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1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

Sports season

The 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 10th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Danny Sullivan was the national champion, winning for Team Penske. The rookie of the year was John Jones. The 1988 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his third victory at Indy.

The 1988 season was the breakout year for the Ilmor Chevrolet Indy V-8 engine. After being introduced in 1986, and earning its first victory in 1987, the Ilmor Chevy dominated the series in 1988, and established itself as the best powerplant on the circuit. Chevy won 14 of the 15 races, and all 15 pole positions. Along the way, the Ilmor Chevy earned its first victory at Indianapolis in 1988, with Rick Mears winning from the pole.

Season recap

Danny Sullivan won four races, nine pole positions, and had 11 top five finishes en route to the championship title. Sullivan got off to a slow start, but at Indy, he and his Penske teammates (Rick Mears and Al Unser) dominated the month of May. The Penske team swept all three spots on the front row, and led 192 of the 200 laps. Sullivan himself qualified second and dominated the first half of the race. He dropped out just beyond the halfway point when a wing adjuster failed and sent his car into the wall. He rebounded over the next six races, posting two wins and no finish worse than 4th.

Sullivan's nearest competitors during the season were Al Unser Jr. and Bobby Rahal. Unser Jr. left Doug Shierson Racing after a winless 1987 campaign and returned to Galles Racing for 1988, and also got use of the coveted Chevrolet engine. Unser won at Long Beach and Toronto, then won a controversial race at the Meadowlands. Battling for the lead in the late stages of the race, he tangled with Emerson Fittipaldi, sending Fittipaldi into the tire barrier.

Back-to-back defending CART champion, and 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal returned for his last season at Truesports. The team dropped the Cosworth DFX and the took up development of the Judd AV engine. The engine was known to be down on horsepower, but excelled in fuel mileage and reliability, particularly in the 500-mile races. Rahal finished 4th at Indy, second at the Michigan 500, and won the Pocono 500. His ten top five finishes kept him in contention for the title, but with only one win, he was struggling to keep pace with the Chevy-powered teams.

After winning the Michigan 500, Danny Sullivan took the points lead for the first time all year. The lead was short-lived, however, as he wrecked at Pocono. Rahal and Unser Jr. finished 1-2 at Pocono, and the top three in the standings were separated by only 5 points with five races remaining.

At Mid-Ohio, Rahal crashed out, and his title hopes began to fade. Sullivan and Unser were separated by 1 point with four races to go. All three drivers finished strong at Road America, and the championship battle pushed on. The turning point of the season came at Nazareth. Al Unser Jr. blew his engine, Rahal was not a factor, but Sullivan dominated. Sullivan started from the pole, and led the final 74 laps to score a crucial victory. With only two races left, Sullivan had a commanding 25-point lead. At the second-to-last race of the season at Laguna Seca, Sullivan pulled out a hat trick by winning the pole, leading the most laps, and winning the race. With still one race left, Sullivan clinched the 1988 CART title, holding an insurmountable 35-point lead. It was Sullivan's first and only championship title and Penske's first since 1985.

With the championship decided for Sullivan, the season finale at Miami became a race to see who would finish second in points. Rahal held an 8-point lead over Al Unser Jr., with Mario Andretti and Rick Mears also lurking in 4th and 5th, respectively. Unser Jr. dominated the race, leading 82 (of 112) laps and winning for the second time at the Tamiami Park circuit. Rahal blew an engine, Mario Andretti dropped out, and Mears finished second. The results saw a shake up in the standings, with Unser Jr. finishing second in points, Rahal third, and Mears slipping ahead of Andretti by 3 points for 4th and 5th.

Other stories from 1988 included A. J. Foyt returning to a full-time schedule (from 1980-1987, he only ran a partial schedule), and the Porsche Indy car team expanding to full-time with driver Teo Fabi. Rookie John Andretti suffered a devastating crash at the Pocono 500, but would recover before the end of the season. Jim Crawford, who suffered serious leg injuries in a crash in 1987, returned to the cockpit with a notable run at Indianapolis where he led 8 laps and finished 6th, the best result to-date for the Buick V-6 engine.

Another story was the continued downward spiral of March. After Portland the Patrick Racing Team changed from the latest March to a Lola fleet which consisted of the current model and a year old Lola.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1988 Indy Car World Series. All cars used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Rounds
United States Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T8800	Chevrolet	6	US Mario Andretti	All
United States Patrick Racing	March 88C	Chevrolet	20	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	1-5
Lola T8700
Lola T8800	6-15
United States Galles Racing	March 88C	Chevrolet (2-8, 10-15) Cosworth (1,9)	3	US Al Unser Jr.	All
United States Team Penske	Penske PC-17	Chevrolet	5	US Rick Mears	All
9	US Danny Sullivan	All
1	US Al Unser	3
60	9-10
United States Porsche North America	Porsche 2708	Porsche	8	Italy Teo Fabi	All
United States Truesports	Lola T8800	Judd (1-7, 9-15)	1/4	US Bobby Rahal	All
United States Kraco Racing	March 88C	Cosworth	18	US Michael Andretti	1-9
Lola	10-15
United States Doug Shierson Racing	March	Cosworth	30	Brazil Raul Boesel	1-2, 4-5
Lola	3, 6-15
United States Raynor Racing	Lola	Cosworth	10	Ireland Derek Daly	All
United States Arciero Racing	March	Cosworth	12	CAN John Jones	All
United States Vince Granatelli Racing	Lola/March	Cosworth	2/4	Colombia Roberto Guerrero	All except 7-8
2/4	US Al Unser	7-8
58/71/85	US Gordon Johncock	3, 9-10
United States Machinists Union Racing	March	Cosworth	11	US Kevin Cogan	All except 8-11
US Scott Pruett	8, 11
55	US Scott Atchison	All except 3, 13
29/11	US Rich Vogler	3, 9-10
Buick	28	US Pancho Carter	3
United States Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	7	Netherlands Arie Luyendyk	All
22	US Dick Simon	1, 3-4, 9-10, 13
US Scott Pruett	2
Belgium Didier Theys	5-8, 11-12, 14-15
23	Italy Fulvio Ballabio	2, 11-12
Finland Tero Palmroth	3, 5
Switzerland Jean-Pierre Frey	14-15
United States A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Cosworth	14	US A. J. Foyt	All except 9
US Johnny Rutherford	9
March	48	US Rocky Moran	3
Chevrolet	84	US Stan Fox	3
United States Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola/March	Cosworth/Judd	16	US Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All except 5 and 15
US Dennis Vitolo	15
United States Alex Morales Motorsports	March	Cosworth	21	US Howdy Holmes	All
United States Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Judd/Cosworth/Buick	91	US Scott Brayton	All except 11-12 and 14
71	Canada Ludwig Heimrath Jr.	2-3, 5-8, 11-12, 15
US Ken Johnson	14
81/71	US Tom Sneva	3, 9
United States Gohr Racing	March	Cosworth	56	US Rocky Moran	2, 5-8, 11-12, 14-15
US Bill Vukovich III	1, 3, 9-10
United States Curb Racing	Lola	Cosworth	98	US John Andretti	All except 11-12 and 14-15
United States Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	24	US Randy Lewis	All except 13
16	USA Dominic Dobson	5
USA Dobson Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	17/92	USA Dominic Dobson	3, 14
United States Dale Coyne Racing	March	Chevrolet	19	US Dale Coyne	3-11, 13-15
USA Dominic Dobson	2
United States Los Angeles Drywall	March	Cosworth	27	United States Dick Ferguson	2
United States Ed Pimm	3
United States Bernstein Racing	Lola	Buick	15	UK Jim Crawford	3
17	US Johnny Rutherford	3
United States KargoStopper	Lola	Cosworth	88	US Darin Brassfield	11, 14
United States BDR Racing	March	Cosworth	43	United States Steve Bren	14
United States Gary Trout Motorsports	March	Cosworth	33	US Steve Chassey	3
33	US Ed Pimm	11-12
United States Andale Racing	March	Cosworth	69	Mexico Bernard Jourdain	14-15
US U.S. Engineering	March	Cosworth	77	US Phil Krueger	6, 9-10
United States Kent Baker Racing	March	Cosworth	97	US Phil Krueger	3
US Scheid Tire Centers	March	Cosworth	46	US Gary Bettenhausen	3
United States Calumet Farms	March	Chevrolet	84	US George Snider	3
Brazil GF Racing	March	Cosworth	25	Brazil Giupponi Franca	11, 14
Brazil José Romano	12, 15
United States Indiana Carbon	March	Cosworth	87	US Spike Gehlhausen	3
United States Mergard	March	Cosworth	36	US Harry Sauce	3
United States Performers, Inc.	March	Cosworth	77	US Tom Bigelow	3

Schedule

Icon	Legend
	Oval/Speedway
	Road course
	Street circuit
NC	Non-championship race

Rd	Date	Race Name	Track
April 10	Checker 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
April 17	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California
May 29	Indianapolis 500*	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
June 5	Miller High Life 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
June 19	Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
July 3	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
July 17	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
July 24	Marlboro Grand Prix	Meadowlands Street Circuit	East Rutherford, New Jersey
August 7	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
August 21	Quaker State 500	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
September 4	Escort Radar Warning 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
September 11	Briggs & Stratton 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
September 25	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Pennsylvania International Raceway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
October 16	Nissan Monterey Grand Prix	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California
November 5	Marlboro Challenge	Tamiami Park	Miami, Florida
November 6	Nissan Indy Challenge	Tamiami Park	Miami, Florida

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

Results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time
Checker 200	US Rick Mears	US Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:38:22	[Report](1988-checker-200)
Long Beach Grand Prix	US Danny Sullivan	US Al Unser Jr.	Galles Racing	1:53:47	[Report](1988-long-beach-grand-prix)
Indianapolis 500	US Rick Mears	US Rick Mears	Team Penske	3:27:10	[Report](1988-indianapolis-500)
Miller High Life 200	US Michael Andretti	US Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:37:42	[Report](1988-dana-rex-mays-200)
Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	US Danny Sullivan	US Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:57:17	[Report](1988-budweiser-g-i-joe-s-200)
Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland	US Danny Sullivan	US Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:35:46	[Report](1988-budweiser-grand-prix-of-cleveland)
Molson Indy Toronto	US Danny Sullivan	US Al Unser Jr.	Galles Racing	1:59:34	[Report](1988-molson-indy-toronto)
Meadowlands Grand Prix	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	US Al Unser Jr.	Galles Racing	1:50:14	[Report](1988-meadowlands-grand-prix)
Marlboro 500	US Rick Mears	US Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	2:46:03	[Report](1988-marlboro-500)
Quaker State 500	US Rick Mears	US Bobby Rahal	Truesports	3:44:21	[Report](1988-quaker-state-500)
Escort Radar Warning 200	US Danny Sullivan	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	Patrick Racing	2:14:18	[Report](1988-escort-radar-warning-200)
Briggs & Stratton 200	US Danny Sullivan	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	Patrick Racing	1:38:11	[Report](1988-race-for-life-200)
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	US Danny Sullivan	US Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:20:47	[Report](1988-bosch-spark-plug-grand-prix)
Champion Spark Plug 300	US Danny Sullivan	US Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:58:35	[Report](1988-champion-spark-plug-300)
Marlboro Challenge	US Danny Sullivan	US Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	0:48:52	[Report](1988-marlboro-challenge)
Nissan Indy Challenge	US Danny Sullivan	US Al Unser Jr.	Galles Racing	1:58:08	[Report](1988-miami-indy-challenge-200)

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1988-indianapolis-500)	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MIS	POC	MOH	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MAR
US Danny Sullivan	23	13	23*	2	1	3*	2	4	1	18	5	4	1	1*	8	5
US Al Unser Jr.	18	1*	13	20	4	4	1*	1	21	2	4	7	19	6	4	1*
US Bobby Rahal	16	2	5	6	12	2	5	5	2	1	18	2	12	4	7	18
US Rick Mears	22	8	1	1*	6	23	6	3	13*	23	3	12	7*	5	5	2
US Mario Andretti	1*	15	20	17	5	1	25	2	12	17	2	3	3	3	6	15
US Michael Andretti	3	7	4	7	11	14	3	6	3	25	26	5	2	2	1*	17
Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	21	16	2	3	3	19	4	14*	19	21	1*	1*	8	16	2	20
Brazil Raul Boesel	5	4	7	4	26	5	8	9	11	5	6	14	5	21	3	22
Ireland Derek Daly	13	5	29	11	19	6	23	24	16	4	9	6	10	7	10	23
Italy Teo Fabi	7	24	28	9	7	24	10	18	25	24	8	8	4	10		21
CAN John Jones	20	12	DNQ	14	8	7	7	7	8	8	7	13	11	11		16
Colombia Roberto Guerrero	2	19	32	DNS	14	20			20	3	11	22	6	14		26
US Kevin Cogan	8	3	11	22	20	10	24					24	15	9		4
Netherlands Arie Luyendyk	9	10	10	15	2*	18	20	20	28	26	25	19	9	22		14
Belgium Didier Theys					10	9	18	21			10	23		8		3
US A. J. Foyt	4	11	26	5	15	11	15	17		16	22	10	17	24		25
US Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	6	DNQ	33	19		15	17	8	4	15	16	16	13	26
US Howdy Holmes	10	17	12	8	16	13	11	23	23	7	14	11	14	23		8
US Al Unser			3				9	19	9	13*					9
US Scott Atchison	12	9	DNQ	16	25	12	13	10	10	12	15	20	DNQ	25		9
US Gordon Johncock			DNQ						6	6
US Phil Krueger			8			17			5	22
US Scott Brayton	15	23	31	10	9	16	14	11	26	10			18			24
US Dick Simon	19		9	12					7	19			20
US Rocky Moran		6	16		13	22	12	15			13	17		28		13
Mexico Bernard Jourdain														20		6
UK Jim Crawford			6
CAN Ludwig Heimrath Jr.		14	25		23	26	19	12			19	21				7
US Randy Lewis	17	21	15	21	22	21	21	13	14	20	21	9		15		10
US Bill Vukovich III	11		14						17	9
US John Andretti	14	20	21	18	17	8	22	25	24	14			16
US Rich Vogler			17						15	11
US Dennis Vitolo																11
US Dale Coyne	DNS		DNQ	13	24	25	16	22	27	DNQ	24	DNS	DNQ	27		12
US Ed Pimm			DNQ								12	15
US Ken Johnson														12
Switzerland Jean-Pierre Frey														13		19
US Scott Pruett		18						16			20
Italy Fulvio Ballabio		25									17	18
US Steve Bren														17
USA Dominic Dobson		26	18		21									18
Finland Tero Palmroth			19		18
US Johnny Rutherford			22						18
US Darin Brassfield											23			19
US Tom Sneva			27						22
US Dick Ferguson		22	DNQ
US Steve Chassey			24
US Stan Fox			30
US Gary Bettenhausen			DNQ
US Tom Bigelow			DNQ
US Pancho Carter			DNQ
Brazil Giupponi Franca											DNQ			DNQ
US Spike Gehlhausen			DNQ
US Johnny Parsons			DNQ
Brazil José Romano												DNQ				DNQ
US Harry Sauce			DNQ
US George Snider			DNQ

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
Italics
*

|} |}

Nations' Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos	Country	Pts	1	317	2	158	3	52	4	50	5	45	6	40	7	31	8	29	9	8	10	8	11	0	12	0	Pos	Country	Pts
USA United States
Brazil Brazil
Italy Italy
Canada Canada
Ireland Ireland
Colombia Colombia
Netherlands Netherlands
Belgium Belgium
Mexico Mexico
England England
Switzerland Switzerland
Finland Finland

[[Chassis]] Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts	1	248	2	231	3	222	Pos	Chassis	Pts
GBR Lola T8800/T8700
USA Penske PC-17
GBR March 88C/87C/86C/85C

[[Engine]] Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts	1	320	2	206	3	131	4	44	5	8	Pos	Engine	Pts
USA Chevrolet A
GBR Cosworth
GBR Judd
GER Porsche
USA Buick

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

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