1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

Template:American Championship Car season 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. Unser's victory at the Michigan 500 was his first superspeedway win. 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. Despite finishing in the points in 14 races, it was the first season of his Indy car career he failed to win any races, and he managed only a 4th-place ranking in the final championship standings. 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.

This was the final year in which March Engineering chassis were run.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1990 Indy Car World Series. All cars used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Notes
Template:Flagicon Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	3	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	All
			6	Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti	All
Template:Flagicon Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Judd	11/28	Template:Flagicon Scott Goodyear	All
		Chevrolet	30	Template:Flagicon Arie Luyendyk	All
Template:Flagicon Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	20	Template:Flagicon Roberto Guerrero	All except 9
			40	Template:Flagicon Al Unser	3, 10
Template:Flagicon Porsche North America	March	Porsche	4	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	All
			41	Template:Flagicon John Andretti	All
Template:Flagicon Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	1	Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi	All
			2	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	All
			7	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	All
Template:Flagicon Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	5	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	All
			18	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	All
Template:Flagicon Truesports	Lola	Judd	8/19	Template:Flagicon Raul Boesel	All
			21	Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham	3
Template:Flagicon Chip Ganassi Racing	Penske/Lola	Chevrolet	15/25	Template:Flagicon Eddie Cheever	All
Template:Flagicon Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	29	Template:Flagicon Pancho Carter	1, 3-10
				Template:Flagicon Wally Dallenbach Jr.	11, 13, 16
Template:Flagicon U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	44	Template:Flagicon Jeff Wood	1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16
Template:Flagicon Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	16	Template:Flagicon Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All except 1, 12, and 16
				Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò	2
Template:Flagicon Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	50	Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò	1
				Template:Flagicon Mike Groff	3, 5-16
Template:Flagicon Greenfield Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	42	Template:Flagicon Michael Greenfield	4, 7-9, 11, 13-15
Template:Flagicon Team Menard	Lola	Buick	51/15	Template:Flagicon Jim Crawford	1, 3
			51	Template:Flagicon Gary Bettenhausen	3
Template:Flagicon Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick/Cosworth	12	Template:Flagicon Randy Lewis	All
			24	Template:Flagicon Steve Bren	2
				Template:Flagicon Buddy Lazier	10
			8	Template:Flagicon Rich Vogler	3
Template:Flagicon Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	10	Template:Flagicon Hiro Matsushita	2, 5-6, 8, 11-16
			22	Template:Flagicon Scott Brayton	All
			23/10	Template:Flagicon Tero Palmroth	3, 6, 8, 10
			23	Template:Flagicon Joe Sposato	16
Template:Flagicon Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	19/39	Template:Flagicon Dean Hall	All except 15
Template:Flagicon Gohr Racing	Lola	Cosworth	56	Template:Flagicon Rocky Moran	3
				Template:Flagicon Jon Beekhuis	10
				Template:Flagicon John Morton	6
				Template:Flagicon Fulvio Ballabio	16
Template:Flagicon A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	14	Template:Flagicon A. J. Foyt	All except 15-16
				Template:Flagicon Didier Theys	16
Template:Flagicon Vince Granatelli Racing	Lola/Penske	Buick	9/70	Template:Flagicon Didier Theys	1-3, 5-9, 11-13
			11	Template:Flagicon Kevin Cogan	3
			9	Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva	3
Template:Flagicon Bayside Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	86	Template:Flagicon Dominic Dobson	1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
Template:Flagicon P. I. G. Racing	Lola	Judd	31	Template:Flagicon Jon Beekhuis	2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16
Template:Flagicon Raynor Racing	Lola	Judd	25	Template:Flagicon Willy T. Ribbs	2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16
Template:Flagicon Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	93	Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr.	3
Template:Flagicon Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	71/81	Template:Flagicon Bill Vukovich III	3, 10
			71/91	Template:Flagicon Buddy Lazier	3, 5-7, 9, 11-15
Template:Flagicon Kent Baker Racing	Lola	Buick	97	Template:Flagicon Stan Fox	3
Template:Flagicon Andale Racing	Lola	Buick	69	Template:Flagicon Bernard Jourdain	3
Template:Flagicon Burns Racing Team	Lola	Judd	66	Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò	3
Template:Flagicon TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	27/98	Template:Flagicon Jeff Andretti	3-4
			98	Template:Flagicon Kenji Momota	3
Template:Flagicon Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	17	Template:Flagicon Kevin Cogan	10
				Template:Flagicon Johnny Rutherford	3
Template:Flagicon Walther Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	77	Template:Flagicon Salt Walther	3, 10
Template:Flagicon Nu-Tech Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	33	Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò	5, 9, 14-16
Template:Flagicon Spirit of Vancouver	Lola	Cosworth	27	Template:Flagicon Ross Bentley	12

Season summary

Schedule

Two new races were added to the schedule in the form of street courses at Denver and Vancouver. Pocono was dropped from the schedule with the series citing safety concerns.

Rd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	April 8	Autoworks 200 Presented by Phoenix International Raceway and the Fiesta Bowl	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
2	April 22	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	R  Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California
3	May 27	Indianapolis 500	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
4	June 3	Miller Genuine Draft 200, in Honor of Rex Mays	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
5	June 17	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	R  Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan
6	June 24	Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
7	July 8	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	R  Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
8	July 15	Marlboro Grand Prix	R  Meadowlands Street Circuit	East Rutherford, New Jersey
9	July 22	Molson Indy Toronto	R  Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
10	August 5	Marlboro 500	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
11	August 26	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	R  Streets of Denver	Denver, Colorado
12	September 2	Molson Indy Vancouver	R  Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia
13	September 16	Red Roof Inns 200 Presented by Budweiser	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
14	September 23	Texaco/Havoline 200	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
NC	October 6	Marlboro Challenge	O  Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
15	October 7	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	O  Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
16	October 21	Toyota Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	R  Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California

- The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.
 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course
  Non-championship event

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

Race results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time
1	Autoworks 200	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:35:01
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:53:00
3	Indianapolis 500	Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:Flagicon Arie Luyendyk	Doug Shierson Racing	2:41:48
4	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:29:46
5	Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:49:32
6	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:48:22
7	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:24
8	Marlboro Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:52:34
9	Molson Indy Toronto	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:13:26
10	Marlboro 500	Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:38:07
11	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:00
12	Molson Indy Vancouver	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:13
13	Red Roof Inns 200	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:19:27
14	Texaco/Havoline 200	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:53:00
NC	Marlboro Challenge	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Rick Mears	Team Penske	0:39:06
15	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal	Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	1:46:28
16	Champion Spark Plug 300K	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:45

Final driver standings

Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MOH ROA MAR NAZ LAG Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Al Unser Jr. 3 1* 4 1 27 3 15* 11 1* 1 1* 1* 3 4 3 16 2 210 2 Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti 20 4 20 5* 1* 1* 25 1* 2 15 5 20 1* 1 6* 5 3 181 3 Template:Flagicon Rick Mears 1* 6 5 2 4 5 8 2 12 14 7 4 7 3 1 2 4 168 4 Template:Flagicon Bobby Rahal 2 12 2 4 2 11 2 25 22 2 3 8 6 7 7 3 5 153 5 Template:Flagicon Emerson Fittipaldi 5 2 3* 3 7 9 3 6 20 17* 18 6 12 2 2 1* 6 144 6 Template:Flagicon Danny Sullivan 6 3 32 8 14 4 1 14 4 21 2 2 5 16* 8 18 1* 139 7 Template:Flagicon Mario Andretti 4 5 27 21 25 2 4 24 6 3 4 3 2 5 5 4 26 136 8 Template:Flagicon Arie Luyendyk 9 7 1 19 5 6 6 4 5 19 13 26 21 6 4 17 9 90 9 Template:Flagicon Eddie Cheever  RY  7 13 8 11 3 19 16 21 3 4 20 14 4 9 10 6 10 80 10 Template:Flagicon John Andretti 17 21 21 7 22 21 5 7 13 7 6 5 13 22 19 8 51 11 Template:Flagicon A. J. Foyt 22 24 6 9 17 10 7 5 16 6 10 13 15 20 42 12 Template:Flagicon Raul Boesel 18 8 28 6 6 18 20 13 10 9 28 19 9 10 8 11 42 13 Template:Flagicon Scott Goodyear 10 17 10 10 8 22 18 17 9 10 8 7 22 12 10 14 36 14 Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi 24 10 18 12 24 7 13 3 15 24 27 16 19 25 9 11 7 33 15 Template:Flagicon Scott Brayton 13 9 7 20 10 25 22 9 14 16 12 9 8 13 12 24 28 16 Template:Flagicon Roberto Guerrero 16 14 23 18 21 8 19 15 5 17 24 26 8 9 18 24 17 Template:Flagicon Mike Groff  R  DNQ 15 23 9 26 11 11 14 22 10 17 7 15 17 18 Template:Flagicon Didier Theys 14 11 11 13 20 23 28 7 9 25 16 12 15 19 Template:Flagicon Dominic Dobson 23 15 22 26 24 8 8 25 11 19 20 12 20 Template:Flagicon Pancho Carter 8 29 15 9 15 14 18 18 18 9 21 Template:Flagicon Jon Beekhuis 16 18 25 8 22 21 24 11 27 7 22 Template:Flagicon Jeff Wood 11 DNQ 11 10 20 24 25 19 14 23 19 7 23 Template:Flagicon Kevin Cogan 9 20 4 24 Template:Flagicon Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ 26 13 16 17 12 10 26 22 24 20 DNS 22 4 25 Template:Flagicon Dean Hall  R  15 18 17 16 23 14 11 19 19 23 23 15 11 15 21 4 26 Template:Flagicon Willy T. Ribbs  R  20 20 23 27 26 10 27 13 3 27 Template:Flagicon Wally Dallenbach Jr. 11 18 25 2 28 Template:Flagicon Randy Lewis 21 22 14 14 12 16 21 22 17 12 16 17 28 21 20 22 2 29 Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò 12 23 DNQ DNQ 23 14 13 16 1 30 Template:Flagicon Buddy Lazier  R  DNQ DNQ 13 24 DNS 26 DNQ 12 23 DNS 14 1 31 Template:Flagicon Hiro Matsushita  R  19 DNQ 19 12 16 15 23 17 18 21 23 1 32 Template:Flagicon Michael Greenfield  R  DNS 17 12 21 21 25 24 15 1 33 Template:Flagicon Tero Palmroth 12 28 27 DNS 1 34 Template:Flagicon Bill Vukovich III 24 13 0 35 Template:Flagicon Al Unser 13 Wth 0 36 Template:Flagicon Jim Crawford 19 15 0 37 Template:Flagicon John Paul Jr. 16 0 38 Template:Flagicon Jeff Andretti  R  DNQ 17 0 39 Template:Flagicon Joe Sposato  R  17 0 40 Template:Flagicon Ross Bentley  R  18 0 41 Template:Flagicon Geoff Brabham 19 0 42 Template:Flagicon Steve Bren 25 0 43 Template:Flagicon Rocky Moran 25 0 44 Template:Flagicon Tom Sneva 30 0 45 Template:Flagicon Gary Bettenhausen 31 0 46 Template:Flagicon Stan Fox 33 0 - Template:Flagicon Fulvio Ballabio DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Steve Barclay DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Steve Chassey DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Bernard Jourdain DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Kenji Momota DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon John Morton DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Johnny Rutherford DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon George Snider DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Rich Vogler DNQ 0 - Template:Flagicon Salt Walther DNQ DNS 0 Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MOH ROA MAR NAZ 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) 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	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	NAZ	LAG	Pts
1		1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	312
2		5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6	151
3		9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9	90
4		10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14	39
5		12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7	33
6		16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18	24
7		14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12	15
8			19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23	1
9				12		28			27		DNS							1
10		19		15														0
11				19														0
				DNQ														0
Pos	Country	PHX Template:Flagicon	LBH Template:Flagicon	INDY Template:Flagicon	MIL Template:Flagicon	DET Template:Flagicon	POR Template:Flagicon	CLE Template:Flagicon	MEA Template:Flagicon	TOR Template:Flagicon	MIC Template:Flagicon	DEN Template:Flagicon	VAN Template:Flagicon	MOH Template:Flagicon	ROA Template:Flagicon	NAZ Template:Flagicon	LAG Template:Flagicon	Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

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

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Chevrolet A	351
2	Template:Flagicon Porsche	72
3	Template:Flagicon Cosworth DFS/TC/DFX	72
3	Template:Flagicon Judd	59
4	Template:Flagicon Alfa Romeo	24
5	Template:Flagicon Buick	22
Pos	Engine	Pts

See also

• 1990 Indianapolis 500
• 1990 American Racing Series season