1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

The 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 11 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 22 and concluding at the same location on October 31. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Rick Mears despite missing Round 2 at Milwaukee due to injuries sustained in the Indianapolis 500. Rookie of the Year was Bob Lazier. After the disagreement with the USAC during the previous season, the 65th Indianapolis 500 was not part of the Series, however no competing race was scheduled and most CART teams and drivers did take part.

Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed for the 1981 CART World Series. Team/Car OwnerChassisEngine#DriversRounds Chaparral Cars Chaparral Cosworth 1 Johnny RutherfordAll Jerry O'Connell Racing Phoenix Cosworth 2 Tom Sneva 1 32 Kevin Cogan 2–3, 5–7 Bignotti-Cotter Racing March (5–11) Phoenix (2) Cosworth 2 Tom Sneva All except 1 and 3–4Phoenix 21 Salt Walther 5 Team Penske Penske Cosworth 3 Bobby UnserAll 6 Rick Mears All except 2 7 Bill Alsup All except 1–2 and 8–9 Alex Morales Motorsports Penske (all except 2, 9)Lightning (2, 9) Cosworth 5 Pancho Carter AllLightning 75 Steve Chassey 4 Longhorn Racing Longhorn (All except 8) Eagle (8) Cosworth 8 Al Unser All Rhoades Competition Wildcat Cosworth 12 Dennis Firestone 3 Gary Bettenhausen5, 7 Gordon Smiley6, 10–11 Gilmore RacingCoyote Cosworth 14 A. J. Foyt 5 Tempero RacingMcLaren Chevrolet 15 Bill Tempero All except 2 Bettenhausen RacingMcLaren (1–6) Longhorn (7)

Phoenix (8–11) Cosworth 16 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. All except 1 Leader Card RacingVollstedt Offenhauser 17 Jerry Sneva 5, 11 WatsonCosworth (All except 7–8) Offenhauser (7–8) 22 Dick Simon All except 3–4. Spike Gehlhausen3-4 Patrick RacingWildcatCosworth 20 Gordon JohncockAll 40 Mario Andretti 1–4, 8–9, 11 Steve Krisiloff5, 7 Brayton RacingPenskeCosworth 21 Mike Mosley 10 Chip Ganassi 11 37 Scott BraytonAll McElreath RacingEagleOffenhauser (1, 9–11)Chevrolet (8) 23 Jim McElreath 1, 8–11 Luxury Racers KingfishChevrolet 24 Wally Pankratz 6 65 Wally Pankratz 11 Buick RacingEagleChevrolet 26 Jim Buick 1 86 Jim Buick 2–5 Menard Racing Lightning (1–8) Eagle (9–11) Chevrolet 28 Herm Johnson All except 1–2, 4, and 8 Beaudoin Racing McLaren Cosworth 29 Billy Engelhart 2, 5, 7 Machinists Union Racing Penske Cosworth 31 Larry Dickson All except 1 Theodore Racing McLaren (5, 10–11) March (6) Cosworth 33 Vern Schuppan 5–6, 10–11 Wysard Racing Eagle Cosworth 34 Hurley Haywood 6, 9–10 Johnny Parsons11 Bob Fletcher RacingPenske (1–6) March (7–11) Cosworth 35 Bob Lazier All Karl RacingMcLaren (1) Karl (2–7, 9–10) Chevrolet 38 Jerry Karl All except 8 and 11 Alsup RacingPenskeCosworth 41 Bill Alsup 1, 8–9McLarenChevrolet 47 Phil Caliva 3–7, 11 Frey RacingEagleOffenhauser 42 Bob Frey 1 71 Bob Frey 2, 5 Rattlesnake Racing Watson Offenhauser 42 Bill Vukovich II 5–6, 8, 10 AMI Racing ArmstrongCosworth 43 Greg Leffler 11Lola 45 Harry MacDonald 5 Rager RacingWildcatChevrolet 44 Roger Rager 11 66 Roger Rager 5–9 Orio Trice10 All American Racers Eagle Chevrolet 48 Mike Mosley 2–3, 5, 7–8, 11 Geoff Brabham6, 10 Rocky Moran9 Space RacingEagle Cosworth 49 Chip Mead 5, 11 Garza Racing Penske Cosworth 54 Geoff Brabham 1 Josele Garza2 55 Josele Garza All except 2 Gohr Racing Penske Chevrolet 56 Tom Bigelow 3, 5, 7–8, 11 Metro RacingMcLarenOffenhauser 57 Cliff Hucul 2, 5, 8 Hamilton Racing Riley Chevrolet 63 Ken Hamilton 6, 11 Jet Engineering Eagle Chevrolet 64 Steve Chassey All except 4 and 10 Mergard RacingMcLaren (2, 9) IAM (10)Chevrolet (2, 9) Donovan (10)67 Phil Threshie2 Teddy Pilette9-10 Hodgdon Racing Penske Cosworth 72 Mike Chandler 5 74 Mike Chandler 6, 10–11 Davis RacingWildcatOffenhauser (3–4, 7–9, 11) Chevrolet (6) 77 Ross Davis 3–4, 6–9, 11 Joe Hunt MagnetoEagleChevrolet (1, 6, 10) Offenhauser (11) 89 Phil Krueger 1, 6, 10–11 Intercomp Penske Offenhauser (2, 6–7) Chevrolet (11) 92 John Mahler 2, 6–7, 11 Grupo-AcypsaPenskeOffenhauser93 Michel Jourdain Sr.10 Whittington Bros. RacingMarchCosworth 94 Bill Whittington 5 Cannon RacingWildcatOffenhauser 95 Larry Cannon 1 Herm Johnson4 96 Tom Frantz 1 Dick Ferguson5 99 Larry Cannon 2–5 Dick Ferguson6-7, 10–11 Vetrock RacingEagleChevrolet X Dean Vetrock 2 Ohio Racing AssociatesLonghornCosworth 49 Steve Krisiloff 8

Notable team and driver changes

Tom Sneva left Jerry O'Connell Racing for new team Bignotti-Cotter Racing. The team scaled back to part-time for 1981. Team Penske expanded to a three-car operation, with Bill Alsup joining. His owner-driver team Alsup Racing only ran part-time in 1981. After racing a limited schedule beforehand, Tony Bettenhausen Jr. ran his first full-time season with his new owner-driver team Bettenhausen Racing. Dick Simon replaced Sheldon Kinser at Leader Card Racing, leaving Kinser without a ride. Simon's old team, Vollstedt Enterprises, did not compete. Mario Andretti returned to running the majority of the races after a stint in Formula One, driving for Patrick Racing. He replaced Tom Bagley, who was left without a ride. Rookie driver Scott Brayton ran a full schedule with family-owned team Brayton Racing. After running part-time in 1980, Machinists Union Racing ran a full schedule with driver Larry Dickson. Spike Gehlhausen was replaced at Bob Fletcher Racing by rookie driver Bob Lazier. Josele Garza ran his first season with family-owned team Garza Racing. Steve Chassey ran his first full-time season for the Jet Engineering team. AMI Racing only ran two races in 1981 after running full-time in 1980. Gary Bettenhausen was left without a full-time ride. Interscope Racing also stopped running full-time, along with driver Danny Ongais. At Cannon Racing, Larry Cannon only ran the first few races, with most of the rest driven by Dick Ferguson. This was Bobby Unser's final season of IndyCar racing. See the 1981 Indianapolis 500 for more information.

Notable equipment changes Tempero Racing switched from an Eagle to McLaren chassis. Menard Racing switched from an Offenhauser to Chevrolet engine. With this shift the Cannon Racing team was the only full-time team that still used Offenhauser engines.

Schedule Of note was the addition of the inaugural Michigan 500 to replace the California 500 at the now-closed Ontario Motor Speedway. The Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Milwaukee was originally scheduled for August 2, but was rained out and postponed until September 5.

Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road courseNC Non-championship race

+RdDateNameCircuitLocation1March 22 Kraco Car Stereo 150 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaNCMay 24 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis, Indiana2June 8 Gould Rex Mays Classic Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin3June 28 Kraco Twin 125 Atlanta Motor SpeedwayHampton, Georgia45July 25 Norton Michigan 500 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan6August 30 Los Angeles Times 500 Riverside International RacewayRiverside, California7September 5 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin8September 20* Detroit News Grand Prix Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan9October 4 Watkins Glen 200 Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New York10October 18 I Copa México 150 Autódromo Hermanos RodríguezMexico City, Mexico11November 8 Miller High Life 150 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona * The Detroit News Grand Prix was supposed to run for 150 miles, but was shortened due to a scoring error.

Results Rd Race Pole position Winning driver Winning teamRace time 1 Kraco Car Stereo 150 Bobby Unser Johnny Rutherford Chaparral1:17:08 NC Indianapolis 500 Bobby Unser Bobby Unser Team Penske3:35:42 2 Gould Rex Mays Classic Gordon Johncock Mike Mosley All American Racers1:19:03 3 Kraco Twin 125 Johnny Rutherford Rick Mears Team Penske0:51:29 4 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske0:45:20 5 Norton Michigan 500 Tom Sneva Pancho Carter Alex Foods3:45:45 6 Los Angeles Times 500 Geoff Brabham Rick Mears Team Penske2:43:40 7 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter1:41:41 8 Detroit News Grand Prix Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske1:10:30 9 Watkins Glen 200 Mario Andretti Rick Mears Team Penske1:52:17 10 I Copa México 150 Bobby Unser Rick Mears Team Penske1:24:48 11 Miller High Life 150 Bobby Unser Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter1:20:10

Note: The total time of the Norton Michigan 500 does not include red flag stoppage time as the race was stopped for nearly 1 hour due to a bad pit lane fire

Final driver standings

Pos Driver PHX1 MIL1 ATL1 ATL2 MIS1 RIV MIL2 MIS2 WGL MXC PHX2 Pts 1 Rick Mears 4 1 1* 3 1* 2 1 1 1 8 304 2 Bill Alsup 5 8 8 4 3 11 4 3 5 17 175 3 Pancho Carter 7 20 5 5 1* 10 10 18 15 6 5 166 4 Gordon Johncock 6 16 4 4 36 2 6 5 10 3 3 142 5 Johnny Rutherford 1* 6 2* 3 22 21 4 20 2 26 21 120 6 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 12 7 11 2 DNS 14 10 8 11 19 107 7 Bobby Unser 2 21 13 6 16 9 3 7 17 15* 2 99 8 Tom Sneva 3 4 23 24 1* 19 21 20 1* 96 9 Bob Lazier 12 13 17 9 10 5 16 13 4 4 13 92 10 Al Unser 17 5 6 7 11 14 5 3 14 2 2290 11 Mario Andretti 11 3 3 2 2* 16* 4 81 12 Tom Bigelow 9 5 24 9 11 60 13 Scott Brayton 15 11 9 10 7 8 21 24 20 23 DNQ 57 14 Larry Dickson 10 10 12 9 16 12 8 7 22 DNQ 49 15 Gary Bettenhausen 6 19 42 16 Dick Simon 10 7 31 6 22 25 11 25 20 38 17 Herm Johnson 22 22 17 33 7 13 9 8 9 38 18 Mike Chandler 27 4 16 DNQ 37 19 Mike Mosley 1* DNS 18 DNS 26 7 24 32 20 Steve Chassey DNQ 24 23 22 20 15 15 12 5 DNQ 31 21 Josele Garza 21 14 12 18 19 12 8 23 24 18 6 30 22 Phil Caliva 19 15 8 DNS DNS DNQ 27 23 Kevin Cogan 2 16 28 11 23 23 24 Dick Ferguson 30 18 6 10 7 20 25 Steve Krisiloff 17 7 17 18 26 Rocky Moran 6 16 27 Geoff Brabham 9 19 9 14 28 Jerry Karl 8 23 21 21 14 22 25 19 19 13 29 Billy Engelhart 8 35 9 11 30 Larry Cannon 20 15 11 20 12 10 30 Roger Rager 13 13 18 21 DNQ DNQ 10 32 Bill Tempero 18 15 14 34 28 17 15 23 12 DNQ 7 33 Phil Krueger 14 20 14 16 6 33 Bill Vukovich II 15 DNQ 14 27 6 35 Gordon Smiley 25 18 10 5 36 Jim McElreath 19 11 DNQ 13 DNQ 4 36 Ross Davis DNQ 19 DNQ DNS 16 13 DNQ 4 36 Vern Schuppan 24 17 21 15 4 36 Jim Buick 16 19 20 16 DNS 4 40 Hurley Haywood 26 12 17 3 41 Spike Gehlhausen 14 13 2 41 Bob Frey 13 17 DNQ 2 41 John Mahler 25 27 20 DNQ 2 44 Jerry Sneva DNS 12 1 44 Chip Mead 29 14 1 44 Phil Threshie 18 1 44 Dennis Firestone 18 1 44 Johnny Parsons 18 1 Harry MacDonald 21 0 Cliff Hucul 26 25 22 0 Tom Frantz 22 0 Teddy Pilette 22 0 Ken Hamilton 23 0 Greg Leffler 23 0 Michel Jourdain Sr. 24 0 A. J. Foyt 26 0 Salt Walther 32 0 Bill Whittington 37 0 Chip Ganassi DNQ 0 Wally Pankratz DNQ DNQ 0 Orio Trice DNQ 0 Dean Vetrock DNQ 0 Pos Driver PHX1 MIL1 ATL1 ATL2 MIS1 RIV MIL2 MIS2 WGL MXC PHX2 Pts Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

See also 1981 Indianapolis 500 1981–82 USAC Championship Car season

References