1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series


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.
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.
TeamChassisEngineTiresNoDrivers
Galles-Kraco RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear1 Al Unser, Jr.
Galles-Kraco RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear18 Bobby Rahal
Newman/Haas RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear2 Michael Andretti
Newman/Haas RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear6 Mario Andretti
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear3 Rick Mears
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear5 Emerson Fittipaldi
Marlboro Team PenskePenskeChevroletGoodyear17 Paul Tracy
Chip Ganassi RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear8 Eddie Cheever
Vince Granatelli RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear9 Arie Luyendyk
TruesportsTruesportsJuddGoodyear11 Scott Pruett
Patrick RacingLolaAlfa RomeoGoodyear20 Danny Sullivan
Patrick RacingLolaAlfa RomeoGoodyear40 Roberto Guerrero
Bettenhausen MotorsportsPenskeChevroletGoodyear16 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.
Bettenhausen MotorsportsPenskeChevroletGoodyear90 Cornelius Euser
Walker RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear10 Willy T. Ribbs
Walker RacingLolaJuddGoodyear15 Scott Goodyear
EuromotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear42 Franco Scapini
EuromotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear42 Nicola Marozzo
EuromotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear50 Mike Groff
EuromotorsportsLolaCosworthGoodyear50 Roberto Guerrero
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear19 Randy Lewis
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear19 Dale Coyne
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear19 Ross Bentley
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear39 Dennis Vitolo
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear39 Jeff Wood
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear39 Michael Greenfield
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear39 Paul Tracy
Dale Coyne RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear90 Buddy Lazier
P.I.G. EntreprisesLolaJuddGoodyear31 Ted Prappas
Hall-VDS RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear4 John Andretti
Bayside Disposal RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear86 Jeff Andretti
Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear7 Hiro Matsushita
Dick Simon RacingLolaChevroletGoodyear22 Scott Brayton
Leader Card RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear21 Dean Hall
Leader Card RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear21 Didier Theys
Leader Card RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear21 Johnny Parsons
U.S. EngineeringLolaCosworthGoodyear44 Phil Krueger
Arciero RacingPenskeBuickGoodyear12 Mark Dismore
Arciero RacingLolaBuickGoodyear12 Pancho Carter
Arciero RacingLolaBuickGoodyear12 John Jones
Giochi/PreziosiLolaCosworthGoodyear33 Guido Daccò
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLolaChevroletGoodyear14 A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLolaChevroletGoodyear14 Bernard Jourdain
A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLolaChevroletGoodyear14 Al Unser
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuickGoodyear71 Buddy Lazier
Hemelgarn RacingLolaBuickGoodyear91 Stan Fox
Hemelgarn RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear92 Gordon Johncock
Thom Burns RacingLolaJuddGoodyear66 Dominic Dobson
Bernstein RacingTrueSportsJuddGoodyear21 Geoff Brabham
Bernstein RacingLolaJuddGoodyear26 Jim Crawford
Menard RacingLolaBuickGoodyear9 Kevin Cogan
Menard RacingLolaBuickGoodyear51 Gary Bettenhausen
Paragon RacingLolaCosworthGoodyear23 Tero Palmroth
Mann RacingLolaBuickGoodyear93 John Paul, Jr.

Season Summary

Schedule

RdDateRace NameTrackCity
1March 17 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix Surfers Paradise Street CircuitSurfers Paradise, Australia
2April 14Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California
3April 21Valvoline 200 Phoenix International RacewayPhoenix, Arizona
4May 26Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana
5June 2Miller Genuine Draft 200 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin
6June 16Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Streets of DetroitDetroit, Michigan
7June 23Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200 Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon
8July 8Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio
9July 14Marlboro Grand Prix Meadowlands Street CircuitEast Rutherford, New Jersey
10July 21Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario, Canada
11August 4Marlboro 500 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan
12August 25Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Streets of DenverDenver, Colorado
13September 1Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of VancouverVancouver, British Columbia
14September 15Pioneer Electronics 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio
15September 22Texaco-Havoline 200 Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin
16October 6Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth SpeedwayLehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
NCOctober 19Marlboro Challenge Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California
17October 20Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California

Oval/Speedway
Dedicated road course
Temporary street circuit
NC Non-championship event
RndRace NamePole positionWinning driverWinning teamRace time
1 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix Michael Andretti John Andretti Hall-VDS Racing2:12:54
2 Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Michael Andretti Al Unser, Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:57:14
3 Valvoline 200 Rick Mears Arie Luyendyk1:32:18
4 75th Indianapolis 500 Rick Mears Rick Mears Marlboro Team Penske2:50:00
5 Miller Genuine Draft 200 Rick Mears Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:29:10
6 Valvoline Grand Prix of Detroit Michael Andretti Marlboro Team Penske1:57:19
7 Budweiser/G.I.Joe´s 200 Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:44:06
8 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland Emerson Fittipaldi Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:42:47
9 Marlboro Grand Prix Meadowlands Rick Mears Bobby Rahal Galles-Kraco Racing1:54:37
10 Molson Indy Toronto Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:50:57
11 Marlboro 500 Rick Mears Rick Mears Marlboro Team Penske2:59:23
12 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Michael Andretti Al Unser, Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:57:06
13 Molson Indy Vancouver Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:47:10
14 Pioneer Electronics 200 Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:59:49
15 Texaco/Havoline 200 Bobby Rahal Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:35:05
16 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Rick Mears Arie Luyendyk Vince Granatelli Racing1:31:23
NC Marlboro Challenge Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing0:56:41
17 Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:47:42

Final driver standings

Nation's Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
PosCountryPts
1 United States328
2 Brazil136
3 Netherlands133
4 Canada55
5 Japan6
6 Belgium4
7 Italy2
8 Colombia0
9 Mexico0
10 Australia0
11 Finland0
12 United Kingdom0
PosCountryPts

[Chassis] Constructor's Cup

PosChassisPts
1 Lola T9100/T9000/T8900/T8800352
2 Penske PC-20/PC-19/PC-17229
3 Truesports 9167
PosChassisPts

[Engine] Manufacturer's Cup

PosEnginePts
1 Chevrolet A374
2 Judd93
3 Cosworth DFS/DFX57
4 Alfa Romeo56
5 Buick15
PosEnginePts

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