1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1990 CART season
Al Unser, Jr.
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	17
Start date	April 8
End date	October 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
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
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. 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. It was the first season of his Indy car career he failed to win any races. 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
				6	Mario Andretti
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	11/28	Scott Goodyear
		Chevrolet		30	Arie Luyendyk
Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	Goodyear	20	Roberto Guerrero	not competing at Toronto
				40	Al Unser	Indianapolis 500 only, did not qualify at Michigan
Porsche North America	March	Porsche	Goodyear	4	Teo Fabi
				41	John Andretti
Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	Goodyear	1	Emerson Fittipaldi
				2	Rick Mears
				7	Danny Sullivan
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	5	Al Unser, Jr.
				18	Bobby Rahal
Truesports	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	8/19	Raul Boesel
				21	Geoff Brabham	Indianapolis 500 only
Chip Ganassi Racing	Penske/Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	15/25	Eddie Cheever
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	29	Pancho Carter	Phoenix, Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee, Detroit, Portland, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto & Michigan only
					Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Denver, Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only
U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	44	Jeff Wood	Phoenix, Detroit, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Michigan, Denver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Laguna Seca only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	Goodyear	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	not competing at Phoenix, Vancouver & Laguna Seca, did not qualify at Long Beach, did not start at Road America
					Guido Daccò	Long Beach only
Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	50	Guido Daccò	Phoenix only
					Mike Groff	not competing at Phoenix, Long Beach & Milwaukee, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Greenfield Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	42	Michael Greenfield	Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Nazareth only, did not qualify at Milwaukee
Team Menard	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	51/15	Jim Crawford	Phoenix & Indianapolis 500 only
				51	Gary Bettenhausen	Indianapolis 500 only
					George Snider	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
					Steve Barclay	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify (wrecked, rookie orientation)
Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick/Cosworth	Goodyear	12	Randy Lewis
				24	Steve Bren	Long Beach only
					Buddy Lazier	Michigan only
				8	Rich Vogler	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	10	Hiro Matsushita	Long Beach, Detroit, Portland, Meadowlands, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Nazareth & Laguna Seca only, passed rookie orientation at Indianapolis 500
				22	Scott Brayton
				23/10	Tero Palmroth	Indianapolis 500, Detroit & Meadowlands only, did not qualify at Michigan
				23	Joe Sposato	Laguna Seca only
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	19/39	Dean Hall	not competing at Nazareth
Gohr Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	56	Rocky Moran	Indianapolis 500 only
					Jon Beekhuis	Michigan only
					John Morton	Detroit only but did not qualify
					Fulvio Ballabio	Laguna Seca only but did not qualify
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	14	A. J. Foyt	not competing at Nazareth & Laguna Seca
					Didier Theys	Laguna Seca only
Granatelli Racing	Lola/Penske	Buick	Goodyear	9/70	Didier Theys	Phoenix, Long Beach, Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Portland, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver & Mid-Ohio only
				11	Kevin Cogan	Indianapolis 500 only
				9	Tom Sneva	Indianapolis 500 only
Bayside Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	86	Dominic Dobson	not competing at Milwaukee, Cleveland, Mid-Ohio, Michigan & Nazareth
P. I. G. Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	31	Jon Beekhuis	Long Beach, Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Laguna Seca only
Raynor Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	25	Willy T. Ribbs	Long Beach, Detroit, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only
Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	93	John Paul, Jr.	Indianapolis 500 only
					Steve Chassey	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	71/81	Billy Vukovich III	Indianapolis 500 & Michigan only
				71/91	Buddy Lazier	Portland, Cleveland, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio & Nazareth only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500, Detroit & Denver, did not start at Toronto & Road America
Kent Baker Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	97	Stan Fox	Indianapolis 500 only
Andale Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	69	Bernard Jourdain	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Burns Racing Team	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	66	Guido Daccò	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27/98	Jeff Andretti	Milwaukee only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
				98	Kenji Momota	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Kevin Cogan	Michigan only
					Johnny Rutherford	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Walther Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	77	Salt Walther	Indianapolis 500 & Michigan only but did not qualify
Nu-Tech Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	33	Guido Daccò	Toronto, Road America, Nazareth & Laguna Seca only, did not qualify at Detroit
Spirit of Vancouver	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27	Ross Bentley	Vancouver only

Results

Races

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	TV	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	April 8	Autoworks 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	ABC	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
2	April 22	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	ABC	Al Unser, Jr.	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
3	May 27	74th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	ABC	Emerson Fittipaldi	Arie Luyendyk	Doug Shierson Racing	Report
4	June 3	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	ABC	Rick Mears	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
5	June 17	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan	CBS	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
6	June 24	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
7	July 8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	ESPN	Rick Mears	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	Report
8	July 15	Marlboro Grand Prix	Meadowlands Sports Complex	East Rutherford, New Jersey	NBC	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
9	July 22	Molson Indy	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
10	August 5	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	ABC	Emerson Fittipaldi	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
11	August 26	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado	ABC	Teo Fabi	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
12	September 2	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
13	September 16	Red Roof Inns 200 Presented by Budweiser	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
14	September 23	Texaco/Havoline 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
NC	October 6	Marlboro Challenge	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
15	October 7	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	ESPN	Bobby Rahal	Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	Report
16	October 21	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	Report

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

  Non-championship race

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

Full Series Results

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 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 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 15 18 17 16 23 14 11 19 19 23 23 15 11 15 21 4 26 Willy T. Ribbs 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 DNQ DNQ 13 24 DNS 26 DNQ 12 23 DNS 14 1 31 Hiro Matsushita 19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1 32 Michael Greenfield DNS 17 12 21 21 25 24 15 1 33 Tero Palmroth 12 28 27 DNS 1 34 Billy 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 DNQ 17 0 39 Joe Sposato 17 0 40 Ross Bentley 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 & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) 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 * Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

Point Scoring System:

• Points are awarded based on each driver's resulting place (regardless of whether the car is running at the end of the race):

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Points	20	16	14	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Bonus Points:

• 1 For Pole Position
• 1 For Leading The Most Laps Of The Race

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	Judd	59
4	Cosworth DFS	44
5	Alfa Romeo	24
6	Buick	22
7	Cosworth TC	16
8	Cosworth DFX	12
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

• 1990 Indianapolis 500
• 1990 American Racing Series season