1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1991 CART season
1991 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series
	; ; Michael Andretti
Season
Races	18
Start date	March 17
End date	October 20
Awards
Drivers' champion	Michael Andretti
Constructors' Cup	Lola
Manufacturers' Cup	Chevrolet
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Jeff Andretti
Indianapolis 500 winner	Rick Mears
	← 1990 1992 →

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. All entrants used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	1	Al Unser Jr.
Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	18	Bobby Rahal
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	2	Michael Andretti
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	6	Mario Andretti
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	3	Rick Mears
			5	Emerson Fittipaldi
			17	Paul Tracy
Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	8	Eddie Cheever
Vince Granatelli Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	9	Arie Luyendyk
Truesports	Truesports	Judd	11	Scott Pruett
Patrick Racing	Lola	Alfa Romeo	20	Danny Sullivan
Patrick Racing	Lola	Alfa Romeo	40	Roberto Guerrero
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Penske	Chevrolet	16	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
Bettenhausen Motorsports	Penske	Chevrolet	90	Cornelius Euser
Walker Racing	Lola	Cosworth	10	Willy T. Ribbs
Walker Racing	Lola	Judd	15	Scott Goodyear
Euromotorsports	Lola	Cosworth	42	Franco Scapini
			42	Nicola Marozzo
			50	Mike Groff
			50	Roberto Guerrero
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	19	Randy Lewis
				Dale Coyne
				Ross Bentley
			39	Dennis Vitolo
				Jeff Wood
				Michael Greenfield
				Paul Tracy
			90	Buddy Lazier
P.I.G. Entreprises	Lola	Judd	31	Ted Prappas
Hall-VDS Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	4	John Andretti
Bayside Disposal Racing	Lola	Cosworth	86	Jeff Andretti
Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	7	Hiro Matsushita
Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	22	Scott Brayton
Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	21	Dean Hall
				Didier Theys
				Johnny Parsons
U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	44	Phil Krueger
Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick	12	Mark Dismore
	Lola			Pancho Carter
	Lola			John Jones
Giochi/Preziosi	Lola	Cosworth	33	Guido Daccò
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	14	A. J. Foyt
				Bernard Jourdain
				Al Unser
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	71	Buddy Lazier
		Buick	91	Stan Fox
		Cosworth	92	Gordon Johncock
Thom Burns Racing	Lola	Judd	66	Dominic Dobson
King Racing	TrueSports	Judd	21	Geoff Brabham
King Racing	Lola	Judd	26	Jim Crawford
Menard Racing	Lola	Buick	9	Kevin Cogan
Menard Racing	Lola	Buick	51	Gary Bettenhausen
Paragon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	23	Tero Palmroth
Mann Racing	Lola	Buick	93	John Paul Jr.

Season Summary

Schedule

Rd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	March 17	Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix	R Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia
2	April 14	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	R Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California
3	April 21	Valvoline 200	O Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
4	May 26	Indianapolis 500	O Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
5	June 2	Miller Genuine Draft 200, in Honor of Rex Mays	O Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
6	June 16	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	R Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan
7	June 23	Texaco/Havoline Presents the Budweiser/G. I.Joe's 200	R Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
8	July 8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	R Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
9	July 14	Marlboro Grand Prix	R Meadowlands Street Circuit	East Rutherford, New Jersey
10	July 21	Molson Indy Toronto	R Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
11	August 4	Marlboro 500	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
12	August 25	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	R Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado
13	September 1	Molson Indy Vancouver	R Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia
14	September 15	Pioneer Electronics 200 Presented by Budweiser	R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
15	September 22	The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200	R Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
16	October 6	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	O Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
NC	October 19	Marlboro Challenge	R Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California
17	October 20	Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	R Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California

O Oval/Speedway
R Road/Street course
Non-championship event

Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the PPG Indy Car title.

Race results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time
1	Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix	Michael Andretti	John Andretti	Hall-VDS Racing	2:12:54
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Michael Andretti	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:57:14
3	Valvoline 200	Rick Mears	Arie Luyendyk	Vince Granatelli Racing	1:32:18
4	75th Indianapolis 500	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Marlboro Team Penske	2:50:00
5	Miller Genuine Draft 200, in Honor of Rex Mays	Rick Mears	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:29:10
6	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Michael Andretti	Emerson Fittipaldi	Marlboro Team Penske	1:57:19
7	Texaco/Havoline Presents the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	Emerson Fittipaldi	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:44:06
8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Emerson Fittipaldi	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:42:47
9	Marlboro Grand Prix	Rick Mears	Bobby Rahal	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:54:37
10	Molson Indy Toronto	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:50:57
11	Marlboro 500	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Marlboro Team Penske	2:59:23
12	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Michael Andretti	Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:57:06
13	Molson Indy Vancouver	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:47:10
14	Pioneer Electronics 200 Presented by Budweiser	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:59:49
15	The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200	Bobby Rahal	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:35:05
16	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Rick Mears	Arie Luyendyk	Vince Granatelli Racing	1:31:23
NC	Marlboro Challenge	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	0:56:41
17	Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:47:42

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	SUR	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	MAR	LAG	Pts
1	Michael Andretti	14	16	4	2*	1*	19	1*	1	16	1*	14*	3	1*	1*	1*	3*	1	1*	234
2	Bobby Rahal	2	2	2	19	4	2	3	3	1*	3	11	20	2	3	4	2	7	24	200
3	Al Unser Jr.	16*	1*	6	4	19	4	4	4	2	23	3	1*	3	5	2	4	4	2	197
4	Rick Mears	3	4	5	1	15	5	6	17	3	20	1	8	6	6	15	15	2*	5	145
5	Emerson Fittipaldi	19	17	3	11	8	1*	2	2*	7	21	20	2	17	2	6	8	3	4	140
6	Arie Luyendyk	9	5	1*	3	17	3	7	5	18	19	2	22	19	9	5	1	8	8	134
7	Mario Andretti	17	19	9	7	3	7	5	6	15	2	4	15	4	7	3	5	5	3	132
8	John Andretti	1	18	11	5	2	6	19	15	4	5	6	7	7	10	19	9	6	19	105
9	Eddie Cheever	15	3	8	31	7	12	9	8	5	17	7	4	12	8	7	6	10	6	91
10	Scott Pruett	5	24	12	12	13	17	8	23	17	4	13	5	5	4	17	18		7	67
11	Danny Sullivan	4	11	7	10	5	10	21	9	6	14	18	18	9	17	16	20	9	9	56
12	Scott Brayton	6	8	13	17	6	9	15	7	9	6	9	16	10	13	11	19		27	52
13	Scott Goodyear	23	7	21	27	9	8	10	19	8	7	15	24	8	11	9	21		11	42
14	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	10	12	18	9	12	13	13	13	21	11	5	10	18	18	13	10		16	27
15	Jeff Andretti RY	7	9	10	15	11	16	12	16	23	9	12	12	11	22	18	11		13	26
16	Mike Groff	8	23	16	24	18	22	11	10	11	8		DNS		20	8			15	22
17	Willy T. Ribbs				32		11		22	10			6	21		10	17		12	17
18	John Jones								21	19	10	8	11	15	21	21	13		21	10
19	Ted Prappas R	22	6		DNQ		25	17	18	22	16		21	14	12	23			23	9
20	Gordon Johncock				6															8
21	Paul Tracy R		22									21					7		25	6
22	Buddy Lazier	25	25		33	DNQ	18		11		22		9		24	24			22	6
23	Hiro Matsushita	21	13	14	16	10	14	14	14	12	15	19	14	16	14	12	12		20	6
24	Stan Fox				8															5
25	Didier Theys R		10		DNQ		DNQ	22	12	20	13		23		23	25			14	4
26	Pancho Carter				21	14						10								3
27	Cornelius Euser R																		10	3
28	Franco Scapini R	11																		2
29	Gary Bettenhausen				22															1
30	Randy Lewis	13	15	19	14					14	12	16	17		15	22			26	1
31	Dean Hall	12			DNQ															1
32	Jeff Wood			22			24	20					13	20	19	14	DNS		17	0
33	A. J. Foyt				28	16	23	16	20	13		17					16			0
34	Ross Bentley R													13						0
35	Dominic Dobson				13															0
36	Guido Daccò		14	20	Wth		21	18												0
37	Dennis Vitolo	24	26				20										14			0
38	Roberto Guerrero				30		15				18		19						18	0
39	Mark Dismore R	20	21	15	Wth															0
40	Michael Greenfield														16	20				0
41	Al Unser			17																0
42	Bernard Jourdain		20		18															0
43	Phil Krueger	18																		0
44	Johnny Parsons				DNQ	20														0
45	Geoff Brabham				20															0
46	Dale Coyne					21	DNQ	23												0
47	Nicola Marozzo R													22	DNS	DNQ				0
48	Tero Palmroth				23															0
49	John Paul Jr.				25															0
50	Jim Crawford				26															0
51	Kevin Cogan				29															0
	Tom Sneva				DNQ															0
	Salt Walther				DNQ															0
	Jon Beekhuis											Wth								0
	Tony de Tommaso												DNQ							0
Pos	Driver	SUR	LBH	PHX	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MDO	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 not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

Nations' Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos	Country	Pts
1	United States	328
2	Brazil	136
3	Netherlands	133
4	Canada	55
5	Japan	6
6	Belgium	4
7	Italy	2
8	Colombia	0
9	Mexico	0
10	Australia	0
11	Finland	0
12	United Kingdom	0
Pos	Country	Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Lola T9100/T9000/T8900/T8800	352
2	Penske PC-20/PC-19/PC-17	229
3	Truesports 91	67
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Chevrolet A	374
2	Judd	93
3	Cosworth DFS/DFX	57
4	Alfa Romeo	56
5	Buick	15
Pos	Engine	Pts

References

"1991 CART PPG IndyCar World Series standings". race-database.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1991". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1991 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Official Box Score: 75th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Standings after Laguna Seca". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved 2015-12-07.