The 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 14th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART (d.b.a "IndyCar"). The season consisted of 16 races. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, his third and final career CART title. Stefan Johansson was named the Rookie of the Year. The 1992 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Al Unser Jr. won the Indy 500 in the closest finish in the history of that event.
Starting in 1992, and continuing through 1996, the CART organization began operating under the name IndyCar. The term IndyCar was a registered trademark of IMS, Inc., and was licensed to CART from 1992 to 1996. The use of the term "CART" was curtailed in the series and in the media in favor of IndyCar during this period.
The circuit welcomed a new venue in 1992, New Hampshire International Speedway.
Bobby Rahal, who was in his first season as an owner/driver, won four races and three poles en route to the title. Rahal's three oval wins included a dominating wire-to-wire victory at Phoenix, where he led all 200 laps. Rahal fielded the "tried and true" Lola/Ilmor Chevrolet "A" combination. It was the final championship for the Ilmor Chevy A engine. Rahal managed to outperform the newer engines that joined the series in 1992, the Ford/Cosworth XB, as well as the Ilmor Chevy "B" engine, which was used by the Penske team. For the third time, Michael Andretti finished runner-up to Rahal in the points. Andretti promptly left Indy car racing the following year to race in Formula One.
A bevy of crashes, some serious, at the 1992 Indianapolis 500 injured several drivers, and shook up the driver lineup during parts of the season. Jovy Marcelo was fatally injured in a practice crash, while Nelson Piquet suffered devastating leg injures in another practice crash. Hiro Matsushita suffered a fractured leg and missed several races over the summer. Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Jimmy Vasser all sat out the race at Detroit while they recovered from injuries. In July, Mears dropped out of the Michigan 500 with nagging injuries, and ultimately sat out the rest of the season. Mears then unexpectedly retired from racing in December.
Drivers and constructors All entries utilized Goodyear tires. The following teams and drivers competed in the 1992 Indy Car World Series season. TeamChassisEngineNoDriver(s)StatusRound(s)Ref(s)A. J. Foyt EnterprisesLola T91/00Lola T92/00Chevrolet V8/A14 Gregor Foitek1, 3 A. J. Foyt2, 4 George Snider2 Brian Bonner5 Ross Cheever6–7, 11–13 Pancho Carter8, 10 Jon Beekhuis9 Mike Groff14–1648 Jeff Andretti4Bettenhausen MotorsportsPenske PC-20Chevrolet V8/A16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr.1–4, 6–7, 10 Stefan Johansson5, 8–9, 11–16Burns Racing TeamLola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A68 Dominic Dobson4Chip Ganassi RacingLola T92/00Ford-Cosworth XB6 Arie Luyendyk4, 10 Robby Gordon5–7, 9, 11–13Lola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A Didier Theys16Ford-Cosworth XB9 Eddie Cheever1Lola T92/002–17Concept MotorsportsLola T90/00Buick66 Mark Dismore4Dale Coyne RacingLola T90/00Lola T91/00CosworthBuick19 Éric Bachelart1–7, 9–14 Dennis Vitolo8, 15–16392 Ross Bentley1, 3, 5–6, 9–13 Brian Bonner4, 7–8, 14 Éric Bachelart16D.B. Mann MotorsportsLola T90/00Buick93 John Paul Jr.493T Mark Dismore4Dick Simon RacingLola T92/00Chevrolet V8/ABuick11 Hiro Matsushita1–4, 9, 11–16 Raul Boesel4–8, 10239, 11–16, NC22 Scott BraytonAllFormula ProjectLola T91/0044 Philippe Gache4Paragon Racing90 Lyn St. James4Euromotorsport RacingLola T91/00Cosworth42 Nicola Marozzo1 Fabrizio Barbazza4Lola T90/00 Vinicio Salmi6, 9, 12–13, 16 Steve Chassey7–8, 10 Mike Groff11 Tero Palmroth11 Jeff Wood14 Guido Daccò15Lola T91/0050 Jovy Marcelo1–4 Christian Danner5, 9, 11–16 Nicola Marozzo6 Mike Groff7–8 George Snider10Galles-Kraco RacingGalmer G92Galmer G92BChevrolet V8/A3 Al Unser Jr.All, NC18 Danny SullivanAll, NCHall-VDS RacingLola T92/00Chevrolet V8/A8 John AndrettiAll, NCLola T91/0038 Didier Theys4Hayhoe-Cole RacingLola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A47 Jimmy Vasser1–4, 9, 14, 16Hemelgarn-Byrd RacingLola T91/00Buick81 Pancho Carter491 Stan Fox4Hemelgarn Racing92 Gordon Johncock4King MotorsportsLola T91/00Buick26 Roberto Guerrero3Lola T92/00 Jim Crawford436 Roberto Guerrero4Leader Cards RacingLola T91/00Buick21 Buddy Lazier1–7, 9–10Chevrolet V8/A11–16McCormack Motorsports-Arciero RacingMcCormack MotorsportsLola T90/00Buick30 Fabrizio Barbazza1–4 Johnny Parsons4Lola T91/00 Jeff Wood5–10 Jacques Villeneuve Sr.11–12 John Jones13–15 Tero Palmroth1634 Jeff Wood4Newman/Haas RacingLola T92/00Lola T91/00Ford-Cosworth XB1 Michael AndrettiAll, NC2 Mario Andretti1–4, 6–16, NC Teo Fabi5Nu-Tech RacingLola T91/00Cosworth28 Jay Hill5 Tony de Tommaso16Penske RacingPenske PC-21Chevrolet V8/B4 Rick Mears1–4, 6–8, 10 Paul Tracy5, 9, 11–13, 16, NC Al Unser155 Emerson FittipaldiAll, NCPenske PC-207 Paul Tracy2, 4Penske PC-21Chevrolet V8/A10, 14–15P.I.G. RacingLola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A31 Ted Prappas1, 3–9, 11–16Rahal-Hogan RacingLola T92/00Chevrolet V8/A12 Bobby RahalAll, NCRAL GroupRobco RacingTruesports 91CJudd24 Brian Till3, 5–6, 8–9, 11–12, 14, 16Team MenardLola T92/00Buick27 Nelson Piquet4 Al Unser451 Gary Bettenhausen4Lola T91/0059 Rocky Moran4 Tom Sneva4TEAMKAR InternationalLola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A88 Kenji Momota4TruesportsTruesports 92CChevrolet V8/A10 Scott PruettAllWalker MotorsportsLola T92/00Lola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A15 Scott GoodyearAll, NC15T Mike Groff4175, 12Lola T90/00Cosworth A. J. Foyt1Lola T91/00Chevrolet V8/A Johnny Rutherford4 Jimmy Vasser6, 11, 13, 15 Jon Beekhuis10 Dennis Vitolo14 Willy T. Ribbs16
Driver changes Preseason On September 5, 1991, Patrick Racing announced that Bobby Rahal would leave Galles-Kraco Racing to drive the No. 20 car in 1992, replacing Danny Sullivan. One day later, Galles-Kraco Racing announced the opposite move by signing Sullivan to drive the No. 18 car vacated by Rahal in a three-year deal. On October 23, 1991, the newly reformed Hayhoe-Cole Racing announced that Jimmy Vasser would drive "as many (races) as we can afford" for the team in 1992, aiming to complete the full season. Vasser had won six races on route to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Championship behind Jovy Marcelo, but was hampered by a lack of reliability. On November 21, 1991, A. J. Foyt expressed an intention to postpone his retirement and compete in the 1992 Indianapolis 500, which was confirmed on January 24, 1992. On January 4, 1992, the RAL Group announced that Brian Till would drive the No. 24 car in at least eight events, starting at the Grand Prix of Long Beach and competing in every subsequent road course event except for Vancouver. His limited schedule, later under the Robco Racing name, went on to include an additional race at the New Hampshire oval. Till finished fifth in Indy Lights points in 1991, a year after winning the Atlantic Championship driving for Robco. On January 8, 1992, Concept Motorsports announced that Dominic Dobson would drive their car for a part-time, 5-race schedule. It was due to begin at the Indianapolis 500, where the car would be entered as the No. 66 in conjunction with Burns Racing Team. On January 24, 1992, Hemelgarn-Byrd Racing announced that Stan Fox would return as the driver of the No. 91 car at the Indianapolis 500, with updated Buick engines on the same Lola T91/00 chassis. On February 4, 1992, King Motorsports announced an expansion of its Indianapolis 500 program to two cars, to be driven by Roberto Guerrero and Jim Crawford, having both raced for the team in 1991 and served as test drivers during the winter. It was also announced that Guerrero would drive at Long Beach as a warm-up for the 500, with no further races planned despite the increased manifold pressure for Buick engines at CART-sanctioned races. On February 13, 1992, Hemelgarn Racing announced that Gordon Johncock would return to drive the No. 92 car at the Indianapolis 500, this time around on the same Lola T91/00 machinery as the rest of the team. On February 14, 1992, Chip Ganassi Racing announced it would field a second car on a part-time basis for Arie Luyendyk and rookie Robby Gordon. Luyendyk would drive the No. 6 car at the Indianapolis 500, with the possibility of other oval races subject to additional funding. Gordon, a Ford-backed competitor with multiple wins in the IMSA GT series and off-road racing, was slated to drive at least six of the eight road course races after the Indianapolis 500. On February 17, 1992, Menard Racing announced that the former three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet would drive the No. 27 car at the Indianapolis 500, making his Indy Car debut. Piquet had retired from Formula One in January, after finishing sixth in the last of his 14 seasons with the Benetton team. Piquet took the car that had been intended for Kevin Cogan, who was due to have reconstructive surgery on the shoulder injury he incurred in the 1991 edition. In the same announcement, Gary Bettenhausen was confirmed to return to the No. 51 for the third straight year. On February 22, 1992, Dale Coyne Racing announced that rookie Brian Bonner had signed a deal to compete in select races, including New Hampshire. He would eventually make his debut at the Indianapolis 500. Bonner had finished 8th in the IMSA GTP class standings in 1991, after brief appearances in the American Racing Series. On March 6, 1992, Dale Coyne Racing announced that Ross Bentley would drive the No. 39 car at six events, starting with the season opener at Surfers Paradise and including the Vancouver event he had raced in 1990 and 1991. On March 11, 1992, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that rookie Gregor Foitek would drive the No. 14 car at Surfers Paradise and Long Beach, being slated to contest the rest of the road course races and, potentially, the Indianapolis 500. It also confirmed that team owner A. J. Foyt would drive at Phoenix to prepare for the Indianapolis 500. Foitek, who had no family connection to Foyt despite the similar surnames, was a former Formula One driver with the Brabham and Onyx teams in 1990, and had contested a partial schedule in the World Sportscar Championship in 1991 with a privateer Porsche 962. On March 13, 1992, McCormack Motorsports-Arciero Racing announced the signing of Fabrizio Barbazza, who returned for his third stint with the team after the 1987 and 1989 seasons, to drive the No. 30 car. Barbazza switched from Formula 1, where he failed at all of his 12 attempts to qualify for a Grand Prix with the AGS team during his rookie season. As a part of his role as Penske Racing's test driver, Paul Tracy was scheduled to compete again in a third car for selected events, including the Indianapolis 500. It was reported that his schedule was limited to the oval events and potentially the two Canadian races, although Penske did not made any specific announcements beforehand. Tracy drove the older Penske PC-20 at Phoenix and Indianapolis. The following drivers were entered for the Surfers Paradise race and other events without a prior announcement: Dale Coyne Racing signed reigning Indy Lights champion Éric Bachelart to drive the No. 19 car. Bachelart had been reported in February to have signed an eight-race deal for an unnamed team, but he ended up contesting an almost full season. Bachelart took the place of Randy Lewis, who retired from racing. Leader Cards Racing would contest the full 1992 season with Buddy Lazier, who had raced for various outfits in 1991. His sponsorship package prevented the team from downsizing to an Indy 500-only program.