The 1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the fourth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 11 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 28 and concluding at the same location on November 6. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Bobby Rahal.

Though it was not officially part of the CART calendar, most of the teams and drivers also competed at the USAC-sanctioned 66th Indianapolis 500. Gordon Johncock was victorious at Indy.

Jim Hickman was fatally injured in a practice crash for the Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Milwaukee, he was 39 years old.

Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed for the 1982 CART World Series. Team/Car OwnerNoDriversRounds Alex Morales Motorsports 3 Pancho Carter All Alsup Racing 2 Bill Alsup All 27 Spike Gehlhausen 7 Arciero Racing 66 Pete Halsmer 8-9, 11 Armstrong Mould Racing Team 43 Greg Leffler 2 Bettenhausen Racing 8 Gary Bettenhausen 6, 11 Bettenhausen Racing w/ H&R Racing 6 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 1-3, 5-11 Bignotti-Cotter Racing 7 Tom Sneva All 21 Geoff Brabham All Brayton Racing 36 Patrick Bedard 1-2, 5 Scott Brayton 3, 7, 10 37 1, 5 BVC Racing 75 Dennis Firestone 1 Caliva Racing 38 Phil Caliva 8, 11 Chaparral Racing 5 Johnny Rutherford 1-9, 11 Circle Bar Auto Racing 39 Chet Fillip 11 Doug Shierson Racing 30 Howdy Holmes All Fletcher Racing 35 Gordon Smiley 2 George Snider 5, 7 Forsythe Racing 32 Héctor Rebaque 2-5, 8-9 33 Danny Sullivan 2-3 Al Unser Jr. 8 Frantz Racing w/ Burger King 77 Tom Frantz 1, 5, 8 Garza Racing 55 Josele Garza All Gilmore Racing 14 A. J. Foyt 3-5, 7, 10 Gohr Racing 56 Joe Saldana 3-4 Gary Bettenhausen 5, 7-10 Grant King Racers 65 Todd Tuttle 4 GTS Racing 86 Al Loquasto 1, 7 Hamilton Racing 17 Ken Hamilton 5 HBK Racing 72 Tom Bigelow 3-7, 10 Bill Whittington 9 Hodgson-Curb 29 Bobby Olivero 1 Hoffman Racing 69 Jerry Sneva 10 Hoffman Racing w/ Rattlesnake Racing 42 Jim Hickman 2-6 Jamieson Racing 49 Chip Mead 1, 3 Spike Gehlhausen 3, 5 Jet Engineering 64 Steve Chassey 1 Bob Frey 3 Greg Leffler 6, 8-11 Joe Hunt Magneto 89 Phil Krueger 1-2 Dick Ferguson 8 Jerry Sneva 11 Joel McCray Racing 46 Leroy van Conett 1 Jerry Karl 4-8 Kraco Enterprises 18 Dick Ferguson 1-2 Bill Vukovich II 3 Mike Mosley 5-7, 10-11 99 Vern Schuppan 4, 8-9 Leader Card Racers 22 Dick Simon 1-8, 10-11 24 Bill Vukovich II 7 Longhorn Racing 10 Al Unser 1-10 Luxury Racers 65 Bob Brutto 1 Phil Krueger 5, 7, 9-11 Machinists Union Racing 31 Roger Mears All McElreath Racing 23 Jim McElreath 1, 7-8 Menard Racing 28 Herm Johnson 1-6, 8-9 Metametrix 47 Chris Kneifel 8-9 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 11 Newman Freeman Racing 68 Mike Chandler 8, 11 Patrick Racing 20 Gordon Johncock All 40 Mario Andretti All Rattlesnake Racing 11 Dick Ferguson 10-11 Ray W Lipper Racing 73 Ray Lipper 1 Rhoades Racing 12 Chip Ganassi 1-2, 4-5, 7, 10 Team Penske 1 Rick Mears All 4 Kevin Cogan All Tempero Racing 15 Bill Tempero 1, 4, 6, 8-9, 11 Truesports 19 Bobby Rahal 1, 3-11 Whittington Racing 91 Don Whittington 5 Wysard Racing 34 Hurley Haywood 1-2 Johnny Parsons 3-5, 7-8, 10 John Paul Jr. 9 Derek Daly 11

Schedule New to the schedule was the temporary circuit at Burke Lakefront Airport, and the permanent road course named Road America. Returning to the schedule after a one year absence (1981 was a USAC race) was Pocono Raceway, the 2.5 mile superspeedway would host a 500-mile race in 1982.

The schedule was originally set to feature a doubleheader with Formula One at Las Vegas on October 17. After the F1 Grand Prix on Saturday, the track would be converted to an oval for an Indy car race on Sunday. This was cancelled after FISA rescheduled the Grand Prix for September and instituted a rule that banned two open-wheel series with engines over two liters from competing at the same venue on the same weekend.

A race in Mexico City for October 31 was cancelled.

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

+RdDateNameCircuitLocation1March 28 Kraco Car Stereo 150 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona2May 1* Stroh's 200 Atlanta Motor SpeedwayHampton, Georgia NCMay 30 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis, Indiana3June 13 Gould Rex Mays Classic Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin4July 4 Budweiser Cleveland 500 Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio5July 18 Norton Michigan 500 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan6August 1 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin7August 15 Domino's Pizza Pocono 500 Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, Pennsylvania8August 29 AirCal 500K Riverside International RacewayRiverside, California9September 19 Road America 200 Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin10September 26 Detroit News Grand Prix Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan11November 6 Miller High Life 150 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona

* The Stroh's 200 was scheduled for April 25, but postponed a week due to rain. NBC planned to cover on April 25, but did not return for the May 1 running.

Results Rd Race Pole position Winning driverWinning teamRace time Report 1 Phoenix 1 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske 1:15:48 Report 2 Atlanta Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske 1:13:10 Report NC Indianapolis 500 Rick Mears Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing 3:05:09 Report 3 Milwaukee 1 Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing 1:10:52 Report 4 Cleveland Kevin Cogan Bobby Rahal Truesports 3:03:44 Report 5 Michigan 1 Rick Mears / Mario Andretti Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing 3:14:54 Report 6 Milwaukee 2 Rick Mears Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter Racing 1:49:57 Report 7 Pocono Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske3:25:39 Report 8 Riverside Kevin Cogan Rick Mears Team Penske 2:42:14 Report 9 Road America Rick Mears Héctor Rebaque Forsythe Racing 1:49:56 Report 10 Michigan 2 Rick Mears Bobby Rahal Truesports 1:04:03 Report 11 Phoenix 2 Rick Mears Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter Racing 1:21:05 Report

Mario Andretti was credited with winning the pole position for the Michigan 500, although he started 33rd due to a pre-race practice accident. Rick Mears started on the pole and both he and Andretti were credited with pole positions.

Final points standings

Pos Driver PHX1 ATL MIL CLE MIS1 MIL POC RIV ROA MIS2 PHX2 Pts 1 Rick Mears 1* 1* 3 4 15* 12* 1* 1* 5 25 2 294 2 Bobby Rahal 18 20 1 3 2 3 15 3* 1* 5 242 3 Mario Andretti 2 11 9 2 2 3 14 23 14 2 3 188 4 Gordon Johncock 5 2 1* 5 1 11 6 26 22 15 23 186 5 Tom Sneva 7 17 4 20 32 1 19 2 9 19 1* 144 6 Kevin Cogan 3 18 5 10* 14 5 2 10 25 22 4 136 7 Al Unser 21 8 17 3 4 DNS 23 17 2 18 125 8 Geoff Brabham 15 15 7 6 7 10 4 28 15 3 20 110 9 Roger Mears 8 4 22 21 17 14 9 4 8 8 7 103 10 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 12 19 12 10 20 5 18 7 4 6 80 11 Bill Alsup 11 5 16 12 13 9 13 8 16 6 8 70 12 Johnny Rutherford 4 DNS 15 23 28 17 12 3 12 DNS 21 62 13 Howdy Holmes 16 10 16 12 4 27 16 10 5 10 56 14 Josele Garza 13 16 8 14 22 8 15 13 4 9 18 56 15 Héctor Rebaque 13 DNS 18 25 20 1 48 16 Gary Bettenhausen 6 13 8 DNQ 20 17 9 48 17 Pancho Carter 6 10 13 19 18 6 28 19 11 12 11 47 18 Johnny Parsons 6 9 16 7 25 DNS 41 19 Mike Mosley 8 7 16 7 12 37 20 Tom Bigelow 18 DNQ 5 22 25 20 32 21 Al Unser Jr. 5 30 22 Danny Sullivan 3 21 28 23 Phil Krueger DNQ 12 DNQ 30 11 6 11 17 27 24 Greg Leffler DNQ DNQ 21 6 13 24 13 27 25 Dick Simon DNQ DNS 19 17 21 15 22 7 DNQ 13 19 26 26 Herm Johnson 19 6 23 13 34 16 22 17 24 27 Jim Hickman 7 DNQ 24 9 DNQ 24 28 A. J. Foyt 2 22 20 20 23 22 29 Bill Tempero DNQ 8 19 14 18 DNQ 22 30 Vern Schuppan 7 27 24 18 31 Jerry Karl 15 24 18 10 12 17 32 Mike Chandler 9 16 13 33 Scott Brayton 14 14 11 24 10 11 34 Chip Ganassi 22 11 31 17 16 10 35 Gordon Smiley 9 8 36 Chris Kneifel 11 23 6 37 Chip Mead 9 DNQ 4 38 Hurley Haywood 10 DNQ 3 39 Jim McElreath DNQ 18 DNQ 3 40 George Snider 19 21 3 41 Bill Vukovich II 11 29 2 42 Patrick Bedard 14 29 2 43 Pete Halsmer 24 19 24 2 44 Jerry Sneva 14 DNQ 1 45 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 14 1 46 Chet Fillip 15 1 47 Dick Ferguson 17 21 21 22 1 48 Dennis Firestone 20 1 49 John Paul Jr. 21 0 50 Spike Gehlhausen DNQ 23 30 0 51 Derek Daly 25 0 52 Al Loquasto DNQ 26 0 53 Don Whittington 26 0 54 Ken Hamilton 27 0 55 Tom Frantz DNQ 33 DNQ 0 - Rich Vogler DNS 0 - Bill Whittington DNS 0 - Richard Hubbard DNQ DNQ 0 - Bob Frey DNQ DNQ 0 - Joe Saldana DNQ DNQ 0 - Rick DeLorto DNQ DNQ 0 - Phil Caliva DNQ DNQ 0 - Bob Brutto DNQ 0 - Steve Chassey DNQ 0 - Ray Lipper DNQ 0 - Bobby Olivero DNQ 0 - Leroy van Conett DNQ 0 - Tod Tuttle DNQ 0 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 1981–82 USAC Championship Car season 1982 Indianapolis 500 1982–83 USAC Championship Car season

References

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 198-199)