1992 PPG Indy Car World Series

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.

1992 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series

Bobby Rahal
Season
Races17
Start dateMarch 22
End dateOctober 18
Awards
Drivers' champion Bobby Rahal
Constructors' Cup Lola
Manufacturers' Cup Chevrolet
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year Stefan Johansson
Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr.

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 1992–1996. 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 XB G 1 Michael Andretti All
2 Mario Andretti 1-4, 6-16
Teo Fabi 5
Chip Ganassi Racing Lola Ford XB G 6 Arie Luyendyk 4, 10
Robby Gordon 5-7, 9, 11-13
Didier Theys 16
9 Eddie Cheever All
Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet G 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 G 3 Al Unser Jr. All
18 Danny Sullivan All
Walker Motorsport Lola Ford XB
Chevrolet		 G 15 Scott Goodyear All
17 A. J. Foyt 1
Tero Palmroth 2
Johnny Rutherford 4
Jon Beekhuis 10
Mike Groff 4-5, 12
Dennis Vitolo 14
Willy T. Ribbs 16
Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola Chevrolet G 12 Bobby Rahal All
Dick Simon Racing
Paragon Motorsports		 Lola Chevrolet
Buick		 G 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 G 8 John Andretti All
38 Didier Theys 4
Payton/Coyne Racing Lola Cosworth G 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 G 16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 1-4, 6-7, 10
Stefan Johansson 5, 8-9, 11-16
Arciero Racing Lola Buick G 30 Fabrizio Barbazza 1-4
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 G 42 Nicola Marozzo 1
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 FordXB
Chevrolet		 G 17 Jimmy Vasser 6, 11, 13
47 1-4, 9, 14, 16
Leader Card Racing Lola Buick G 21 Buddy Lazier 1-7, 9-16
Hemelgarn Racing Lola Buick G 81 Pancho Carter 4
91 Stan Fox 4
P.I.G. Enterprises Lola Chevrolet G 31 Ted Prappas 1, 3-9, 11-16
Truesports Truesports Chevrolet G 10 Scott Pruett All
RAL Group Judd 24 Brian Till 3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
Gilmore Racing Lola Chevrolet G 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 G 26 Roberto Guerrero 3
Jim Crawford 4
36 Roberto Guerrero 4
Menard Racing Lola Buick G 27 Al Unser 4
51 Gary Bettenhausen 4
59 Tom Sneva 4
D.B. Mann Development Lola Buick G 93 John Paul Jr. 4
Burns Racing Lola Chevrolet G 28 Dominic Dobson 4
Buick Jay Hill 5
Cosworth Tony de Tommaso 16
Hemelgarn Racing Lola Buick G 92 Gordon Johncock 4
TEAMKAR International Lola Chevrolet G 88 Kenji Momota 4
Concept Motorsports Lola Buick G 66 Mark Dismore 4

Season Summary

Schedule
Rnd Date Race Name Circuit City/Location
1 March 22 Daikyo IndyCar Grand Prix  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia
2 April 5 Valvoline 200  O  Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona
3 April 12 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California
4 May 24 76th Indianapolis 500  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana
5 June 7 ITT Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit  S  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
6 June 21 Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
7 June 28 Miller Genuine Draft 200  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
8 July 5 New England 200  O  New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire
9 July 19 Molson Indy Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
10 August 2 Marlboro 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
11 August 9 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland  S  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
12 August 23 Texaco/Havoline 200  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
13 August 30 Molson Indy Vancouver  S  Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
14 September 13 Pioneer Electronics 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
NC October 3 Marlboro Challenge  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
15 October 4 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
16 October 18 Kodalux Processing 300K  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit
NC Non-championship event

  • Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the PPG Indy Car title.

Race results
Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Race Winner Race Time Report
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 Surfers Paradise Al Unser Jr. Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 2:20:33 Report
2 Phoenix Michael Andretti Rick Mears Bobby Rahal Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola Chevrolet 1:31:56 Report
3 Long Beach Michael Andretti Unknown Danny Sullivan Galles-Kraco Racing Galmer Chevrolet 1:48:56 Report
4 Indianapolis Roberto Guerrero Michael Andretti Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing Galmer Chevrolet 3:43:04 Report
5 Belle Isle Michael Andretti Unknown Bobby Rahal Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola Chevrolet 1:58:20 Report
6 Portland Emerson Fittipaldi Unknown Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:53:25 Report
7 Milwaukee Bobby Rahal Unknown Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:26:56 Report
8 New Hampshire Bobby Rahal Michael Andretti Bobby Rahal Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola Chevrolet 1:35:00 Report
9 Toronto Bobby Rahal Unknown Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:52:21 Report
10 Michigan Mario Andretti Unknown Scott Goodyear Walker Motorsport Lola Chevrolet 2:48:53 Report
11 Cleveland Emerson Fittipaldi Unknown Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 1:30:38 Report
12 Road America Paul Tracy Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 1:48:26 Report
13 Vancouver Michael Andretti Emerson Fittipaldi Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:41:50 Report
14 Mid-Ohio Michael Andretti Unknown Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 1:51:23 Report
Marlboro Challenge Michael Andretti Unknown Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 0:38:26 Report
15 Nazareth Michael Andretti Bobby Rahal Bobby Rahal Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola Chevrolet 1:33:07 Report
16 Laguna Seca Michael Andretti Unknown Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola Ford 1:51:35 Report

Final driver standings
Pos Driver SUR PHX LBH INDY DET POR MIL LOU TOR MIC CLE ROA VAN MDO NAZ LAG Pts
1 Bobby Rahal 3 1* 2 6 1 14 2 1* 2 11 4 3 22 24 1 3 196
2 Michael Andretti 17* 10 16 13* 4* 1* 1* 2 1* 18 2 4 1* 21* 2* 1* 192
3 Al Unser Jr. 4 5 4* 1 9 3 7 8 7 4 3 2 2 3 11 9 169
4 Emerson Fittipaldi 1 3 3 24 8 2 4 21 19 13 1* 1* 19 1 7 19 151
5 Scott Goodyear 9 18 5 2 22 8 8 3 6 1* 10 20 5 16 4 26 108
6 Mario Andretti 7 17 23 23 6 6 7 4 15 5 5 6 5 5 2 105
7 Danny Sullivan 5 12 1 5 5 12 12 9 3 8 20 7 7 8 17 7 99
8 John Andretti 6 6 20 8 21 5 9 5 5 6 12 6 15 4 18 5 94
9 Raul Boesel 7 2 9 10 18 22 3 6 8 11 7 6 6 80
10 Eddie Cheever 8 2 22 4 11 4 5 16 9 20 11 23 16 12 9 4 80
11 Scott Pruett 18 7 9 30 19 10 11 6 25 5 7 9 4 9 10 14 62
12 Paul Tracy 4 20 16 21 2 19 17 23 2 3 16 59
13 Rick Mears 2 8 6 26 7 16 4 16 47
14 Stefan Johansson  RY  3 10 11 9 19 3 6 21 11 47
15 Scott Brayton 20 9 17 22 12 22 3 17 17 10 21 12 8 10 8 10 39
16 Al Unser 3 12 15
17 Ted Prappas 10 14 16 14 15 15 20 23 13 10 9 11 19 18 12
18 Éric Bachelart  R  22 13 8 32 7 16 13 24 22 17 21 DNS 20 DNQ 23 11
19 Buddy Lazier 16 14 12 14 24 25 17 15 7 23 13 10 22 15 21 10
20 Robby Gordon  R  17 13 21 8 8 18 17 10
21 Teo Fabi 6 8
22 Jimmy Vasser  R  15 15 7 21 23 12 14 18 25 DNQ 12 8
23 Brian Till  R  11 23 20 12 10 15 11 14 27 8
24 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 13 11 15 DNQ 21 18 9 6
25 Mike Groff DNQ DNS 14 13 24 15 16 8 5
26 A. J. Foyt 23 DNQ 9 4
27 Hiro Matsushita DNQ 16 10 DNQ 24 14 13 18 14 15 3
28 Brian Bonner  R  19 10 DNS DNQ 17 3
29 John Paul Jr. 10 3
30 Ross Bentley  R  11 20 17 14 23 18 DNS 14 2
31 Pancho Carter DNQ 11 17 2
32 Ross Cheever  R  11 20 25 25 DNQ 2
33 Lyn St. James  R  11 2
34 Jeff Wood DNQ 13 19 19 15 13 12 13 1
35 Fabrizio Barbazza 12 20 21 DNQ 1
36 John Jones 12 23 22 1
37 Dominic Dobson 12 1
38 Roberto Guerrero 13 33 1
39 Christian Danner  R  18 16 16 16 21 19 13 20 0
40 Didier Theys DNQ 13 0
41 Arie Luyendyk 15 14 0
42 Dennis Vitolo 21 DNS 14 DNS 20 17 0
43 Jovy Marcelo  R  14 19 19 DNQ1 0
44 Vinicio Salmi  R  18 20 15 20 24 0
45 Jay Hill  R  15 0
46 Gary Bettenhausen 17 0
47 Gregor Foitek  R  21 18 Wth 0
48 Jon Beekhuis 18 21 0
49 Jeff Andretti 18 0
50 Steve Chassey 22 19 19 0
51 Nicola Marozzo 19 24 0
52 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 22 22 0
53 George Snider 22 24 0
54 Tony de Tommaso  R  22 0
55 Guido Daccò 23 0
56 Jim Crawford 25 0
57 Willy T. Ribbs 25 0
58 Tero Palmroth DNQ DNS 26 28 0
59 Stan Fox 27 0
60 Philippe Gache  R  28 0
61 Gordon Johncock 29 0
62 Tom Sneva 31 0
Mark Dismore DNQ 0
Kenji Momota DNQ 0
Rocky Moran DNQ 0
Johnny Parsons DNQ 0
Nelson Piquet DNQ 0
Johnny Rutherford DNQ 0
Pos Driver SUR PHX LBH INDY DET POR MIL NHA TOR MIC CLE ROA VAN MDO 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

Note: 1 Jovy Marcelo was killed in practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500. He was 27 years old.

Nation's Cup
  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
Pos Country Pts
1 United States 294
2 Brazil 190
3 Canada 137
4 Sweden 47
5 Belgium 11
6 Italy 9
7 Japan 3
8 Colombia 1
9 Germany 0
10 Netherlands 0
11 Philippines 0
12 Switzerland 0
13 Scotland 0
14 Finland 0
15 France 0
Pos Country Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup
Pos Chassis Pts
1 Lola T9200/T9100/T9000 311
2 Penske PC-21/PC-20 218
3 Galmer G92 170
4 Truesports 92C/91C 68
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup
Pos Engine Pts
1 Chevrolet A/B 472
2 Ford XB 232
3 Buick 24
4 Judd 8
5 Cosworth DFS 2
Pos Engine Pts

References
  • "1992 CART Results". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  • "1992 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings". race-database.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  • Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1992". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "1992 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • "Official Box Score: 76th 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 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also
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