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1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

American motorsport season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 13th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 17 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Michael Andretti was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was his younger brother Jeff Andretti.[1]

Races18
Start dateMarch 17
End dateOctober 20
Drivers' championUnited States Michael Andretti
Quick facts Season, Races ...
1991 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series


Michael Andretti
Season
Races18
Start dateMarch 17
End dateOctober 20
Awards
Drivers' championUnited States Michael Andretti
Constructors' CupUnited Kingdom Lola
Manufacturers' CupUnited States Chevrolet
Rookie of the YearUnited States Jeff Andretti
Indianapolis 500 winnerUnited States Rick Mears
← 1990
1992 →
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The 1991 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his record-tying fourth victory in the event.

Michael Andretti won a total of eight races, eight pole positions, and led more than half of the laps during the season, but the championship battle still went down to the final race of the season. Bobby Rahal won only one race, but had 11 podium finishes and 13 top tens. Rahal's consistent season put him in position to challenge Andretti for the title in the season finale at Laguna Seca. Andretti got off to a slow start to the season, dropping out of the first two races, and finished a heartbreaking second at Indianapolis. But after Indy, he shot to the top of the standings. He won four of the last five races of the season, and needed to finish 6th or better at Laguna Seca to clinch the title. When Bobby Rahal dropped out at Laguna Seca with overheating problems, Andretti cruised to the title.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1991 Indy Car World Series. All entrants used Goodyear tires.

More information Team, Chassis ...
Team Chassis Engine No. Driver(s) Status Round(s) Ref(s)
Arciero Racing Penske PC-17 Buick 12 United States Mark Dismore  R  1–4[N 1] [2][3]
Lola T89/00 United States Pancho Carter 4–5 [4][5]
United States Jeff Wood 6–7 [6]
Canada John Jones 8–17 [7][8][9]
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 14 Mexico Bernard Jourdain 2 [10]
United States Al Unser 3 [11]
United States A. J. Foyt 4–9, 11, 16 [12][13]
United States Mike Groff 10, 12, 14–15, 17 [14][15]
Lola T90/00 Buick 48 Mexico Bernard Jourdain 4 [16]
Bayside Motorsports Lola T91/00 Cosworth 86 United States Jeff Andretti  R  All [17]
Bettenhausen Motorsports Penske PC-19 Chevrolet 16 United States Tony Bettenhausen Jr. All [18]
Chip Ganassi Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 8 United States Eddie Cheever All [19]
Dale Coyne Racing
Nu-Tech Racing
Hemelgarn Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne / Bettenhausen
Lola T90/00 Cosworth 19 United States Randy Lewis 1–4, 9–12, 14–15, 17 [20]
United States Dale Coyne 5, 7 [21][22]
United States Buddy Lazier 8[N 2] [23]
Canada Ross Bentley  R  13 [24]
United States Dennis Vitolo  R  16
Lola T89/00 39 1, 6[N 2] [25][26]
Lola T90/00 Canada Paul Tracy  R  2 [20][27]
United States Jeff Wood 3 [28]
United States Buddy Lazier 10, 12, 17[N 2] [23]
United States Michael Greenfield 14–15 [29]
Lola T88/00 90 United States Buddy Lazier 1
Lola T90/00 6, 15[N 2] [23]
Lola T89/00 United States Dennis Vitolo  R  2[N 2]
Penske PC-19 Chevrolet Netherlands Cor Euser  R  17[N 2] [30]
D. B. Mann Motorsports Lola T90/00 Buick 93 United States John Paul Jr. 4 [31]
Dick Simon Racing Lola T90/00[N 3]
Lola T91/00
Cosworth 7 Japan Hiro Matsushita 1–3, 5–16 [32]
Buick 4
Chevrolet 17 [33]
22 United States Scott Brayton All [34]
Paragon Motorsports Cosworth 23 Finland Tero Palmroth 4 [35]
Euromotorsport Racing Lola T90/00 Cosworth 42 Italy Franco Scapini  R  1 [36][37]
Belgium Didier Theys 4 [4]
Italy Tony de Tommaso  R  12
Italy Nicola Marozzo  R  13–15 [38]
50 United States Mike Groff 1–3 [39][4]
Lola T91/00 4–9
Lola T90/00 Colombia Roberto Guerrero 10 [40]
Lola T91/00 United States Jeff Wood 12–17 [38]
Galles-Kraco Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 1 United States Al Unser Jr. All [41]
18 United States Bobby Rahal All [42][43]
Genoa Racing Lola T90/00 Cosworth 33 Italy Guido Daccò 2–4, 6–7 [44][45]
Hall-VDS Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 4 United States John Andretti All [46]
Hemelgarn Racing Lola T90/00 Buick 71 United States Buddy Lazier 4 [47]
92 United States Gordon Johncock 4 [48][49]
Hemelgarn-Byrd Racing Lola T91/00 91 United States Stan Fox 4 [50]
Kent Baker Racing Lola T89/00 Buick 97 United States Dean Hall 4 [51]
King Motorsports Lola T91/00 Buick 26 United Kingdom Jim Crawford 4 [52]
Colombia Roberto Guerrero 6, 12, 17 [23]
Leader Card Racing Lola T90/00 Cosworth 21 United States Dean Hall 1 [53]
Belgium Didier Theys 2, 6–10, 12, 14–15, 17 [54][55]
United States Pancho Carter 4, 11[N 4] [56][57]
United States Johnny Parsons 4–5 [4]
Menard Racing Lola T91/00 Buick 9 United States Kevin Cogan 4 [58]
51 United States Gary Bettenhausen 4 [58]
Lola T89/00 59 United States Tom Sneva 4 [59]
Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 2 United States Michael Andretti All [60]
6 United States Mario Andretti All [60]
Patrick Racing Lola T91/00 Alfa Romeo 20 United States Danny Sullivan All [61]
40 Colombia Roberto Guerrero 4 [62]
Penske Racing Penske PC-20 Chevrolet 3 United States Rick Mears All [63]
5 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi All [64]
Penske PC-19 17 Canada Paul Tracy  R  11, 16–17 [65][66]
P.I.G. Entreprises Lola T89/00 Judd 31 United States Ted Prappas  R  1–2, 4 [51]
Lola T91/00 6–10, 12–15, 17 [67]
Thom Burns Racing Lola T89/00 Judd 66 United States Dominic Dobson 4 [68][56]
Todd Walther Racing Lola T89/00 Cosworth 44 United States Phil Krueger 1–2[N 5] [69][36]
United States Buddy Lazier 2 [70]
Truesports Truesports 91C Judd 11 United States Scott Pruett All [71]
21 Australia Geoff Brabham 4 [72]
UNO Racing Lola T91/00 Judd 15 Canada Scott Goodyear All [73]
Vince Granatelli Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet 9 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk All [73]
Walker Motorsport Lola T90/00 Buick 10 United States Willy T. Ribbs 4 [5][74]
Cosworth 6, 8–9, 12–13, 15–17 [75][76][77][78]
United States Jon Beekhuis 11 [79]
United States Buddy Lazier 14[N 2]
Walther Motorsports Penske PC-18 Cosworth 77 United States Salt Walther 4 [80]
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Driver changes

Preseason

Mid-season

Team changes

1990 and preseason

  • On April 20, 1990, Truesports announced plans to build its own chassis for the 1991 season. The Truesports 91C, which began its design phase in 1989, was built in the team's shops in Hillard, Ohio. It was powered by a custom Judd engine developed in-house with American parts, with the goal of designing an 'All-American car'.[100][101]
  • On July 21, 1990, Chaparral founder and former driver Jim Hall announced his return to team ownership in Indy Car with support from engine builders VDS Racing. This led to the formation of Hall/VDS Racing, which would use Lola chassis.[102]
  • On August 6, 1990, Chevrolet announced that it would expand its engine program to supply Bettenhausen Motorsports, Dick Simon Racing and Hall/VDS Racing in 1991.[18]
  • On August 11, 1990, King Motorsports announced its return to the Indianapolis 500, as well as selected events, after missing the 1990 season. The team took over the development contract for the Buick engines that had been previously assigned to Vince Granatelli Racing, with custom-built Lola T91/00 chassis as part of the deal.[103]
  • On September 15, 1990, former team manager Roy Winkleman announced the formation of a new team with John Paul Jr. as a driver and a Lola T91/00-Cosworth combination, provided that enough sponsorship was procured. However, the effort did not materialize.[104]
  • On September 18, 1990, Porsche North America announced it would discontinue its involvement in Indy Car competition at the end of the 1990 season, in order to concentrate resources on its new Formula 1 program with Footwork Arrows.[105] Team manager Derrick Walker bought Porsche's Indy Car assets and race shop and, on November 27, 1990, announced the formation of Walker Motorsport, using a Lola chassis with Kevin Cogan as the driver.[106] However, just three days later, Walker put the program on hold due to the lack of promised funding from his partner Jim Gillespie.[107] A subsequent search for funding eventually resulted in a partial schedule for 1991.[108] The team used a Cosworth engine, except at the Indianapolis 500, where it changed to a Buick during the first week of practice for cost reasons.[74] The choice of a Lola chassis signified the end of the line for March Engineering as a chassis supplier in Indy Car racing.[109][110]
  • In October 1990, Bettenhausen Motorsports secured the use of Penske PC-19 chassis, having previously raced with Lola chassis.[111]
  • On January 10, 1991, Vince Granatelli Racing and Doug Shierson Racing, which had been bought out by Bob Tezak from team founder Doug Shierson, announced a merger for the 1991 season, with Tezak's team being integrated into the Granatelli organization. Resources and employees were transferred to Granatelli's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as the Uno sponsorship and the Lola-Chevrolet package. Shierson's subsidiary entry, fielded by O'Donnell Racing, became an independent team under direct ownership from Tezak. It was renamed as UNO Racing and moved from Indianapolis, inheriting Shierson's former headquarters in Adrian, Michigan.[73]
  • During the off-season, a number of part-time or Indy 500-only teams closed their operations, most notably Gohr Racing, who had raced in CART since 1981. Stoops Racing sold off its equipment after their main sponsorship moved to Team Menard with Kevin Cogan,[112][113] while Greenfield Engineering and Andale Racing did not continue after extensive damage to their limited equipment during 1990. Both driver/owners Michael Greenfield and Bernard Jourdain continued their careers elsewhere.[29][114]
  • On March 4, 1991, Genoa Racing announced it would enter the Indy Car World Series as a full-time, one-car effort starting at the Long Beach Grand Prix, with a Lola T90/00-Cosworth combination and a potential second car at selected events.[44][86] At the time, Genoa also raced in the Atlantic Championship and BCRA Midgets, having previously featured in Can-Am and Formula 3000.[115]
  • On March 7, 1991, the Raynor/Cosby Racing Team closed its operations after five seasons in CART due to the lack of sponsorship.[36] The team had previously been disbanded and had hoped to find sponsorship, to no avail.[116]
  • Dale Coyne Racing and Nu-Tech Motorsports, owned by Gino Gagliano, entered into a partnership for the 1991 season, with Coyne entering a car serviced by the Nu-Tech crew on a part-time basis, either as the No. 39 or the No. 90 depending on the number of cars entered by the team. This was done in order for both teams to benefit from the purse earnings obtained by Coyne from using their second CART franchise.[25][23]

Mid-season

  • On April 19, 1991, it was reported that Todd Walther Racing had been disbanded, after just two races in their second CART season.[51]
  • From June onwards, Hemelgarn Racing partnered with Dale Coyne Racing to field a car in a variety of races for Buddy Lazier, with the same strategy employed by Nu-Tech to share franchising earnings. The partnership was known as Hemelgarn Coyne Racing.[23]
  • On June 21, 1991, Bob Tezak warned that Vince Granatelli Racing risked shutting down for the season due to a lack of sponsorship, despite Arie Luyendyk running third in the standings at the time.[117] The next week, Granatelli severed ties with Tezak, who was blamed by Luyendyk of mismanagement and failure to pay his salary, and the team scrambled to find funding to compete on a race-by-race basis.[118][119][120]
  • After the June 23, 1991, race at Portland, Genoa Racing discontinued its short-lived Indy Car program. The team had suffered from economic woes due to the crash of Guido Daccò at Phoenix, the loss of major sponsorship during the Month of May and the subsequent withdrawal from the Indianapolis 500, also skipping the following event at Milwaukee.[45]
  • In August 1991, Euromotorsport skipped the Michigan 500 entirely, due to an alleged engine testing session. The team had both their primary and spare cars damaged to various degrees during the previous Toronto event.[77]
  • On August 27, 1991, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced they would skip the race at Vancouver due to a lack of a spare car. One week earlier, the team had not been allowed to race at Denver after Mike Groff wrote off his primary car in a practice crash, as the spare car had not been entered.[15]

Schedule

More information Icon, Legend ...
Icon Legend
 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road course
 S  Street circuit
NC Non-championship race
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More information Rd., Date ...
Rd. Date Race Name Track Location
1 March 17 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia
2 April 14 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California
3 April 21 Valvoline 200  O  Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona
4 May 26 Indianapolis 500  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana
5 June 2 Miller Genuine Draft 200  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
6 June 16 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix  S  Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan
7 June 23 Budweiser/G. I.Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
8 July 8 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix  R  Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
9 July 14 Marlboro Grand Prix  S  Meadowlands Street Circuit East Rutherford, New Jersey
10 July 21 Molson Indy Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario, Canada
11 August 4 Marlboro 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
12 August 25 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver  S  Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado
13 September 1 Molson Indy Vancouver  S  Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
14 September 15 Pioneer Electronics 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
15 September 22 Texaco/Havoline 200  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
16 October 6 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix  O  Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
NC October 19 Marlboro Challenge  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California
17 October 20 Toyota Monterey Grand Prix
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* Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the PPG Indy Car title.

Results

More information Rd., Race ...
Rd. Race Pole position Most laps led Race winner
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 Surfers Paradise United States Michael Andretti United States Al Unser Jr. United States John Andretti Hall-VDS Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
2 Long Beach United States Michael Andretti United States Al Unser Jr. United States Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
3 Phoenix United States Rick Mears Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Vince Granatelli Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
4 Indianapolis United States Rick Mears United States Michael Andretti United States Rick Mears Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-20 Chevrolet
5 Milwaukee United States Rick Mears United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
6 Detroit United States Michael Andretti Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-20 Chevrolet
7 Portland Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
8 Cleveland Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
9 Meadowlands United States Rick Mears United States Bobby Rahal United States Bobby Rahal Galles-Kraco Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
10 Toronto United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
11 Michigan United States Rick Mears United States Michael Andretti United States Rick Mears Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-20 Chevrolet
12 Denver United States Michael Andretti United States Al Unser Jr. United States Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
13 Vancouver United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
14 Mid-Ohio United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
15 Road America United States Bobby Rahal United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
16 Nazareth United States Rick Mears United States Michael Andretti Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Vince Granatelli Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
NC Marlboro Challenge United States Michael Andretti United States Rick Mears United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
17 Laguna Seca United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola T91/00 Chevrolet
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Points standings

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