Machinists Union Racing was a CART Indy Car team owned by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and run by the IAM's national automotive coordinator Andy Kenopensky, a former appointee to the United States Metric Board. The team competed in CART from 1981 to 1990.
The team was the brainchild of IAM president William Winpisinger. It began sponsoring racing in 1978 by sponsoring a USAC Champ Car race at Trenton Speedway and sponsoring the Indy Car driven by Jerry Karl. The union formed its own team in 1981. From 1981 to 1988 it was additionally sponsored by Schaefer Beer alongside the Machinists Union branding. The team's most notable drivers during this time were Josele Garza who drove for the team from 1983 to 1987 and Roger Mears who drove for the team in 1982 and 1983. Garza finished 12th in the CART championship in 1985 and 11th in 1987. Garza brought the team its best CART finish of second at the Michigan 500 in 1986. Mears finished 9th in 1982 and 12th in 1983 and finished fourth at Riverside International Raceway in 1982. Scott Atchison and Kevin Cogan drove for the team in 1988 and saw little success, although Cogan did register the team's best finish of third at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1988, finishing 13th in the 1988 championship while Atchison finished 20th. Veteran driver Pancho Carter joined the team with co-sponsorship from Hardee's and finished 13th and 20th in two seasons with the team with a best finish of 7th, coming in his first race for the team.
All team members were card-carrying members of the IAM. They had initially experimented with building their own chassis in 1980 but it was abandoned before it hit the track.
Throughout his involvement in the sport, team manager Andy Kenopensky was a constant critic of CART's management of the sport and complained that the racing was too expensive and that rules were being crafted to benefit large-budget teams at the expense of small-budget teams such as his own.Fleischman, Bill. Team Manager: Indy Cars Too Expensive, Philadelphia Daily News, August 18, 1986, Retrieved 2013-09-16Glick, Shav. CART to Deal With Disarray in Its Meeting, Los Angeles Times, January 8, 1990, Retrieved 2013-09-16
The union and Schaefer also sponsored a NASCAR Winston Cup entry for Joe Ruttman in the 1989 Daytona 500 fielded by CalCar Motorsports.'California Dreamin' of a Race Team in Tennessee, RPM Race Report, September 2, 1989, Retrieved 2013-09-16
Drivers Scott Atchison (1988) Pancho Carter (1987, 1989–1990) Kevin Cogan (1988–1989) Larry Dickson (1981) Chip Ganassi (1985–1986) Josele Garza (1983–1987) Pete Halsmer (1985) Jerry Karl (1978) Rupert Keegan (1985) Peter Kuhn (1984) Jan Lammers (1986) Randy Lewis (1984) Roger Mears (1982–1983) Rick Miaskiewicz (1987) Mike Nish (1986) Johnny Parsons (1984, 1986) Scott Pruett (1988) Chip Robinson (1987) Tom Sneva (1987) Sammy Swindell (1987) (failed to qualify) Phil Threshie (1980) Rich Vogler (1988) Desiré Wilson (1986)
Complete Racing Results PPG CART Indycar World Series (key) YearChassisEngineDrivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1980 INDY IAM 001 Donovan V8 Phil Threshie30 DNQ 22 25 DNQ DNQ Larry Dickson 35 22 1981Penske PC-7/79Cosworth DFX Larry Dickson31 10 10 12 9 16 12 8 7 22 DNQ IAM 001Donovan V8 Teddy Pilette67 DNQ 1982Penske PC-9B/81Cosworth DFX Roger Mears31 8 22 21 Penske PC-7/79 4 17 14 9 4 8 8 Penske PC-10/829 7 1983 INDY Penske PC-10/82 Cosworth DFX Roger Mears9 7 28 8 6 DNQ 8 16 9 12 16 7 6 16 Josele Garza55 25 17 19 11 9 20 23 17 11 12 1984 INDYPenske PC-10/82 Cosworth DFX Josele Garza55 23 DNQMarch 84C 10 DNS 7 23 17 11 7 25 11 4 10 8 13 10Penske PC-10/82 Roger Mears DNQ 1985 INDY March 85C Cosworth DFX Josele Garza55 28 31 7 12 27 6 19 18 26 11 6 6 7 10 9 Pete Halsmer59 DNQ 15 8 19 11 Chip Ganassi 22 Rupert Keegan 19 12 10 1986 INDY March 85C/86C Cosworth DFX Josele Garza55 23 7 18 7 17 8 7 23 2 7 14 24 Desiré Wilson 19 1659 13 Chip Ganassi 14 21 Rick Miaskiewicz (R) DNS Johnny Parsons 22 21 16 2995 2755 7 23 11 Mike Nish (R)45 DNQ59 DNS 10 24 22Eagle 86GC Jan Lammers 8 23 9 1987 INDYMarch 87CCosworth DFX Pancho Carter29 27 20 6 14 14 17 12 14 Josele Garza55 5 6 17 22 6 24 16 17 12 11 11 8 8 8 18 March 86C Mike Nish59 DNQ DNQ Rick Miaskiewicz 14 12 16 March 87C 22 March 86C Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ Pontiac V8 Sammy Swindell DNQ 1988 INDYMarch 88CCosworth DFX Kevin Cogan11 11 22 20 10 24 24 15 9 4 March 87C 8 3 Scott Pruett 16 20 Rich Vogler 15 11 29 17 Scott Atchison55 DNQ 25 9 March 86C 12 9 DNQ 16 25 12 13 10 10 12 15 20 DNQ 1989 INDYMarch 88CCosworth DFX Kevin Cogan11 10 26 32 19 17 24 11 12 9 25 22 10 18 8 Johnny Rutherford DNQ Rich Vogler29 DNQ
Ran in conjunction with Mergard Racing.
References