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.

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.

This was the final year in which March Engineering chassis were run.

Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series. All cars used Goodyear tires. TeamChassisEngineNoDriversNotes Newman/Haas Racing Lola Chevrolet 3 Michael AndrettiAll 6 Mario AndrettiAll Doug Shierson Racing Lola Judd 11/28 Scott GoodyearAll Chevrolet 30 Arie LuyendykAll Patrick Racing March/ Lola Alfa Romeo 20 Roberto Guerrero All except 9 40 Al Unser 3, 10 Porsche North America March Porsche 4 Teo FabiAll 41 John AndrettiAll Team Penske Penske Chevrolet 1 Emerson FittipaldiAll 2 Rick MearsAll 7 Danny SullivanAll Galles-Kraco Racing Lola Chevrolet 5 Al Unser Jr.All 18 Bobby RahalAll Truesports Lola Judd 8/19 Raul BoeselAll 21 Geoff Brabham 3 Chip Ganassi Racing Penske/Lola Chevrolet 15/25 Eddie CheeverAll Leader Card Racing Lola Cosworth 29 Pancho Carter 1, 3-10 Wally Dallenbach Jr. 11, 13, 16 U.S. Engineering Lola Cosworth 44 Jeff Wood 1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16 Bettenhausen Motorsports Lola Cosworth/Buick 16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. All except 1, 12, and 16 Guido Daccò 2 Euromotorsport Lola Cosworth 50 Guido Daccò 1 Mike Groff 3, 5-16 Greenfield Engineering Lola Cosworth 42 Michael Greenfield 4, 7-9, 11, 13-15 Team Menard Lola Buick 51/15 Jim Crawford 1, 3 51 Gary Bettenhausen 3 Arciero RacingPenskeBuick/Cosworth 12 Randy LewisAll 24 Steve Bren 2 Buddy Lazier 10 8 Rich Vogler 3 Dick Simon Racing LolaCosworth 10 Hiro Matsushita 2, 5-6, 8, 11-16 22 Scott BraytonAll 23/10 Tero Palmroth 3, 6, 8, 10 23 Joe Sposato 16 Dale Coyne RacingLola Cosworth 19/39 Dean Hall All except 15 Gohr RacingLolaCosworth 56 Rocky Moran 3 Jon Beekhuis 10 John Morton 6 Fulvio Ballabio 16 A. J. Foyt Enterprises LolaChevrolet 14 A. J. Foyt All except 15-16 Didier Theys 16 Vince Granatelli Racing Lola/Penske Buick 9/70 Didier Theys 1-3, 5-9, 11-13 11 Kevin Cogan 3 9 Tom Sneva 3 Bayside MotorsportsLola Cosworth 86 Dominic Dobson 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16 P. I. G. RacingLolaJudd 31 Jon Beekhuis 2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16 Raynor Racing LolaJudd 25 Willy T. Ribbs 2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16 Mann Motorsports LolaBuick 93 John Paul Jr. 3 Hemelgarn Racing LolaBuick 71/81 Bill Vukovich III 3, 10 71/91 Buddy Lazier 3, 5-7, 9, 11-15 Kent Baker RacingLolaBuick 97 Stan Fox 3 Andale Racing Lola Buick 69 Bernard Jourdain 3 Burns Racing TeamLola Judd 66 Guido Daccò 3 TEAMKAR International Lola Cosworth 27/98 Jeff Andretti 3-4 98 Kenji Momota 3 Conseco Racing LolaCosworth 17 Kevin Cogan 10 Johnny Rutherford 3 Walther MotorsportsPenske Cosworth 77 Salt Walther 3, 10 Nu-Tech Motorsports Lola Cosworth 33 Guido Daccò 5, 9, 14-16 Spirit of VancouverLolaCosworth 27 Ross Bentley 12

Schedule Two new races were added to the schedule in the form of street courses at Denver and Vancouver. Pocono was dropped from the schedule with the series citing safety concerns.

Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuitNC Non-championship race

Rd Date Race Name Track City 1 April 8 Autoworks 200 Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona 2 April 22 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California 3 May 27 Indianapolis 500* Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 4 June 3 Miller Genuine Draft 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 5 June 17 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan 6 June 24 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 7 July 8 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 8 July 15 Marlboro Grand Prix Meadowlands Street Circuit East Rutherford, New Jersey 9 July 22 Molson Indy Toronto** Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 10 August 5 Marlboro 500 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 11 August 26 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado 12 September 2 Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia 13 September 16 Red Roof Inns 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 14 September 23 Texaco/Havoline 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin NC October 6 Marlboro Challenge Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 15 October 7 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania 16 October 21 Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California * Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.

** The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.

Results Rnd Race Name Pole position Winning driver Winning teamRace time 1 Autoworks 200 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske1:35:01 2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Al Unser Jr. Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:53:00 3Indianapolis 500 Emerson Fittipaldi Arie Luyendyk Doug Shierson Racing2:41:48 4 Miller Genuine Draft 200 Rick Mears Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing1:29:46 5 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:49:32 6 Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200 Danny Sullivan Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:48:22 7 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Rick Mears Danny Sullivan Team Penske1:47:24 8 Marlboro Grand Prix Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:52:34 9 Molson Indy Toronto Danny Sullivan Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:13:26 10 Marlboro 500 Emerson Fittipaldi Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:38:07 11 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Teo Fabi Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:08:00 12 Molson Indy Vancouver Michael Andretti Al Unser Jr. Galles-Kraco Racing2:08:13 13Red Roof Inns 200 Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing2:19:27 14 Texaco/Havoline 200 Danny Sullivan Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing1:53:00NC Marlboro Challenge Michael Andretti Rick Mears Team Penske0:39:06 15 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Bobby Rahal Emerson Fittipaldi Team Penske1:46:28 16Champion Spark Plug 300K Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Team Penske1:47:45

Final driver standings

Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MOH ROA MAR NAZ LAG Pts 1 Al Unser Jr. 3 1* 4 1 27 3 15* 11 1* 1 1* 1* 3 4 3 16 2 210 2 Michael Andretti 20 4 20 5* 1* 1* 25 1* 2 15 5 20 1* 1 6* 5 3 181 3 Rick Mears 1* 6 5 2 4 5 8 2 12 14 7 4 7 3 1 2 4 168 4 Bobby Rahal 2 12 2 4 2 11 2 25 22 2 3 8 6 7 7 3 5 153 5 Emerson Fittipaldi 5 2 3* 3 7 9 3 6 20 17* 18 6 12 2 2 1* 6 144 6 Danny Sullivan 6 3 32 8 14 4 1 14 4 21 2 2 5 16* 8 18 1* 139 7 Mario Andretti 4 5 27 21 25 2 4 24 6 3 4 3 2 5 5 4 26 136 8 Arie Luyendyk 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 4 17 9 90 9 Eddie Cheever 7 13 8 11 3 19 16 21 3 4 20 14 4 9 10 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 9 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 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 Wth 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 MIS DEN VAN MOH ROA MAR 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 notparticipate(DNP) Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

Nations' Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos Country PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIC DEN VAN MOH ROA NAZ LAG Pts 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 312 2 5 2 3 3 6 9 3 6 10 9 18 6 9 2 1 6 151 3 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 17 9 90 4 10 16 10 10 8 22 18 17 9 10 8 7 22 12 10 14 39 5 12 10 18 12 24 7 13 3 15 24 27 16 19 14 11 7 33 6 16 14 23 18 21 8 19 15 5 17 24 26 8 9 18 24 7 14 11 11 13 20 23 28 7 9 25 16 12 15 8 19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1 9 12 28 27 DNS 1 10 19 15 0 11 19 0 DNQ 0 Pos Country PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIC DEN VAN MOH ROA NAZ LAG Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup