The 1989 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 11th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Emerson Fittipaldi was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Bernard Jourdain. Fittipaldi became the second driver after Mario Andretti to win the Formula One World Championship and the CART championship.
The 1989 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500, and would later become the first driver since Bobby Rahal in 1986 to win Indy and the CART championship in the same season.
Emerson Fittipaldi won a total of five races, four pole positions, and had a total of eight podium finishes en route to the championship. Rick Mears won three races, and had a total of 14 top ten finishes, more consistent than Fittipaldi. The championship battle came down to those two drivers. In the second-to-last race of the season at Nazareth, Fittipaldi and Mears finished 1st-2nd. Fittipaldi effectively clinched the championship by virtue of a now 22-point lead over Mears. If Mears were to win the season finale at Laguna Seca, win the pole, and lead the most laps, he could tie Fittipaldi in points if Fittipaldi finished 13th or worse. However, Fittipaldi held the tiebreaker with 5 wins versus Mears with 3. Mears did all three at Laguna Seca (won the pole, won the race and led the most laps), but the tiebreaker scenario was moot as Fittipaldi managed a 5th place in the race. It was Mears' first road course victory since Riverside in 1982, and the first since he suffered serious leg injuries in 1984. It was also the last road course win of his career.
At Mid-Ohio, Teo Fabi scored the first and only win of the Porsche Indy Car team. Fabi had eleven top tens, and finished 4th in points. Cosworth unveiled a new engine, the "short-stroke" DFS to some fanfare, but little success. Bobby Rahal won one race in 1989 with the Cosworth DFS in July at the Meadowlands. It would stand as the only race victory for the DFS powerplant.
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed for the 1989 Indy Car World Series. All entries utilized Goodyear tires. TeamChassisEngineCar #DriversRoundsFull-time Newman/Haas RacingLolaChevrolet 5 Mario AndrettiAll 6 Michael AndrettiAll Patrick Racing Penske Chevrolet 20 Emerson FittipaldiAll Galles Racing Lola Chevrolet 2 Al Unser Jr.All Team Penske PenskeChevrolet 1 Danny Sullivan All except 6-7 Geoff Brabham 6 Al Unser 7 4 Rick MearsAll 25 Al Unser 3, 10-11 Porsche North America March Porsche 8 Teo FabiAll Truesports LolaJudd 3 Scott Pruett All Kraco Racing Lola Cosworth 18 Bobby RahalAll Dick Simon RacingLolaCosworth/Buick 7/9 Arie LuyendykAll 22 Scott Brayton All 28 Randy Lewis All except 14 17 Joe Sposato 15 Doug Shierson Racing Lola Judd 30 Raul BoeselAll Raynor Racing LolaJudd 10 Derek DalyAll Machinists Union Racing MarchCosworth 11 Kevin Cogan All except 14 Johnny Rutherford 14Lola 29/24 Pancho Carter All Protofab RacingLolaCosworth 15 James Weaver 2, 5, 7 65 John Jones All except 14 A. J. Foyt Enterprises LolaCosworth 14 A. J. Foyt All except 7 and 15 Rocky Moran 15March 29 Rich Vogler 3 Andale Racing Lola Cosworth 69 Bernard Jourdain All except 13 EuromotorsportLolaCosworth 50/16 Jean-Pierre Frey 1, 4-6 50 Davy Jones 3 Scott Atchison 6-8 Tero Palmroth 11 Guido Daccò 10, 12-15 Alex Morales Motorsports MarchAlfa Romeo 21 Roberto Guerrero 5-15 Arciero Racing PenskeCosworth 12 Didier Theys 1-4 Fabrizio Barbazza 5-9, 12-13, 15 Rich Vogler 10 Hemelgarn Racing LolaJudd/Buick 71 Ludwig Heimrath Jr. 1-4, 9-10, 12-15 Tero Palmroth 5 71/91 Didier Theys 5-8 91 Gordon Johncock 3, 10-11 Scott Goodyear 9, 13 Robby Unser 15 81 Bill Vukovich III 3 Vince Granatelli RacingLola/March Buick/Cosworth 9 Didier Theys 12-15 9/70 John Andretti 3, 9-11, 14-15 9/7 Tom Sneva 1-8Part-time Bayside MotorsportsLolaCosworth86 Dominic Dobson1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 15 Dale Coyne Racing LolaCosworth 19 Guido Daccò 1-8 Dale Coyne 11 Fulvio Ballabio 12-13 Ken Johnson 15 John Paul Jr. 10 ATEC Environmental Lola Cosworth 96 Guido Daccò 9 Bernstein Racing Lola Buick 15 Jim Crawford 3 Saleen March Cosworth 59 Steve Saleen 2-3, 5, 7, 9, 12-13, 15 Gohr Racing Lola/MarchCosworth 56 Jeff Wood 7-10, 12-15 Tero Palmroth 2-3 Bettenhausen Motorsports LolaCosworth 16 Jon Beekhuis 9, 13, 15 Steve Chassey 8, 10 Michael Greenfield 11 Dennis Vitolo 5, 12 15/16 John Paul Jr. 7-8 27 Fulvio Ballabio 2 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 11 Mann MotorsportsLolaBuick 99 Gary Bettenhausen 3 96 John Paul Jr. 5, 15 Mark Dismore 12 Stoops FreightlinerLolaCosworth 17 Johnny Rutherford 10-11 Steve Butler 3 U.S. Engineering LolaCosworth 44 Scott Harrington 3, 13, 15 Phil Krueger 10 Team Lazier March Cosworth 35 Buddy Lazier 3 Curb RacingMarchCosworth 33 Rocky Moran 3
Schedule Since Miami was dropped from the schedule the season finale and the Marlboro Challenge was moved to Laguna Seca. A race at Fuji Speedway in Japan was originally scheduled for March 26, but was eventually cancelled.
Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuitNC Non-championship race
Rd Date Race Name Track City 1 April 9 Checker Autoworks 200 Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona 2 April 16 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California 3 May 28 Indianapolis 500* Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 4 June 4 Miller High Life 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin5 June 18 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan 6 June 25 Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 7 July 2 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 8 July 16 Marlboro Grand Prix** Meadowlands Street Circuit East Rutherford, New Jersey 9 July 23 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 10 August 6 Marlboro 500 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 11 August 20 Quaker State 500 Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania 12 September 3 Red Roof Inns 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 13 September 10 Texaco/Havoline 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 14 September 24 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Pennsylvania International Raceway Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania NC October 14 Marlboro Challenge Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California 15 October 15 Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California * Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.
** Meadowlands was supposed to run for 183 miles (295 kilometers) but was shortened due to rain.
Results Rnd Race Name Pole position Winning driver Winning teamRace time 1 Checker Autoworks 200 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske1:35:09 2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Al Unser Jr. Al Unser Jr. Galles Racing1:51:19 3 Indianapolis 500 Rick Mears Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing2:59:01 4 Miller High Life 200 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske1:32:11 5 Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix Michael Andretti Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing2:02:11 6 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Teo Fabi Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing1:55:20 7 Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix Michael Andretti Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing1:32:56 8 Marlboro Grand Prix Emerson Fittipaldi Bobby Rahal Kraco Racing2:09:20 9 Molson Indy Toronto Emerson Fittipaldi Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing2:01:00 10 Marlboro 500 Emerson Fittipaldi Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing3:07:15 11 Pocono 500 Emerson Fittipaldi Danny Sullivan Team Penske2:55:43 12 Red Roof Inns 200 Teo Fabi Teo Fabi Porsche North America1:54:46 13 Texaco/Havoline 200 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Team Penske1:37:43 14 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Rick Mears Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing1:29:02NC Marlboro Challenge Emerson Fittipaldi Al Unser Jr. Galles Racing0:56:37 15 Champion Spark Plug 300K Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske1:58:29
Final driver standings
Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS POC MOH ROA NAZ MAR LAG Pts 1 Emerson Fittipaldi 5 3 1* 16 1 1* 1* 2 2 14 19 4 5 1* 8 5 196 2 Rick Mears 1* 5 23 1* 5 8 5 4 5 7 2* 6 3 2 9 1* 186 3 Michael Andretti 4 2 17 2 13* 6 18 18* 1 1* 3 3 6* 5 7 7 150 4 Teo Fabi 6 27 30 3 4 4 4 9 4 2 4 1* 2 16 4 19 141 5 Al Unser Jr. 2 1* 2 8 21 10 7 5 20 4 9 2 20 4 1* 3 136 6 Mario Andretti 8 18 4 7 3 25 2 20 26 3 5 7 7 8 5 2 110 7 Danny Sullivan 3 8 28 10 24 8 3* 23 1 5 1 3 2 14 107 8 Scott Pruett 11 DNS 10 5 2 5 6 3 6 17 8 19 8 6 6 4 101 9 Bobby Rahal 18 4 26 13 18 2 3 1 19 9 6 22 28 7 3 6 88 10 Arie Luyendyk 17 7 21 6 6 3 9 7 24 6 23 8 4 13 10 9 75 11 Raul Boesel 14 6 3 4 28 7 8 6 7 20 20 23 9 11 10 68 12 Derek Daly 12 9 15 21 25 11 22 25 16 5 24 9 27 9 18 25 13 Pancho Carter 7 17 22 9 10 9 14 13 27 26 12 28 19 18 24 18 14 Kevin Cogan 10 26 32 19 17 24 11 12 9 25 22 10 18 8 18 15 Scott Brayton 15 12 6 18 DNQ 13 28 10 14 11 14 15 13 10 20 17 16 Al Unser 24 10 8 7 14 17 John Jones 16 20 11 11 11 19 25 11 18 16 10 13 10 22 14 18 A. J. Foyt 22 25 5 20 26 DNS 23 17 18 21 21 22 14 10 19 Dominic Dobson 23 19 18 7 18 17 11 11 10 20 19 13 9 12 15 22 19 19 10 19 11 27 15 23 10 21 Didier Theys 20 23 20 17 9 20 12 26 11 11 21 17 9 22 Davy Jones 7 6 23 Roberto Guerrero 8 23 13 22 28 22 16 12 21 20 25 6 24 Fabrizio Barbazza 20 21 26 24 8 20 12 21 6 25 Rich Vogler 8 28 5 26 Ludwig Heimrath Jr. 9 24 13 DNS 22 DNQ 25 17 17 DNQ 4 27 Johnny Rutherford DNQ 10 13 DNS 3 28 Tom Sneva DNS 10 27 22 23 26 20 27 3 29 Guido Daccò 24 22 DNQ 14 12 12 21 DNQ 21 13 26 26 12 26 3 30 James Weaver 11 22 24 2 31 Steve Saleen 14 DNQ 14 17 12 14 25 13 1 32 Jeff Wood 15 15 DNQ 12 16 15 DNQ DNQ 1 33 John Andretti 25 25 24 17 19 12 1 34 Bill Vukovich III 12 1 35 Randy Lewis 13 15 29 15 16 16 23 16 15 27 18 17 14 16 0 36 Jon Beekhuis 13 24 15 0 37 Scott Atchison 17 27 14 0 38 Rocky Moran 14 28 0 39 Geoff Brabham Wth 14 0 40 Gordon Johncock 31 21 15 0 41 Jean-Pierre Frey 21 Wth DNQ DNQ 15 0 42 Phil Krueger DNQ 15 0 43 Tero Palmroth 16 16 27 25 0 44 John Paul Jr. DNQ 19 16 21 DNQ DNQ 0 45 Scott Harrington DNQ 16 DNQ 0 46 Fulvio Ballabio 21 18 DNQ 0 47 Jim Crawford 19 0 48 Scott Goodyear 23 23 0 49 Mark Dismore 24 0 50 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ 26 0 51 Dale Coyne DNQ 27 0 52 Ken Johnson 27 0 53 Steve Chassey DNQ 28 29 0 54 Gary Bettenhausen 33 0 Tom Bigelow DNQ 0 Steve Butler DNQ 0 Dick Ferguson DNQ 0 Stan Fox DNQ 0 Michael Greenfield DNQ Wth 0 Andy Hillenburg Wth 0 Buddy Lazier DNQ DNQ 0 Bobby Olivero DNQ 0 Johnny Parsons DNQ 0 Joe Sposato DNQ 0 Robby Unser DNQ 0 Dennis Vitolo DNQ DNQ 0 Kevin Whitesides DNQ 0 Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS POC MOH ROA NAZ MAR 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 MIS POC MOH ROA NAZ LAG Pts 1 United States1*1*21*2*221*1*1*121*21* 276 2 Brazil531*411*1*221419451*5 200 3 Italy62230344494241*21221 139 4 Netherlands17721663972462384139 75 5 Ireland12915212511222516524927918 25 6 Canada102011111119251113161013101715 18 7 Mexico191391215221919101911271523 10 8 Belgium20232017920122611112117 9 9 Colombia823132228221612212025 6 10 England112224 2 11 Australia14 0 12 Switzerland21WthDNQDNQ15 0 13 Finland16162725 0 14 Scotland19 0 Pos Country PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS POC MOH ROA NAZ LAG Pts
Chassis Constructors' Cup
Pos Chassis Pts 1 Penske PC-18/PC-17 283 2 Lola T8900/T8800/T8700 254 3 March 89CE/89P/88C/86C 149 Pos Chassis Pts
Engine Manufacturers' Cup