The 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the seventeenth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of U.S. American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 17 races, beginning in Miami, Florida on March 5 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 10. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Jacques Villeneuve, and the Rookie of the Year was Gil de Ferran. This was the last season before the formation of the Indy Racing League (IRL) by Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George and the last time the United States Auto Club-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 would appear in the Series, while Villeneuve became the last driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar drivers' championship in the same season until Dan Wheldon in 2005.

Villeneuve, the 1994 IndyCar Rookie of the Year, won the season opener at Miami, a foreshadowing of things to come for the French-Canadian driver. After Scott Goodyear was penalized, Villeneuve won the 1995 Indianapolis 500, despite also receiving a penalty in the race that put him down two laps. He also won at Road America and Cleveland en route to the 1995 IndyCar Championship and an offer from Frank Williams to drive in Formula One for 1996. Though Team Penske scored five wins (four by 1994 IndyCar champion Al Unser Jr.), they were nowhere near the juggernaut they were in 1994, with a low point being that both their drivers (Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi) failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. The Honda engine that was abandoned at Indianapolis the previous year led most of the Indy 500 in 1995. The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company returned to the series and Indianapolis for the first time since 1974. Danny Sullivan's racing career came to an end after a hard crash at Michigan International Speedway.

Drivers and teams

Several teams went through complete overhauls during the 1994 offseason. At Newman-Haas Racing, Nigel Mansell left IndyCar and returned to Formula One, and Mario Andretti retired. The team signed Michael Andretti for the seat vacated by his father. Canadian Paul Tracy, who had harsh words about Michael Andretti (notably at Toronto) in 1994 while driving for Marlboro Team Penske, became Michael's teammate (and Mansell's replacement) at Newman-Haas when Team Penske went from three cars to two. Gerry Forsythe and Barry Green, owners of Jacques Villeneuve's car in 1994, went their separate ways. Villeneuve stayed with the newly christened Team Green. Rahal-Hogan Racing released Mike Groff and signed Brazilian Raul Boesel and his Duracell sponsorship as a teammate to 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. Chip Ganassi Racing lost both of its drivers from 1994, Michael Andretti and Brazilian Maurício Gugelmin. The team signed Jimmy Vasser from Hayhoe Racing and Bryan Herta from A. J. Foyt Racing. Eddie Cheever replaced Herta at A. J. Foyt Racing. PacWest Racing released both Dominic Dobson and Scott Sharp and signed 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan and Maurício Gugelmin, who came over from Ganassi Racing. Walker Racing released Willy T. Ribbs and Mark Smith and signed Brazilian rookie Christian Fittipaldi to team with Robby Gordon. Dick Simon Racing released Raul Boesel and Hiro Matsushita, signed Chilean rookie Eliseo Salazar, and added a second car at Phoenix for the rest of the season, driven primarily by Mexican rookie Carlos Guerrero. Hall Racing released Italian Teo Fabi and signed Brazilian rookie Gil de Ferran. Galles Racing added a second entry for Marco Greco from Long Beach until the end of the season to team with Adrian Fernandez. Payton/Coyne Racing signed Belgian Eric Bachelart as its second driver, teaming with Alessandro Zampedri.

Hayhoe Racing folded, and Jimmy Vasser signed with Chip Ganassi's team. King Racing folded, leaving Canadian Scott Goodyear without a full-time ride. Indy Regency Racing folded and returned to Indy Lights, leaving Dutchman Arie Luyendyk without a full-time ride. Euromotorsport also folded.

New teams Tasman Motorsports, which had won the last two Indy Lights championships, moved up from Indy Lights and brought with them one of their Indy Lights drivers, 1994 Indy Lights championship runner-up Brazilian Andre Ribeiro. Patrick Racing returned to the grid full-time after a three-year absence and after spending all of the 1994 season testing the new Firestone tires with driver Scott Pruett. Arciero Racing signed Hiro Matsushita and his Panasonic sponsorship. Gerry Forsythe left Forsythe/Green Racing to form the other new full-time team to the grid, Forsythe Racing, which signed Teo Fabi.

Supplier changes from 1994 The Rahal-Hogan team switched from Honda to the Ilmor-Mercedes engine. Comptech Racing, PacWest Racing and Walker Racing switched from the Lola Cars chassis to Reynard Motorsport, while Galles Racing switched from Reynard to Lola. Payton/Coyne Racing switched from Goodyear to Firestone tires.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1995 Indy Car World Series season. Firestone returned to IndyCar after two decades of absence.

Team Chassis Engine Tires Drivers Rounds Primary Sponsor Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-24 Mercedes-Benz IC108 1 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro 2 Emerson Fittipaldi All Newman/Haas Racing Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 3 Paul Tracy All Budweiser 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline Target Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB 4 Bryan Herta All Scotch Tape 12 Jimmy Vasser All STP Walker Racing Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB 5 Robby Gordon All Valvoline 15 Christian Fittipaldi All Chapeco Dick Simon Racing Lola T95/00 Lola T94/00 Lola T92/00 Ford Cosworth XB 7 Eliseo Salazar All Cerveza Cristal 22 Arie Luyendyk 3 WavePhore Carlos Guerrero 4–17 Herdez 99 Dean Hall 1–6 Subway Marco Greco9–10Brastemp Hall Racing Reynard 95I Mercedes-Benz IC108 8 Gil de Ferran All Pennzoil Rahal-Hogan Racing Lola T95/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108 9 Bobby Rahal All Miller Genuine Draft 11 Raul Boesel All Duracell Galles Racing Lola T95/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108 10 Adrián Fernández All Tecate 55 Marco Greco 4–6, 8, 11–12, 14–17 Brastemp A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 14 Eddie Cheever 1–15Copenhagen Brian Till 16 Fredrik Ekblom 17 Bettenhausen Motorsports Penske PC-23 Mercedes-Benz IC108 16 Stefan Johansson 1–5, 7–17 Alumax Reynard 94I 6 PacWest Racing Reynard 95IReynard 94I Ford Cosworth XB 17 Danny Sullivan 1–13 Bank of America Visa Juan Manuel Fangio II 14–17 18 Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes Payton/Coyne Racing Lola T94/00Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 19 Éric Bachelart 1–4, 6, 8–12, 14 AGFA Buddy Lazier 5, 7, 13, 15 Ross Bentley 16 Franck Fréon 17 34 Alessandro Zampedri All Mi-Jack Patrick Racing Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 20 Scott Pruett All Firestone Arciero Racing Reynard 94I Ford Cosworth XB 25 Hiro Matsushita All Panasonic Team Green Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB 27 Jacques Villeneuve All Player's Tasman Motorsports Reynard 95I Honda HRX & HRH 31 André Ribeiro All LCI Communications Forsythe Racing Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB 33 Teo Fabi All Combustion Engineering Part Time and Indy 500 Only Entries Pagan Racing Reynard 94I Mercedes-Benz IC108 21 Dennis Vitolo 1 Charter America Roberto Guerrero 3, 6 Upper Deck Tasman Motorsports Reynard 95I Honda HRX & HRH 24 Scott Goodyear 6, 14, 16LCI Communications CTI Worldwide Communications Team Menard Lola T95/00 Buick Indy V6 40 Arie Luyendyk 6 Glidden 60 Scott Brayton 6 Quaker State 80 Buddy Lazier 6 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 41 Scott Sharp 6Copenhagen Greenfield Racing Lola T92/00 Greenfield 42 Michael Greenfield 6 Greenfield Competition Arizona Motorsports Lola T92/00 Ford Cosworth XB 44 Jeff Ward 6 Arizona Executive Air Comptech Racing Reynard 95I Honda HRX & HRH 49 Parker Johnstone 8, 10, 12–14, 16–17 Motorola Beck Motorsports Lola T95/00 Ford Cosworth XB 54 Hideshi Matsuda 6 Zunne Group Project Indy Reynard 95IReynard 94ILola T93/00 Ford Cosworth XB 64 Christian Danner 1, 8 No-Touch Buddy Lazier 2, 11 Franck Fréon 4 Johnny Parsons 6 Hubert Stromberger 10, 14 Domenico Schiattarella 16–17 Dick Simon Racing Lola T95/00Lola T94/00Lola T92/00 Ford Cosworth XB 77 Davy Jones 6 Byrd's 90 Lyn St. James 6, 7, 13 Whitlock Auto Supply Hemelgarn Racing Reynard 95I Ford Cosworth XB 91 Stan Fox 6 Delta Faucet Lola T92/00 95 Davey Hamilton 6 Buick Indy V6 96 Jim Crawford 6 Hemelgarn Racing Autosport Racing Team Lola T92/00 Menard Indy V-6 92 Franck Fréon 6 Indy Regency Racing

Schedule Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuit Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location 1 March 5 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Bicentennial Park Miami, Florida 2 March 19 IndyCar Australia Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia 3 April 2 Slick 50 200 Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona 4 April 9 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California 5 April 23 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania 6 May 28 79th Indianapolis 500* Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 7 June 4 Miller Genuine Draft 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 8 June 11 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan 9 June 25 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 10 July 9 Texaco/Havoline 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 11 July 16 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 12 July 23 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 13 July 30 Marlboro 500 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 14 August 13 Miller Genuine Draft 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 15 August 20 New England 200 New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire 16 September 3 Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia 17 September 10 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California

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

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