42:28 Report
8 Budweiser 500 Teo Fabi 1:30.887 Bobby Rahal Truesports 2:45:28 Report
9 Escort Radar Warning 200 Bobby Rahal 1:21.364 Teo Fabi Forsythe Racing 2:01:49 Report
10 Detroit News Grand Prix Bobby Rahal 35.075 Rick Mears Penske Racing 1:05:49 Report
11 Caesars Palace Grand Prix John Paul Jr. 34.888 Mario Andretti Newman/Haas Racing 2:17:48 Report
12 Cribari Wines 300k Teo Fabi 56.920 Teo Fabi Forsythe Racing 1:44:28 Report
13 Miller High Life 150 Teo Fabi 24.947 Teo Fabi Forsythe Racing 1:11:03 Report
  • Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.

Final points standings
Pos Driver ATL
INDY
MIL
CLE
MIC
ROA
POC
RIV
MDO
MIC
CPL
LAG
PHX
Pts
1 Al Unser 2 2 2 1* 2 3 11 11 4 5 4 11 4 151
2 Teo Fabi  RY  20 26 4 3 15 15 1* 2 1* 3 25 1* 1* 146
3 Mario Andretti 5 23 18 15 3 1 7 16 2 4 1* 2 2 133
4 Tom Sneva 14 1* 1* 5 25 4 12 5 7 21 15 18 3 96
5 Bobby Rahal 21 20 6 19 5 10* 5 1 3 2 9 7 DNS 94
6 Rick Mears 8* 3 3 7 4 17 3 19 9 1* 13 21 17 92
7 Al Unser Jr.  R  6 10 13 9 7 2 2 4* 18 10 10 4 8 89
8 John Paul Jr.  R  3 DNQ 21 1* 5 29 3 20 7 2 26 11 84
9 Chip Ganassi 8 13 8 21 26 25 6 3 3 5 56
10 Pancho Carter 16 7 14 8 6 7 6 7 10 15 6 25 10 53
11 Pete Halsmer 4 DNQ 9 2 33 14 14 27 24 14 5 20 7 48
12 Roger Mears 7 28 8 6 DNQ 8 16 9 12 16 7 6 16 43
13 Howdy Holmes 9 6 7 12 32 16 13 13 8 8 17 5 21 39
14 Mike Mosley 13 13 5 4 17 25 4 24 DNQ 11 24 36
15 Kevin Cogan 15 5 20 25 27 19 15 21 6 20 16 22 6 26
16 Gordon Johncock 1 14 23 26 26 20
17 Chris Kneifel  R  12 27 9 26 8 22 13 24 8 9 15 19
18 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 10 17 10 18 18 12 10 8 14 9 21 14 18 19
19 Steve Chassey 17 11 19 22 10 6 25 17 DNP 12 10 19 17
20 Danny Ongais 21 12 28 23 18 24 10 5 14
21 Geoff Brabham 4 22 18 12 20 16 13
22 Josele Garza 25 17 19 11 9 20 23 17 11 12 9
23 Tom Klausler  R  DNP 22 6 DNP DNQ 8
24 Jeff Wood  R  22 8 5
25 Scott Brayton 9 24 12 28 DNP 13 26 5
26 Derek Daly  R  22 19 DNS 9 22 18 23 22 4
27 Michael Andretti  R  19 24 9 4
28 Desiré Wilson  R  DNQ 10 20 31 14 16 23 19 13 3
29 Dick Simon DNQ 15 11 14 13 25 15 19 14 23 2
30 Jim McElreath 11 13 23 DNP 2
31 Greg Leffler DNQ DNQ 24 15 11 2
32 Phil Krueger DNQ DNQ 17 11 27 2
33 Dick Ferguson DNQ 11 22 DNP 2
34 Jerry Karl DNQ 16 DNQ 21 32 12 1
35 Gary Bettenhausen DNQ 22 27 DNS 12 1
36 Doug Heveron  R  12 DNQ 1
37 Randy Lewis  R  13 0
38 Bill Alsup DNS DNQ 21 20 16 20 19 22 27 14 0
39 Tom Bigelow DNQ 15 DNQ 29 DNP 17 DNQ 0
40 Bill Whittington  R  18 15 19 DNP 0
41 Jorge Koechlin  R  DNP 15 0
42 Herm Johnson DNQ 16 24 DNQ 17 0
43 Mike Chandler 16 31 DNP 0
44 Patrick Bedard  R  30 28 17 0
45 Chet Fillip  R  19 33 DNQ 18 0
46 Johnny Rutherford 18 DNQ 21 DNP 23 24 20 0
47 Al Loquasto DNQ 18 0
48 Don Whittington 27 20 33 0
49 Bill Tempero DNQ 23 DNQ 21 0
50 Johnny Parsons 22 30 DNP 0
51 Phil Caliva DNQ 23 0
52 Drake Olson  R  DNQ 23 0
53 Dennis Firestone 24 0
54 Chip Mead DNP 26 25 0
55 Bob Ward  R  26 DNQ DNS 0
56 Steve Krisiloff 29 DNQ 0
57 Chuck Ciprich  R  DNQ DNP 30 0
58 A. J. Foyt 31 0
59 George Snider 32 0
60 Tom Bagley DNQ 34 0
- Richard Hubbard DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
- Barry Ruble DNQ DNQ DNP 0
- Teddy Pilette DNQ DNS 0
- Harry MacDonald DNQ DNP 0
- Mark Alderson DNQ 0
- Jim Buick DNQ 0
- Larry Cannon DNQ 0
- Bob Frey DNQ 0
- Amber Furst DNQ 0
- Spike Gehlhausen DNQ 0
- Bob Harkey DNQ 0
- Sheldon Kinser DNQ 0
- Bob Lazier DNQ 0
- John Mahler DNQ 0
- Mack McClellan DNQ 0
- Graham McRae DNQ 0
- Dave Peperak DNQ 0
- Roger Rager DNQ 0
- Ken Schrader DNQ 0
- Jerry Sneva DNQ 0
- Rich Vogler DNQ 0
- Bill Vukovich II DNQ 0
- John Morton DNQ 0
- Lee Kunzman DNP 0
- Dave McMillan DNP 0
- Bobby Olivero DNP 0
- Bill Puterbaugh DNP 0
- Larry Rice DNP 0
- Dale Whittington DNP 0
- David Leslie DNP 0
Pos Driver ATL
INDY
MIL
CLE
MIC
ROA
POC
RIV
MDO
MIC
CPL
LAG
PHX
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
(Ret)
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

See also

References
  • Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1983". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "1983 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Official Box Score: 67th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Standings after Phoenix". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
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