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1990 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

Sports 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
USA Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	3	USA Michael Andretti	All
6	USA Mario Andretti	All
USA Doug Shierson Racing	Lola	Judd	11/28	CAN Scott Goodyear	All
Chevrolet	30	NLD Arie Luyendyk	All
USA Patrick Racing	March/ Lola	Alfa Romeo	20	COL Roberto Guerrero	All except 9
40	USA Al Unser	3, 10
USA Porsche North America	March	Porsche	4	ITA Teo Fabi	All
41	USA John Andretti	All
USA Team Penske	Penske	Chevrolet	1	BRA Emerson Fittipaldi	All
2	USA Rick Mears	All
7	USA Danny Sullivan	All
USA Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet	5	USA Al Unser Jr.	All
18	USA Bobby Rahal	All
USA Truesports	Lola	Judd	8/19	BRA Raul Boesel	All
21	AUS Geoff Brabham	3
USA Chip Ganassi Racing	Penske/Lola	Chevrolet	15/25	USA Eddie Cheever	All
USA Leader Card Racing	Lola	Cosworth	29	USA Pancho Carter	1, 3-10
USA Wally Dallenbach Jr.	11, 13, 16
USA U.S. Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	44	USA Jeff Wood	1, 3, 5, 7-11, 13-14, 16
USA Bettenhausen Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth/Buick	16	USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All except 1, 12, and 16
ITA Guido Daccò	2
ITA Euromotorsport	Lola	Cosworth	50	ITA Guido Daccò	1
USA Mike Groff	3, 5-16
USA Greenfield Engineering	Lola	Cosworth	42	USA Michael Greenfield	4, 7-9, 11, 13-15
USA Team Menard	Lola	Buick	51/15	UK Jim Crawford	1, 3
51	USA Gary Bettenhausen	3
USA Arciero Racing	Penske	Buick/Cosworth	12	USA Randy Lewis	All
24	USA Steve Bren	2
USA Buddy Lazier	10
8	USA Rich Vogler	3
USA Dick Simon Racing	Lola	Cosworth	10	JPN Hiro Matsushita	2, 5-6, 8, 11-16
22	USA Scott Brayton	All
23/10	FIN Tero Palmroth	3, 6, 8, 10
23	USA Joe Sposato	16
USA Dale Coyne Racing	Lola	Cosworth	19/39	USA Dean Hall	All except 15
USA Gohr Racing	Lola	Cosworth	56	USA Rocky Moran	3
USA Jon Beekhuis	10
USA John Morton	6
ITA Fulvio Ballabio	16
USA A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola	Chevrolet	14	USA A. J. Foyt	All except 15-16
BEL Didier Theys	16
USA Vince Granatelli Racing	Lola/Penske	Buick	9/70	BEL Didier Theys	1-3, 5-9, 11-13
11	USA Kevin Cogan	3
9	USA Tom Sneva	3
USA Bayside Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	86	USA Dominic Dobson	1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 16
USA P. I. G. Racing	Lola	Judd	31	USA Jon Beekhuis	2, 5, 9, 11-14, 16
USA Raynor Racing	Lola	Judd	25	USA Willy T. Ribbs	2, 5, 8-9, 11-13, 16
USA Mann Motorsports	Lola	Buick	93	USA John Paul Jr.	3
USA Hemelgarn Racing	Lola	Buick	71/81	USA Bill Vukovich III	3, 10
71/91	USA Buddy Lazier	3, 5-7, 9, 11-15
USA Kent Baker Racing	Lola	Buick	97	USA Stan Fox	3
USA Andale Racing	Lola	Buick	69	MEX Bernard Jourdain	3
USA Burns Racing Team	Lola	Judd	66	ITA Guido Daccò	3
USA TEAMKAR International	Lola	Cosworth	27/98	USA Jeff Andretti	3-4
98	JPN Kenji Momota	3
USA Conseco Racing	Lola	Cosworth	17	USA Kevin Cogan	10
USA Johnny Rutherford	3
USA Walther Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	77	USA Salt Walther	3, 10
USA Nu-Tech Motorsports	Lola	Cosworth	33	ITA Guido Daccò	5, 9, 14-16
CAN Spirit of Vancouver	Lola	Cosworth	27	CAN Ross Bentley	12

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.

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

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

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

** The Toronto race was supposed to run 183 miles, but was shortened by rain.

Results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team
Autoworks 200	USA Rick Mears	USA Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:35:01
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	USA Al Unser Jr.	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:53:00
[Indianapolis 500](1990-indianapolis-500)	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	NLD Arie Luyendyk	Doug Shierson Racing	2:41:48
Miller Genuine Draft 200	USA Rick Mears	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	1:29:46
Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix	USA Michael Andretti	USA Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:49:32
Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	USA Danny Sullivan	USA Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:48:22
Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	USA Rick Mears	USA Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:24
Marlboro Grand Prix	USA Michael Andretti	USA Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:52:34
Molson Indy Toronto	USA Danny Sullivan	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:13:26
[Marlboro 500](1990-marlboro-500)	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:38:07
Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver	ITA Teo Fabi	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:00
Molson Indy Vancouver	USA Michael Andretti	USA Al Unser Jr.	Galles-Kraco Racing	2:08:13
Red Roof Inns 200	USA Michael Andretti	USA Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:19:27
Texaco/Havoline 200	USA Danny Sullivan	USA Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:53:00
Marlboro Challenge	USA Michael Andretti	USA Rick Mears	Team Penske	0:39:06
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	USA Bobby Rahal	Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi	Team Penske	1:46:28
Champion Spark Plug 300K	USA Danny Sullivan	USA Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:47:45

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	PHX
LBH
[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
MEA
TOR
MIS
DEN
VAN
MOH
ROA
MAR	NAZ
LAG
Pts	1	210	2	181	3	168	4	153	5	144	6	139	7	136	8	90	9	80	10	51	11	42	12	42	13	36	14	33	15	28	16	24	17	17	18	15	19	12	20	9	21	7	22	7	23	4	24	4	25	4	26	3	27	2	28	2	29	1	30	1	31	1	32	1	33	1	34	0	35	0	36	0	37	0	38	0	39	0	40	0	41	0	42	0	43	0	44	0	45	0	46	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	Pos	Driver	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	MAR	NAZ	LAG	Pts
USA Al Unser Jr.	3	1*	4	1	27	3	15*	11	1*	1	1*	1*	3	4	3	16	2
USA Michael Andretti	20	4	20	5*	1*	1*	25	1*	2	15	5	20	1*	1	6*	5	3
USA Rick Mears	1*	6	5	2	4	5	8	2	12	14	7	4	7	3	1	2	4
USA Bobby Rahal	2	12	2	4	2	11	2	25	22	2	3	8	6	7	7	3	5
BRA Emerson Fittipaldi	5	2	3*	3	7	9	3	6	20	17*	18	6	12	2	2	1*	6
USA Danny Sullivan	6	3	32	8	14	4	1	14	4	21	2	2	5	16*	8	18	1*
USA Mario Andretti	4	5	27	21	25	2	4	24	6	3	4	3	2	5	5	4	26
NLD Arie Luyendyk	9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	4	17	9
USA Eddie Cheever	7	13	8	11	3	19	16	21	3	4	20	14	4	9	10	6	10
USA John Andretti	17	21	21	7	22	21	5	7	13	7	6	5	13	22		19	8
USA A. J. Foyt	22	24	6	9	17	10	7	5	16	6	10	13	15	20
BRA Raul Boesel	18	8	28	6	6	18	20	13	10	9	28	19	9	10		8	11
CAN Scott Goodyear	10	17	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12		10	14
ITA Teo Fabi	24	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	25	9	11	7
USA Scott Brayton	13	9	7	20	10	25	22	9	14	16	12	9	8	13		12	24
COL Roberto Guerrero	16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8		9	18
USA Mike Groff			DNQ		15	23	9	26	11	11	14	22	10	17		7	15
BEL Didier Theys	14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16				12
USA Dominic Dobson	23	15	22		26	24		8	8		25	11		19			20
USA Pancho Carter	8		29	15	9	15	14	18	18	18
USA Jon Beekhuis		16			18				25	8	22	21	24	11			27
USA Jeff Wood	11		DNQ		11		10	20	24	25	19		14	23			19
USA Kevin Cogan			9							20
USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr.		DNQ	26	13	16	17	12	10	26	22	24		20	DNS		22
USA Dean Hall	15	18	17	16	23	14	11	19	19	23	23	15	11	15			21
USA Willy T. Ribbs		20			20			23	27		26	10	27				13
USA Wally Dallenbach Jr.											11		18				25
USA Randy Lewis	21	22	14	14	12	16	21	22	17	12	16	17	28	21		20	22
ITA Guido Daccò	12	23	DNQ		DNQ				23					14		13	16
USA Buddy Lazier			DNQ		DNQ	13	24		DNS	26	DNQ	12	23	DNS		14
JPN Hiro Matsushita		19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18		21	23
				DNS			17	12	21		21		25	24		15
FIN Tero Palmroth			12		28			27		DNS
USA Bill Vukovich III			24							13
USA Al Unser			13							Wth
UK Jim Crawford	19		15
USA John Paul Jr.			16
USA Jeff Andretti			DNQ	17
USA Joe Sposato																	17
CAN Ross Bentley												18
AUS Geoff Brabham			19
USA Steve Bren		25
USA Rocky Moran			25
USA Tom Sneva			30
USA Gary Bettenhausen			31
USA Stan Fox			33
ITA Fulvio Ballabio																	DNQ
USA Steve Barclay			DNQ
USA Steve Chassey			DNQ
MEX Bernard Jourdain			DNQ
JPN Kenji Momota			DNQ
USA John Morton					DNQ
USA Johnny Rutherford			DNQ
USA George Snider			DNQ
USA Rich Vogler			DNQ
USA Salt Walther			DNQ							DNS

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.

Country	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	NAZ
1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6
9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9
10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14
12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7
16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18
14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12
	19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23
		12		28			27		DNS
19		15
		19
		DNQ

[[Chassis]] Constructors' Cup

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

[[Engine]] Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts	1	351	2	72	3	72	3	59	4	24	5	22	Pos	Engine	Pts
USA Chevrolet A
GER Porsche
GBR Cosworth DFS/TC/DFX
GBR Judd
ITA Alfa Romeo
USA Buick

References

Info: Wikipedia Source

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Country	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	NAZ
1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6
9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9
10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14
12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7
16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18
14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12
	19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23
		12		28			27		DNS
19		15
		19
		DNQ

Country	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	NAZ
1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6
9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9
10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14
12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7
16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18
14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12
	19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23
		12		28			27		DNS
19		15
		19
		DNQ

Country	PHX	LBH	[INDY](1990-indianapolis-500)	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIC	DEN	VAN	MOH	ROA	NAZ
1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1
5	2	3	3	6	9	3	6	10	9	18	6	9	2	1	6
9	7	1	19	5	6	6	4	5	19	13	26	21	6	17	9
10	16	10	10	8	22	18	17	9	10	8	7	22	12	10	14
12	10	18	12	24	7	13	3	15	24	27	16	19	14	11	7
16	14	23	18	21	8	19	15		5	17	24	26	8	9	18
14	11	11		13	20	23	28	7		9	25	16			12
	19	DNQ		19	12		16			15	23	17	18	21	23
		12		28			27		DNS
19		15
		19
		DNQ