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' champion Al Unser Jr.
Constructors' Cup Lola
Manufacturers' Cup Chevrolet
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year Eddie Cheever
Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk

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.

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
6 Mario Andretti All
Doug Shierson Racing Lola Judd Goodyear 11/28 Scott Goodyear All
Chevrolet 30 Arie Luyendyk All
Patrick Racing March/ Lola Alfa Romeo Goodyear 20 Roberto Guerrero All except 9
40 Al Unser 3, 10
Porsche North America March Porsche Goodyear 4 Teo Fabi All
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
18 Bobby Rahal All
Truesports Lola Judd Goodyear 8/19 Raul Boesel All
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
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
Guido Daccò 2
Euromotorsport Lola Cosworth Goodyear 50 Guido Daccò 1
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
51 Gary Bettenhausen 3
Arciero Racing Penske Buick/Cosworth Goodyear 12 Randy Lewis All
24 Steve Bren 2
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
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
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
98 Kenji Momota 3
Conseco Racing Lola Cosworth Goodyear 17 Kevin Cogan 10
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
Rd Date Race Name Track City
1 April 8 Autoworks 200  O  Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona
2 April 22 Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  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  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
5 June 17 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix  S  Streets of Detroit Detroit, Michigan
6 June 24 Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
7 July 8 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland  S  Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
8 July 15 Marlboro Grand Prix  S  Meadowlands Street Circuit East Rutherford, New Jersey
9 July 22 Molson Indy Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
10 August 5 Marlboro 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
11 August 26 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver  S  Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado
12 September 2 Molson Indy Vancouver  S  Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
13 September 16 Red Roof Inns 200  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  Nazareth Speedway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
15 October 7 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix  O  Nazareth Speedway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
16 October 21 Champion Spark Plug 300k  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California

- The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.
 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit
NC Non-championship event

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

Race results
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
Pos Driver PHX
 LBH
 INDY
 MIL
 DET
 POR
 CLE
 MEA
 TOR
 MIC
 DEN
 VAN
 MDO
 ROA
 NAZ
 LAG
 Pts
1 Al Unser Jr. 3 1* 4 1 27 3 15* 11 1* 1 1* 1* 3 4 16 2 210
2 Michael Andretti 20 4 20 5* 1* 1* 25 1* 2 15 5 20 1* 1 5 3 181
3 Rick Mears 1* 6 5 2 4 5 8 2 12 14 7 4 7 3 2 4 168
4 Bobby Rahal 2 12 2 4 2 11 2 25 22 2 3 8 6 7 3 5 153
5 Emerson Fittipaldi 5 2 3* 3 7 9 3 6 20 17* 18 6 12 2 1* 6 144
6 Danny Sullivan 6 3 32 8 14 4 1 14 4 21 2 2 5 16* 18 1* 139
7 Mario Andretti 4 5 27 21 25 2 4 24 6 3 4 3 2 5 4 26 136
8 Arie Luyendyk 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 17 9 90
9 Eddie Cheever  RY  7 13 8 11 3 19 16 21 3 4 20 14 4 9 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 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 DNS 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 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

Nation's Cup
  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's 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 Constructor's 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 Manufacturer's 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
  • "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. 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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