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.
On September 18, 1990, Penske Racing announced it would downsize its program back to a two-car team for 1991 by not exercising their option on Danny Sullivan, as sponsorship from Pennzoil had switched to Hall/VDS Racing.[62]
On October 8, 1990, Hall/VDS Racing announced it had signed John Andretti as their lone driver in a two-year deal. Andretti switched to the No. 4 car from Porsche North America after the German manufacturer stopped its Indy Car program.[45][80]
On November 20, 1990, A. J. Foyt announced his plans to retire from competition after the 1991 season, during his recovery from the leg and feet injuries sustained on September 23, 1990, in a crash at Road America.[11][12] Foyt, who had dismissed the notion of retirement in early press conferences after his crash, clarified it had been his plan all along.[81] However, he remained non-committal for the rest of 1991 regarding his future plans.
On December 14, 1990, Scott Pruett received the mandatory medical approval to return to the No. 11 Truesports car for 1991. Pruett had been sidelined for the whole 1990 season due to severe leg injuries in a pre-season crash, with Raul Boesel as the fill-in driver throughout the year.[70]
On February 8, 1991, the Indianapolis News reported that Euromotorsport had signed John Jones to drive the No. 50 car, taking the place of Mike Groff.[38] However, the necessary funding for the seat did not materialize, and Jones was replaced for the Surfers Paradise round by the returning Groff, who would remain in the car as the full-time driver.[3]
On January 30, 1991, Arciero Racing announced the signing of rookie Mark Dismore, who replaced Randy Lewis in the No. 12 car. Dismore was the reigning champion of the Atlantic Championship in the discontinued Pacific Division, and had made one previous Indy Car start in 1989.[1]
On February 5, 1991, P.I.G. Enterprises announced that rookie Ted Prappas would drive the No. 31 car, replacing Jon Beekhuis. Prappas had finished second in the American Racing Series standings with one win, behind series champion Paul Tracy.[50] Due to the team's low budget for the season, Prappas skipped all oval races except for the Indianapolis 500, where he failed to qualify after crashing twice. Subsequently, his equipment was upgraded from a Lola T89/00 to a T91/00.[66]
On February 8, 1991, Dick Simon Racing announced that Hiro Matsushita would be the full-time driver of the No. 7 car, after a partial schedule in his debut season. Matsushita's car was powered by a Cosworth engine, except for his first serious attempt at the Indianapolis 500, which was planned with a Buick stock-block.[31] For the final race of the season at Laguna Seca, Matsushita drove a Chevrolet engine, in anticipation of his supplier switch for 1992.[32]
On February 14, 1991, Hemelgarn Racing announced the signing of Stan Fox in the No. 91 car for the Indianapolis 500, as part of a new partnership with Jonathan Byrd Racing. Fox was tasked with a Lola T91/00 chassis, the first brand-new car of his Indy Car career.[49] Both team owners had lost their Indy 500 drivers over the previous year, after Rich Vogler and Billy Vukovich III were both killed in separate sprint car races; Vukovich had been due to sign for the joint venture at the time of his death.[82]
On February 16, 1991, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that the team would skip the opening race of the season at Surfers Paradise, and that Bernard Jourdain would drive the No. 14 car at Long Beach in place of the injured A. J. Foyt, who aimed to return at Phoenix. This marked Jourdain's own return since rupturing his spleen in a practice crash at Indianapolis in 1990.[9]
On February 19, 1991, Dale Coyne Racing announced it had signed the reigning American Racing Series champion Paul Tracy to drive for the team for an undetermined number of races, starting at Long Beach in the No. 39 car. Tracy had previously signed a three-month testing deal with Truesports in October 1990 that failed to evolve into a ride due to a lack of sponsorship.[19]
On March 13, 1991, A. J. Foyt Enterprises entered Bernard Jourdain for the Indianapolis 500 as the driver of the No. 48 car. Jourdain drove a Buick engine, the first and only time in history that a Foyt car carried such powerplant in Indy car racing.[15]
The following drivers were entered for the Surfers Paradise race and other events without a prior announcement
On March 27, 1991, Genoa Racing entered Vinicio Salmi in a second car for the Indianapolis 500. However, Salmi never turned a wheel in rookie orientation or official practice, due to Genoa's economic issues.[85]
On April 16, 1991, A. J. Foyt announced that he would not compete at Phoenix to further heal from his injuries before the Indianapolis 500. Fellow four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser was selected to drive the No. 14 car, racing on a one-mile oval for the first time since 1987, and five years after his last Phoenix race.[10]
On April 20, 1991, Dale Coyne Racing entered Jeff Wood to start the No. 19 for the Phoenix despite not taking part in qualifying, as a 'last-minute substitute' for Paul Tracy.[27] An engine failure in his debut race at Long Beach prevented the low-funded Tracy from executing his plan to keep his schedule alive on purse earnings.[86][87]
On April 24, 1991, Walker Motorsports announced it would compete in the Indianapolis 500 with Willy T. Ribbs as the driver of the No. 17 Lola car, with a chance of running more races if sufficient funding was found. This signified Ribbs' return to Indianapolis after his aborted 1985 attempt, looking to become the first African American driver to race at the Indy 500.[4]
On April 29, 1991, Dale Coyne Racing announced that Paul Tracy would not attempt to compete at the Indianapolis 500 due to a lack of sponsorship, hoping to restart the program at Detroit.[26] His seat would not be taken for the Indy 500, after Randy Lewis crashed his primary car during practice.[88]
On May 1, 1991, Thom Burns Racing entered two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock as the driver of the No. 66 car for the Indy 500.[67] Three days later, before official practice for the race began, Johncock was replaced by Dominic Dobson due to the loss of his sponsorship package.[55]
On May 3, 1991, Dick Simon Racing entered Tero Palmroth for the third time in four years. The No. 23, the third car of the team, was entered by Paragon Motorsports, a new subsidiary of Simon's team that had technical support from TEAMKAR International in its first year. During the month, Paragon also became co-entrant of Hiro Matsushita's car for the rest of the season.[34][89]
During the weeks of practice for the Indianapolis 500, the following driver assignments or changes occurred:
On May 10, 1991, Mark Dismore suffered season-ending leg injuries in a massive practice crash. His Penske PC-17, who collided with the attenuator at pit lane entry, was destroyed on impact.[2] On May 13, Arciero Racing officially named Pancho Carter, who switched from his ride at Leader Card Motorsports, to drive the No. 12 car, which was now a Lola T89/00 acquired from Bettenhausen Motorsports.[3] In Carter's place, the No. 11 entry at Leader Card was assigned the same day to his half-brother Johnny Parsons, another Indy 500 veteran. Both Carter and Parsons remained in the cars for the following event at Milwaukee.[4]
On May 13, 1991, Euromotorsport announced Didier Theys as the driver of the No. 50T car, which was to be renumbered as No. 42 had it qualified for the race.[3] A day earlier, Theys had been shaking down the No. 17 Walker car as a stand-in for Willy T. Ribbs, who couldn't practice during a qualifying weekend without passing his rookie test.[90]
On May 15, 1991, Patrick Racing announced that Roberto Guerrero had rejoined the team as the driver of the No. 40 car for the Indianapolis 500.[61] Guerrero indicated that expanding his schedule with Patrick for two more races was a possibility, but it fizzled out after he crashed during the race.[92][22]
On May 17, 1991, Menard Racing announced it would field its third car, to be driven by Tom Sneva, the 1983 Indianapolis 500 winner. The car was a 1989 Lola reserved for pit stop practice, entered as the No. 59.[58] Other notable Indy 500 winners, such as Al Unser and Johnny Rutherford, failed to find a seat for the month.
On May 31, 1991, Dale Coyne Racing announced that Randy Lewis would miss the Milwaukee race. Team owner Dale Coyne came out of retirement to start the No. 19 car, planning to have Paul Tracy at Detroit and Lewis back in the cockpit at Portland, but Tracy withdrew his program a day later to join Penske Racing as a test driver.[20][93] Coyne remained entered at Detroit before being scratched, as the team already had Buddy Lazier and Dennis Vitolo in its shared entries with other teams.[22] On June 17 it was announced that Lewis would return to the cockpit at the Meadowlands, being replaced again by Dale Coyne at Portland and by Buddy Lazier at Cleveland, who was entered by Hemelgarn Coyne Racing.[21]
In the lead-up to the Detroit Grand Prix, a number of rides were assigned without an official announcement reported in press sources at the time
Leader Card Racing entered Didier Theys, who would drive all of the remaining road course races in the No. 21 car, except for Vancouver.[54]
On June 11, 1991, Walker Motorsports announced it would race the No. 10 car at the Detroit Grand Prix with Willy T. Ribbs, in an out-of-pocket venture without sponsorship. The team switched back to a Cosworth engine, after multiple failures on the Buick units during the Indy 500 month.[74][94] On June 27, the program was expanded to the races at Cleveland and the Meadowlands.[75]
On June 13, 1991, King Motorsports announced that Roberto Guerrero would drive the No. 26 car at Detroit, and potentially later in the year at Denver and Laguna Seca, which did happen in both events.[22] Guerrero effectively inherited the part-time schedule that had been initially announced for Jim Crawford, who declined after feeling uncomfortable in a test due to previous feet injuries.[95]
On July 3, 1991, Arciero Racing announced that John Jones had signed a three-race deal to drive the No. 12 car at Cleveland, the Meadowlands and Toronto. Jones returned to Indy Car racing after a year in the International Formula 3000, finishing 12th in his third stint in the series.[6] On July 21, during the Toronto weekend, it was announced that the deal was extended to the Michigan 500,[7] where Jones confirmed he would remain in the seat for the rest of the year.[8]
On July 15, 1991, Penske Racing announced that test driver Paul Tracy would drive the No. 17 entry, a third car with a PC-19 chassis, at the Michigan 500, after impressing in a test session with the team.[64]
On July 17, 1991, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that Mike Groff would take over the No. 14 car for the remaining six road course and street races of the schedule, starting at Toronto. Driver/owner A. J. Foyt, who had already interviewed various candidates during the Meadowlands weekend, argued his feet were giving him too much trouble on the road courses, and reduced his own program to the final two oval races at Michigan and Nazareth.[13][96] Groff switched over from Euromotorsports, which replaced him with Roberto Guerrero for the Toronto race.[39]
On July 29, 1991, Walker Motorsports announced it would race the No. 10 car at the Michigan 500 with Jon Beekhuis, instead of its regular driver Willy T. Ribbs.[78] Walker claimed that Ribbs had a conflict with his IMSA contract with All American Racers as a back-up driver that prevented him from racing at Michigan, while Ribbs blamed his absence on the lack of sponsorship.[97][98]
On August 13, 1991, Dale Coyne Racing announced that Ross Bentley would race the No. 19 car at his home track of Vancouver, with Randy Lewis stepping down for this event over the funded effort. Bentley's lone Indy Car start came at Vancouver a year before.[23]
On August 15, 1991, Walker Motorsports announced that Willy T. Ribbs would be back in the No. 10 car for the races at Denver and Vancouver after purchasing a new chassis, following the destruction of the previous model at Michigan.[76] On September 11, 1991, team owner Derrick Walker confirmed that the team had secured enough funding to compete in the final three races of the season.[77] Although Walker Motorsport announced it would miss Mid-Ohio after their primary car was crashed at Vancouver, they eventually entered the race on behalf of Hemelgarn Racing, with Buddy Lazier as the driver.[N 2]
On April 20, 1990, Truesports announced plans to build its own chassis for the 1991 season. The Truesports 91C, which began its design phase in 1989, was built in the team's shops in Hillard, Ohio. It was powered by a custom Judd engine developed in-house with American parts, with the goal of designing an 'All-American car'.[99][100]
On July 21, 1990, Chaparral founder and former driver Jim Hall announced his return to team ownership in Indy Car with support from engine builders VDS Racing. This led to the formation of Hall/VDS Racing, which would use Lola chassis.[101]
On August 11, 1990, King Motorsports announced its return to the Indianapolis 500, as well as selected events, after missing the 1990 season. The team took over the development contract for the Buick engines that had been previously assigned to Vince Granatelli Racing, with custom-built Lola T91/00 chassis as part of the deal.[102]
On September 15, 1990, former team manager Roy Winkleman announced the formation of a new team with John Paul Jr. as a driver and a Lola T91/00-Cosworth combination, provided that enough sponsorship was procured. However, the effort did not materialize.[103]
On September 18, 1990, Porsche North America announced it would discontinue its involvement in Indy Car competition at the end of the 1990 season, in order to concentrate resources on its new Formula 1 program with Footwork Arrows.[104] Team manager Derrick Walker bought Porsche's Indy Car assets and race shop and, on November 27, 1990, announced the formation of Walker Motorsport, using a Lola chassis with Kevin Cogan as the driver.[105] However, just three days later, Walker put the program on hold due to the lack of promised funding from his partner Jim Gillespie.[106] A subsequent search for funding eventually resulted in a partial schedule for 1991.[107] The team used a Cosworth engine, except at the Indianapolis 500, where it changed to a Buick during the first week of practice for cost reasons.[73] The choice of a Lola chassis signified the end of the line for March Engineering as a chassis supplier in Indy Car racing.[108][109]
On January 10, 1991, Vince Granatelli Racing and Doug Shierson Racing, which had been bought out by Bob Tezak from team founder Doug Shierson, announced a merger for the 1991 season, with Tezak's team being integrated into the Granatelli organization. Resources and employees were transferred to Granatelli's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as the Uno sponsorship and the Lola-Chevrolet package. Shierson's subsidiary entry, fielded by O'Donnell Racing, became an independent team under direct ownership from Tezak. It was renamed as UNO Racing and moved from Indianapolis, inheriting Shierson's former headquarters in Adrian, Michigan.[72]
During the off-season, a number of part-time or Indy 500-only teams closed their operations, most notably Gohr Racing, who had raced in CART since 1981. Stoops Racing sold off its equipment after their main sponsorship moved to Team Menard with Kevin Cogan,[111][112] while Greenfield Engineering and Andale Racing did not continue after extensive damage to their limited equipment during 1990. Both driver/owners Michael Greenfield and Bernard Jourdain continued their careers elsewhere.[28][113]
On March 7, 1991, the Raynor/Cosby Racing Team closed its operations after five seasons in CART due to the lack of sponsorship.[35] The team had previously been disbanded and had hoped to find sponsorship, to no avail.[115]
Dale Coyne Racing and Nu-Tech Motorsports, owned by Gino Gagliano, entered into a partnership for the 1991 season, with Coyne entering a car serviced by the Nu-Tech crew on a part-time basis, either as the No. 39 or the No. 90 depending on the number of cars entered by the team. This was done in order for both teams to benefit from the purse earnings obtained by Coyne from using their second CART franchise.[24][22]
Mid-season
On April 19, 1991, it was reported that Todd Walther Racing had been disbanded, after just two races in their second CART season.[50]
From June onwards, Hemelgarn Racing partnered with Dale Coyne Racing to field a car in a variety of races for Buddy Lazier, with the same strategy employed by Nu-Tech to share franchising earnings. The partnership was known as Hemelgarn Coyne Racing.[22]
On June 21, 1991, Bob Tezak warned that Vince Granatelli Racing risked shutting down for the season due to a lack of sponsorship, despite Arie Luyendyk running third in the standings at the time.[116] The next week, Granatelli severed ties with Tezak, who was blamed by Luyendyk of mismanagement and failure to pay his salary, and the team scrambled to find funding to compete on a race-by-race basis.[117][118][119]
After the June 23, 1991, race at Portland, Genoa Racing discontinued its short-lived Indy Car program. The team had suffered from economic woes due to the crash of Guido Daccò at Phoenix, the loss of major sponsorship during the Month of May and the subsequent withdrawal from the Indianapolis 500, also skipping the following event at Milwaukee.[44]
In August 1991, Euromotorsport skipped the Michigan 500 entirely, due to an alleged engine testing session. The team had both their primary and spare cars damaged to various degrees during the previous Toronto event.[76]
On August 27, 1991, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced they would skip the race at Vancouver due to a lack of a spare car. One week earlier, the team had not been allowed to race at Denver after Mike Groff wrote off his primary car in a practice crash, as the spare car had not been entered.[14]
↑ Practiced for round 4, but withdrew from the event due to multiple leg injuries.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Various car owners established partnerships with teams that owned CART franchises by running entries on their behalf, which were entitled to a set amount of money per car entered.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Michael Andretti 
Lola 
