1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1990 CART season
Al Unser, Jr.
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	17
Start date	April 8
End date	October 21
Awards
Drivers' champion	Al Unser, Jr.
Constructors' Cup	Lola
Manufacturers' Cup	Chevrolet
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Eddie Cheever
Indianapolis 500 winner	Arie Luyendyk
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1989	1991

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. 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. It was the first season of his Indy car career he failed to win any races. 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.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No	Drivers	Notes
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	3	Michael Andretti
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	6	Mario Andretti
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	11/28	Scott Goodyear
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	30	Arie Luyendyk
Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	Goodyear	20	Roberto Guerrero	not competing at Toronto
Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	Goodyear	40	Al Unser	Indianapolis 500 only, did not qualify at Michigan
Porsche North America	March	Porsche	Goodyear	4	Teo Fabi
Porsche North America	March	Porsche	Goodyear	41	John Andretti
Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	Goodyear	1	Emerson Fittipaldi
				2	Rick Mears
				7	Danny Sullivan
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	5	Al Unser, Jr.
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	18	Bobby Rahal
Truesports	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	8/19	Raul Boesel
Truesports	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	21	Geoff Brabham	Indianapolis 500 only
Chip Ganassi Racing	Penske/Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	15/25	Eddie Cheever
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	29	Pancho Carter	Phoenix, Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee, Detroit, Portland, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto & Michigan only
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	29	Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Denver, Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only
U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	44	Jeff Wood	Phoenix, Detroit, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Michigan, Denver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Laguna Seca only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	Goodyear	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	not competing at Phoenix, Vancouver & Laguna Seca, did not qualify at Long Beach, did not start at Road America
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	Goodyear	16	Guido Daccò	Long Beach only
Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	50	Guido Daccò	Phoenix only
Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	50	Mike Groff	not competing at Phoenix, Long Beach & Milwaukee, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Greenfield Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	42	Michael Greenfield	Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Nazareth only, did not qualify at Milwaukee
Team Menard	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	51/15	Jim Crawford	Phoenix & Indianapolis 500 only
				51	Gary Bettenhausen	Indianapolis 500 only
					George Snider	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
					Steve Barclay	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify (wrecked, rookie orientation)
Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick/Cosworth	Goodyear	12	Randy Lewis
				24	Steve Bren	Long Beach only
				24	Buddy Lazier	Michigan only
				8	Rich Vogler	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	10	Hiro Matsushita	Long Beach, Detroit, Portland, Meadowlands, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Nazareth & Laguna Seca only, passed rookie orientation at Indianapolis 500
				22	Scott Brayton
				23/10	Tero Palmroth	Indianapolis 500, Detroit & Meadowlands only, did not qualify at Michigan
				23	Joe Sposato	Laguna Seca only
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	19/39	Dean Hall	not competing at Nazareth
Gohr Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	56	Rocky Moran	Indianapolis 500 only
					Jon Beekhuis	Michigan only
					John Morton	Detroit only but did not qualify
					Fulvio Ballabio	Laguna Seca only but did not qualify
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	14	A. J. Foyt	not competing at Nazareth & Laguna Seca
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	Goodyear	14	Didier Theys	Laguna Seca only
Granatelli Racing	Lola/Penske	Buick	Goodyear	9/70	Didier Theys	Phoenix, Long Beach, Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Portland, Cleveland, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver & Mid-Ohio only
				11	Kevin Cogan	Indianapolis 500 only
				9	Tom Sneva	Indianapolis 500 only
Bayside Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	86	Dominic Dobson	not competing at Milwaukee, Cleveland, Mid-Ohio, Michigan & Nazareth
P. I. G. Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	31	Jon Beekhuis	Long Beach, Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, Road America & Laguna Seca only
Raynor Racing	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	25	Willy T. Ribbs	Long Beach, Detroit, Meadowlands, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only
Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	93	John Paul, Jr.	Indianapolis 500 only
Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	93	Steve Chassey	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	71/81	Billy Vukovich III	Indianapolis 500 & Michigan only
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	71/91	Buddy Lazier	Portland, Cleveland, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio & Nazareth only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500, Detroit & Denver, did not start at Toronto & Road America
Kent Baker Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	97	Stan Fox	Indianapolis 500 only
Andale Racing	Lola	Buick	Goodyear	69	Bernard Jourdain	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Burns Racing Team	Lola	Judd	Goodyear	66	Guido Daccò	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27/98	Jeff Andretti	Milwaukee only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	98	Kenji Momota	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Kevin Cogan	Michigan only
Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Johnny Rutherford	Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Walther Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	77	Salt Walther	Indianapolis 500 & Michigan only but did not qualify
Nu-Tech Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	33	Guido Daccò	Toronto, Road America, Nazareth & Laguna Seca only, did not qualify at Detroit
Spirit of Vancouver	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	27	Ross Bentley	Vancouver only

Season Summary

Race results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	TV	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	April 8	Autoworks 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	ABC	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
2	April 22	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	ABC	Al Unser, Jr.	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
3	May 27	74th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	ABC	Emerson Fittipaldi	Arie Luyendyk	Doug Shierson Racing	Report
4	June 3	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	ABC	Rick Mears	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
5	June 17	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan	CBS	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
6	June 24	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
7	July 8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	ESPN	Rick Mears	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	Report
8	July 15	Marlboro Grand Prix	Meadowlands Sports Complex	East Rutherford, New Jersey	NBC	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
9	July 22	Molson Indy	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
10	August 5	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	ABC	Emerson Fittipaldi	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
11	August 26	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado	ABC	Teo Fabi	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
12	September 2	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	Report
13	September 16	Red Roof Inns 200 Presented by Budweiser	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
14	September 23	Texaco/Havoline 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
NC	October 6	Marlboro Challenge	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	ESPN	Michael Andretti	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
15	October 7	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	ESPN	Bobby Rahal	Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	Report
16	October 21	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	ESPN	Danny Sullivan	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	Report

Oval/Speedway

Road Course/Street Circuit

Non-championship race

Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.

Final driver standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos	Driver	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts
1	Al Unser, Jr.	3	1*	4	1	27	3	15*	11	1*	1	1*	1*	3	4	16	2	210
2	Michael Andretti	20	4	20	5*	1*	1*	25	1*	2	15	5	20	1*	1	5	3	181
3	Rick Mears	1*	6	5	2	4	5	8	2	12	14	7	4	7	3	2	4	168
4	Bobby Rahal	2	12	2	4	2	11	2	25	22	2	3	8	6	7	3	5	153
5	Emerson Fittipaldi	5	2	3*	3	7	9	3	6	20	17*	18	6	12	2	1*	6	144
6	Danny Sullivan	6	3	32	8	14	4	1	14	4	21	2	2	5	16*	18	1*	139
7	Mario Andretti	4	5	27	21	25	2	4	24	6	3	4	3	2	5	4	26	136
8	Arie Luyendyk	9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9	90
9	Eddie Cheever	7	13	8	11	3	19	16	21	3	4	20	14	4	9	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	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	Michael Greenfield				DNS			17	12	21		21		25	24	15		1
33	Tero Palmroth			12		28			27		DNS							1
34	Billy Vukovich III			24							13							0
35	Al Unser			13							DNS							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	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th-10th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
*	Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Nation's Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.

Pos	Country	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts
1	United States	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	312
2	Brazil	5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6	151
3	Netherlands	9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9	90
4	Canada	10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14	39
5	Italy	12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7	33
6	Colombia	16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18	24
7	Belgium	14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12	15
8	Japan		19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23	1
9	Finland			12		28			27		DNS							1
10	Scotland	19		15														0
11	Australia			19														0
	Mexico			DNQ														0
Pos	Country	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Lola T9000/T8900/T8800/T8700	318
2	Penske PC-19/PC-18/PC-17	264
3	March 90P/90CA/89P	75
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Chevrolet A	351
2	Porsche	72
3	Judd	59
4	Cosworth DFS	44
5	Alfa Romeo	24
6	Buick	22
7	Cosworth TC	16
8	Cosworth DFX	12
Pos	Engine	Pts

References

"1990 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings". race-database.com. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1990". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1990 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Official Box Score: 74th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Standings after Laguna Seca". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

American Championship car racing (IndyCar) seasons

AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NASCAR	1952 1953

USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95

CART / CCWS	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~

INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Years marked in italics are not official championship years.