1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

Template:American Championship Car season The 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 5th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 13 races. Al Unser was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Teo Fabi. The 1983 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but an arrangement was made such that it counted towards the CART points championship. Tom Sneva won the Indy 500, after three previous runner-up finishes.

Al Unser jumped out to the early points lead, with second-place finishes in the first three races of the season. Unser finished second at Indianapolis to Tom Sneva, but not without some controversy. Rookie Al Unser Jr. was accused of blocking for his father, but Sneva prevailed, making the winning pass with ten laps to go. Unser won at Cleveland, finished second at the Michigan 500, and third at Road America. After 6 of 13 races, Unser had a 35-point lead over Tom Sneva in the standings.

Rookie Teo Fabi made headlines at Indianapolis, becoming the first rookie to win the pole since 1950. His car dropped out, however, with a failed fuel o-ring. After a mixed start to the year, Fabi's season came alive in July, winning his first career race at the Pocono 500. Fabi jumped from 8th in points to as high as second following his win at Mid-Ohio. Fabi began to whittle away at Unser's point lead. Unser was running consistently, and had no finish worse than 11th.

In the next-to-last race of the season at Laguna Seca, Fabi dominated. He won the pole position and led 95 of 98 laps, winning his third race of the season. With only one race to go, Unser's point lead was down to 15 points. At the season finale in Phoenix, Fabi put in another dominating performance. He won the pole and led 138 of 150 laps. Fabi's championship hopes, however, fell just short as Al Unser came home 4th. Al Unser won the title by a mere 5 points over Fabi.

Other top stories from 1983 included Newman/Haas Racing joining the series with driver Mario Andretti plus a new chassis from Lola, and the rookie debut of Al Unser Jr. Though Unser Jr. did not win any races, he had ten top-10 finishes en route to 7th in points.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1983 CART World Series. All competitors utilized Goodyear tires.

Team/Car Owner	No	Drivers	Rounds
Alex Morales Motorsports	21	Template:Flagicon Pancho Carter	All
All American Racers	98	Template:Flagicon Jeff Wood	11-12
Alsup Racing	11	Template:Flagicon Bill Alsup	1, 3-5, 7, 9-10, 12-13
Arciero Racing	66	Template:Flagicon Pete Halsmer	1, 3-13
		Template:Flagicon Johnny Parsons	2
Armstrong Mould Racing Team	43	Template:Flagicon Steve Krisiloff	2
BC Pace Racing	36	Template:Flagicon Chuck Ciprich	7
Bettenhausen Racing	10	Template:Flagicon Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All
	82	Template:Flagicon Gary Bettenhausen	13
	90	Template:Flagicon Derek Daly	6, 9, 11-13
Bignotti-Cotter Racing	5	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	All
	6	Template:Flagicon Kevin Cogan	1, 3-13
	16		2
Bob Ward Racing	47	Template:Flagicon Bob Ward	8
Brayton Racing	35	Template:Flagicon Patrick Bedard	2, 5, 7
	37	Template:Flagicon Scott Brayton	2, 4-5, 7, 10-11
Circle Bar Auto Racing	38	Template:Flagicon Chet Fillip	1-2, 10
Circle Bar Auto Racing w/ Caliva Racing		Template:Flagicon Phil Caliva	8
Dick Simon Racing	32	Template:Flagicon Dick Simon	6
	22		1-3, 5, 8-11, 13
		Template:Flagicon Jorge Koechlin	12
Doug Shierson Racing	30	Template:Flagicon Howdy Holmes	All
Douglas Schulz	48	Template:Flagicon Tom Klausler	6, 8
Forsythe Racing	33	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	All
Galles Racing	17	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	1, 3-13
	19		2
Gilmore Racing	1	Template:Flagicon George Snider	2
	14	Template:Flagicon A. J. Foyt	2
Gohr Racing	56	Template:Flagicon Steve Chassey	1-8, 11-13
GTS Racing	86	Template:Flagicon Drake Olson	6
		Template:Flagicon Al Loquasto	7
H&R Racing	28	Template:Flagicon Gary Bettenhausen	3, 7, 9
		Template:Flagicon Herm Johnson	9
HBK Racing	70	Template:Flagicon Tom Bigelow	3
	78		5
Herm Johnson Racing	42	Template:Flagicon Herm Johnson	4-5
Hoffman Racing	86	Template:Flagicon Dick Ferguson	5
Intercomp Racing	92	Template:Flagicon John Mahler	2
Interscope Racing	25	Template:Flagicon Danny Ongais	2
Jet Engineering	64	Template:Flagicon Greg Leffler	6, 8-9
		Template:Flagicon Tom Bigelow	12
Joel McCray Racing	46	Template:Flagicon Phil Krueger	1, 3-4, 9
Kraco Enterprises	18	Template:Flagicon Mike Mosley	1-8, 10, 13
		Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham	11-12
	99		8, 10
		Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	11-13
Leader Card Racers	8	Template:Flagicon Johnny Parsons	5
		Template:Flagicon Tom Bagley	7
		Template:Flagicon Randy Lewis	12
	24	Template:Flagicon Chip Mead	9-10
Machinists Union Racing	9	Template:Flagicon Roger Mears	1-4, 6-13
	55	Template:Flagicon Josele Garza	2, 4-12
McElreath Racing	23	Template:Flagicon Jim McElreath	1, 5, 7
Newman/Haas Racing	3	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	All
Patrick Racing	40	Template:Flagicon Johnny Rutherford	1, 7, 10-11, 13
		Template:Flagicon Danny Ongais	4-6
	60		3
	20		7-9
	60	Template:Flagicon Chip Ganassi	2, 4-5, 7, 9-13
	20		6
		Template:Flagicon Gordon Johncock	1-5
Primus Racing	72	Template:Flagicon Chris Kneifel	2, 4-13
Racing Team VDS	12	Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr.	1, 4-13
		Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham	2
Rattlesnake Racing w/ Agajanian Curb	29	Template:Flagicon Mike Chandler	2
	19		5
		Template:Flagicon Dick Ferguson	7
Rhoades Racing	41	Template:Flagicon Doug Heveron	1
	46	Template:Flagicon Jerry Karl	7-8
	61		3, 5
Simpson Sports	90	Template:Flagicon Dennis Firestone	2
Team Penske	1	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	1, 3-13
	2		2
	7	Template:Flagicon Al Unser	All
Tempero Racing	15	Template:Flagicon Bill Tempero	4, 9
Truesports	2	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	1, 3-12
	4		2
Whittington Racing	91	Template:Flagicon Don Whittington	2, 5, 7
	94	Template:Flagicon Bill Whittington	2, 4, 7
Wysard Racing	34	Template:Flagicon Derek Daly	1-2
		Template:Flagicon Desiré Wilson	3, 6-9, 11-13
		Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham	5

Schedule

File:1983 IndyCar season.JPG

Logo of the series for this year

Of the notable changes to the schedule, there were the additions of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, which was formerly a Formula One championship event, and Laguna Seca Raceway. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio returned to the schedule after a 2 year hiatus, and finally starting this season there would only be one race per season at the Milwaukee Mile.

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Location
-	March 20	Template:Flagicon Kraco Car Stereo 150	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona
1	April 17	Template:Flagicon Kraco Dixie 200	O  Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia
2	May 29	Template:Flagicon Indianapolis 500	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana
3	June 12	Template:Flagicon Gould Rex Mays Classic	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
4	July 3	Template:Flagicon Budweiser Cleveland 500	s  Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
5	July 17	Template:Flagicon Norton Michigan 500	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
6	July 31	Template:Flagicon Provimi Veal 200	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
7	August 14	Template:Flagicon Domino's Pizza 500	O  Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
8	August 29*	Template:Flagicon Budweiser 500K	R  Riverside International Raceway	Riverside, California
9	September 11	Template:Flagicon Escort Radar Warning 200	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
10	September 26	Template:Flagicon Detroit News Grand Prix	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
11	October 8	Template:Flagicon Caesars Palace Grand Prix	S  Caesars Palace	Las Vegas, Nevada
12	October 23	Template:Flagicon Cribari Wines 300k	R  Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California
13	October 29	Template:Flagicon Miller High Life 150	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Street circuit

• The season-opening Phoenix race was cancelled due to flooding.
• The Riverside race was scheduled for August 28, but pushed a day due to rain.

Season summary

Race results

Rd	Race Name	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time	Report
1	Kraco Dixie 200	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	26.730	Template:Flagicon Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	1:22:29	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	2:53.582	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	3:05:03	Report
3	Gould Rex Mays Classic	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	26.259	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	1:17:42	Report
4	Budweiser Cleveland 500	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	1:13.516	Template:Flagicon Al Unser	Penske Racing	2:51:54	Report
5	Norton Michigan 500	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	35.621	Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr.	VDS Racing	3:42:27	Report
6	Provimi Veal 200	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	1:58.898	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:00:42	Report
7	Domino's Pizza 500	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	46.912	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	3:42:28	Report
8	Budweiser 500K	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	1:30.887	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	Truesports	2:45:28	Report
9	Escort Radar Warning 200	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	1:21.364	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	2:01:49	Report
10	Detroit News Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	35.075	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Penske Racing	1:05:49	Report
11	Caesars Palace Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr.	34.888	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:17:48	Report
12	Cribari Wines 300k	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	56.920	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	1:44:28	Report
13	Miller High Life 150	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	24.947	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	1:11:03	Report

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

Final points standings

Pos Driver ATL Template:Flagicon INDY Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon MIS1 Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon POC Template:Flagicon RIV Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon MIS2 Template:Flagicon CPL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon PHX Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Al Unser 2 2 2 1* 2 3 11 11 4 5 4 11 4 151 2 Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi  RY  20 26 4 3 15 15 1* 2 1* 3 25 1* 1* 146 3 Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti 5 23 18 15 3 1 7 16 2 4 1* 2 2 133 4 Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva 14 1* 1* 5 25 4 12 5 7 21 15 18 3 96 5 Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal 21 20 6 19 5 10* 5 1 3 2 9 7 DNS 94 6 Template:Flagicon Rick Mears 8* 3 3 7 4 17 3 19 9 1* 13 21 17 92 7 Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.  R  6 10 13 9 7 2 2 4* 18 10 10 4 8 89 8 Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr.  R  3 DNQ 21 1* 5 29 3 20 7 2 26 11 84 9 Template:Flagicon Chip Ganassi 8 13 8 21 26 25 6 3 3 5 56 10 Template:Flagicon Pancho Carter 16 7 14 8 6 7 6 7 10 15 6 25 10 53 11 Template:Flagicon Pete Halsmer 4 DNQ 9 2 33 14 14 27 24 14 5 20 7 48 12 Template:Flagicon Roger Mears 7 28 8 6 DNQ 8 16 9 12 16 7 6 16 43 13 Template:Flagicon Howdy Holmes 9 6 7 12 32 16 13 13 8 8 17 5 21 39 14 Template:Flagicon Mike Mosley 13 13 5 4 17 25 4 24 DNQ 11 24 36 15 Template:Flagicon Kevin Cogan 15 5 20 25 27 19 15 21 6 20 16 22 6 26 16 Template:Flagicon Gordon Johncock 1 14 23 26 26 20 17 Template:Flagicon Chris Kneifel  R  12 27 9 26 8 22 13 24 8 9 15 19 18 Template:Flagicon Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 10 17 10 18 18 12 10 8 14 9 21 14 18 19 19 Template:Flagicon Steve Chassey 17 11 19 22 10 6 25 17 12 10 19 17 20 Template:Flagicon Danny Ongais 21 12 28 23 18 24 10 5 14 21 Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham 4 22 18 12 20 16 13 22 Template:Flagicon Josele Garza 25 17 19 11 9 20 23 17 11 12 9 23 Template:Flagicon Tom Klausler  R  22 6 DNQ 8 24 Template:Flagicon Jeff Wood  R  22 8 5 25 Template:Flagicon Scott Brayton 9 24 12 28 13 26 5 26 Template:Flagicon Derek Daly  R  22 19 DNS 9 22 18 23 22 4 27 Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti  R  19 24 9 4 28 Template:Flagicon Desiré Wilson  R  DNQ 10 20 31 14 16 23 19 13 3 29 Template:Flagicon Dick Simon DNQ 15 11 14 13 25 15 19 14 23 2 30 Template:Flagicon Jim McElreath 11 13 23 2 31 Template:Flagicon Greg Leffler DNQ DNQ 24 15 11 2 32 Template:Flagicon Phil Krueger DNQ DNQ 17 11 27 2 33 Template:Flagicon Dick Ferguson DNQ 11 22 2 34 Template:Flagicon Jerry Karl DNQ 16 DNQ 21 32 12 1 35 Template:Flagicon Gary Bettenhausen DNQ 22 27 DNS 12 1 36 Template:Flagicon Doug Heveron  R  12 DNQ 1 37 Template:Flagicon Randy Lewis  R  13 0 38 Template:Flagicon Bill Alsup DNS DNQ 21 20 16 20 19 22 27 14 0 39 Template:Flagicon Tom Bigelow DNQ 15 DNQ 29 17 DNQ 0 40 Template:Flagicon Bill Whittington  R  18 15 19 0 41 Template:Flagicon Jorge Koechlin  R  15 0 42 Template:Flagicon Herm Johnson DNQ 16 24 DNQ 17 0 43 Template:Flagicon Mike Chandler 16 31 0 44 Template:Flagicon Patrick Bedard  R  30 28 17 0 45 Template:Flagicon Chet Fillip  R  19 33 DNQ 18 0 46 Template:Flagicon Johnny Rutherford 18 Wth 21 23 24 20 0 47 Template:Flagicon Al Loquasto DNQ 18 0 48 Template:Flagicon Don Whittington 27 20 33 0 49 Template:Flagicon Bill Tempero DNQ 23 DNQ 21 0 50 Template:Flagicon Johnny Parsons 22 30 0 51 Template:Flagicon Phil Caliva DNQ 23 0 52 Template:Flagicon Drake Olson  R  DNQ 23 0 53 Template:Flagicon Dennis Firestone 24 0 54 Template:Flagicon Chip Mead 26 25 0 55 Template:Flagicon Bob Ward  R  26 DNQ DNS 0 56 Template:Flagicon Steve Krisiloff 29 DNQ 0 57 Template:Flagicon Chuck Ciprich  R  DNQ 30 0 58 Template:Flagicon A. J. Foyt 31 0 59 Template:Flagicon George Snider 32 0 60 Template:Flagicon Tom Bagley DNQ 34 0 - Template:Flagicon Richard Hubbard DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Barry Ruble DNQ DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Teddy Pilette DNQ DNS 0 - Template:Flagicon Harry MacDonald DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Mark Alderson DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Jim Buick DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Larry Cannon DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Bob Frey DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Amber Furst DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Spike Gehlhausen DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Bob Harkey DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Sheldon Kinser DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Bob Lazier DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon John Mahler DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Mack McClellan DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Graham McRae DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Dave Peperak DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Roger Rager DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Ken Schrader DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Jerry Sneva DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Rich Vogler DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Bill Vukovich II DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon John Morton DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Lee Kunzman DNP 0 - Template:Flagicon Dave McMillan DNP 0 - Template:Flagicon Bobby Olivero DNP 0 - Template:Flagicon Bill Puterbaugh DNP 0 - Template:Flagicon Larry Rice DNP 0 - Template:Flagicon Dale Whittington DNP 0 Pos Driver ATL Template:Flagicon INDY Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon MIS1 Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon POC Template:Flagicon RIV Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon MIS2 Template:Flagicon CPL Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon PHX Template:Flagicon 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) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

See also

• 1982–83 USAC Championship Car season
• 1983 Formula Atlantic season
• 1983 Indianapolis 500
• 1983–84 USAC Championship Car season
• http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1983.htm
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Template:Webarchive (p. 193–194)