1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1981 CART season

PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	11
Start date	March 22
End date	October 31
Awards
Drivers' champion	Rick Mears
Constructors' Cup	Penske
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Bob Lazier
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1980	1982

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. 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 Owner	Chassis	Engine	Tires	#	Drivers	Notes
Chaparral Cars	Chaparral	Cosworth	G	1	Johnny Rutherford
Jerry O´Connell Racing	Phoenix	Cosworth	G	2	Tom Sneva	Phoenix (1) only.
Jerry O´Connell Racing	Phoenix	Cosworth	G	32	Kevin Cogan	Milwaukee (both), Atlanta (1), Michigan (1) and Riverside only.
Bignotti-Cotter Racing	March Phoenix	Cosworth	G	2	Tom Sneva	All races except Phoenix (1) and Atlanta (both). Used the Phoenix chassis at Milwaukee (1) only.
Bignotti-Cotter Racing	March Phoenix	Cosworth	G	21	Salt Walther	Michigan (1) only. Used the Phoenix chassis.
Team Penske	Penske	Cosworth	G	3	Bobby Unser
				6	Rick Mears	Injured while competing at Indianapolis (not counted towards the championship), missed Milwaukee (1) only.
				7	Bill Alsup	All races except Phoenix (1), Michigan (2) and Watkins Glen only.
Morales Motorsports	Penske Lightning	Cosworth	G	5	Pancho Carter	Used the Lightning chassis at Milwaukee (1) and Watkins Glen only.
Morales Motorsports	Penske Lightning	Cosworth	G	75	Steve Chassey	Atlanta (2) only. Used the Lightning chassis.
Longhorn Racing	Longhorn Eagle	Cosworth	G	8	Al Unser	Used the Eagle chassis at Michigan (2) only.
Rhoades Competition	Wildcat	Cosworth	G	12	Dennis Firestone Gary Bettenhausen Gordon Smiley	Firestone drove the car at Atlanta (1) only. Bettenhausen drove the car at Michigan (1) and Milwaukee (2) only. Smiley drove the car at Riverside, Mexico City and Phoenix (2).
Gilmore Racing	Coyote	Cosworth	G	14	A. J. Foyt	Michigan (1) only.
Tempero Racing	McLaren	Chevrolet	G	15	Bill Tempero	All races except Milwaukee (1) only.
Bettenhausen Racing	McLaren Longhorn Phoenix	Cosworth	G	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	All races except Phoenix (1) only. Used the Longhorn chassis at Milwaukee (2) only and the Phoenixx chassis at Michigan (2), Watkins Glen and Mexico City only.
Leader Card Racing	Watson	Cosworth Offenhauser	G	22	Dick Simon Spike Gehlhausen	Simon drove the car at all races except Atlanta (both). Gehlhausen drove the car at Atlanta (both) only. Used the Offenhauser engine at Milwaukee (2) and Michigan (2) only.
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	Cosworth	G	20	Gordon Johncock
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	Cosworth	G	40	Mario Andretti Steve Krisiloff	Andretti drove the car at all races except Michigan (1), Milwaukee (2), Riverside and Mexico City only. Krisiloff drove the car at Michigan (1) and Milwaukee (2) only.
Brayton Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	21	Mike Mosley Chip Ganassi	Mosely drove the car at Mexico City only. Ganassi drove the car at Phoenix (2) only.
Brayton Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	37	Scott Brayton
McElreath Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser Chevrolet	G	23	Jim McElreath	Phoenix (both), Michigan (2), Watkins Glen and Mexico City only. Used the Chevrolet engine at Michigan (2) only.
Luxury Racers	Kingfish	Chevrolet	G	24	Wally Pankratz	Riverside only.
Luxury Racers	Kingfish	Chevrolet	G	65	Wally Pankratz	Phoenix (2) only.
Buick Racing	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	26	Jim Buick	Phoenix (1) only.
Buick Racing	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	86	Jim Buick	Milwaukee (1), Atlanta (both) and Michigan (1) only.
Menard Racing	Lightning Eagle	Chevrolet	G	28	Herm Johnson	All races except Phoenix (1), Milwaukee (1), Atlanta (2) and Michigan (2) only. Used the Eagle chassis at Watkins Glen, Mexico City and Phoenix (2) only.
Beaudoin Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	G	29	Billy Engelhart	Milwaukee (both) and Michigan (1) only.
Machinists Union Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	31	Larry Dickson	All races except Phoenix (1) only.
Theodore Racing	McLaren March	Cosworth	G	33	Vern Schuppan	Michigan (1), Riverside, Mexico City and Phoenix (2) only. Used the March chassis at Riverside only (the McLaren chassis was also entered).
Wysard Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	G	34	Hurley Haywood Johnny Parsons	Haywood drove the car at Riverside, Watkins Glen and Mexico City only. Parsons drove the car at Phoenix (2) only.
Bob Fletcher Racing	Penske March	Cosworth	G	35	Bob Lazier	Used the March chassis at Milwaukee (2), Michigan (2), Mexico City and Phoenix (2) only.
Karl Racing	McLaren Karl	Chevrolet	G	38	Jerry Karl	All races except Michigan (2) and Phoenix (2) only. Used the McLaren chassis at Phoenix (1) only.
Alsup Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	41	Bill Alsup	Phoenix (1), Michigan (2) and Watkins Glen only. Used the Penske chassis and the Cosworth engine.
Alsup Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	47	Phil Caliva	Atlanta (both), Michigan (1), Riverside, Milwaukee (2) and Phoenix (2) only.
Frey Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	42	Bob Frey	Phoenix (1) only.
Frey Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	71	Bob Frey	Milwaukee (1) and Michigan (1) only.
Rattlesnake Racing	Watson	Offenhauser	G	42	Billy Vukovich II	Michigan (both), Riverside and Mexico City only.
AMI Racing	Lola Armstrong	Cosworth	G	43	Greg Leffler	Phoenix (2) only. Used the Armstrong chassis.
AMI Racing	Lola Armstrong	Cosworth	G	45	Harry MacDonald	Michigan (1) only.
Rager Racing	Wildcat	Chevrolet	G	44	Roger Rager	Phoenix (2) only.
Rager Racing	Wildcat	Chevrolet	G	66	Roger Rager Orio Trice	Rager drove the car at Michigan (both), Riverside, Milwaukee (2) and Watkins Glen only. Trice drove the car at Mexico City only.
All American Racers	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	48	Mike Mosley Geoff Brabham Rocky Moran	Mosley drove the car at Milwaukee (both), Atlanta (1), Michigan (both) and Phoenix (2) only. Brabham drove the car at Riverside and Mexico City only. Moran drove the car at Watkins Glen only.
Space Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	G	49	Chip Mead	Michigan (1) and Phoenix (2) only.
Garza Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	54	Geoff Brabham Josele Garza	Brabham drove the car at Phoenix (1) only. Garza drove the car at Milwaukee (1) only.
Garza Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	55	Josele Garza	All races except Milwaukee (1) only.
Gohr Racing	Penske	Chevrolet	G	56	Tom Bigelow	Milwaukee (both), Michigan (both) and Phoenix (2) only.
Metro Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	57	Cliff Hucul	Milwaukee (1) and Michigan (both) only.
Hamilton Racing	Riley	Chevrolet	G	63	Ken Hamilton	Riverside and Phoenix (2) only.
Jet Engineering	Eagle\|	Chevrolet\|	G	64	Steve Chassey	All races except Atlanta (2) and Mexico City only.
Mergard Racing	McLaren IAM	Chevrolet Donovan	G	67	Phil Threshie Teddy Pilette	Threshie drove the car at Milwaukee (1) only. Pilette drove the car at Watkins Glen and Mexico City only. Team ran in conjunction with Mchinists Union Racing at Mexico City only. Used the IAM chassis and the Donovan engine at Mexico City only.
Hodgdon Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	72	Michael Chandler	Michigan (1) only.
Hodgdon Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	74	Michael Chandler	Riverside, Mexico City and Phoenix (2) only.
Davis Racing	Wildcat	Offenhauser Chevrolet	G	77	Ross Davis	Atlanta (both), Riverside, Milwaukee (2), Michigan (2), Watkins Glen and Phoenix (2) only. Used the Chevrolet engine at Riverside only.
Joe Hunt Magneto	Eagle	Chevrolet Offenhauser	G	89	Phil Krueger	Phoenix (both), Riverside and Mexico City only. Used the Offenhauser engine at Phoenix (2) only.
Intercomp	Penske	Offenhauser Chevrolet	G	92	John Mahler	Milwaukee (both), Riverside and Phoenix (2) only. Used the Chevrolet engine at Phoenix (2) only.
Grupo-Acypsa	Penske	Offenhauser	G	93	Michel Jourdain	Mexico City only.
Whittington Bros. Racing	March	Cosworth	G	94	Bill Whittington	Michigan (1) only.
Cannon Racing	Wildcat	Offenhauser	G	95	Larry Cannon Herm Johnson	Cannon drove the car at Phoenix (1) only. Johnson drove the car at Atlanta (2) only.
				96	Tom Frantz Dick Ferguson	Frantz drove the car at Phoenix (1) only. Ferguson drove the car at Michigan (1) only.
				99	Larry Cannon Dick Ferguson	Cannon drove the car at Milwaukee (1), Atlanta (both) and Michigan (1) only. Ferguson drove the car at Riverside, Michigan (2), Mexico City and Phoenix (2) only.
Vetrock Racing	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	X	Dean Vetrock	Milwaukee (1) only. Number was unknown.
Ohio Racing Associates	Longhorn	Cosworth	G	X	Steve Krisiloff	Michigan (2) only. Number was unknown.

Season Summary

Race Results

Rd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Pole Position	Winning driver	Winning team
1	March 22	Kraco Car Stereo 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral
NC	May 24	Indianapolis 500-Mile Race	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske
2	June 7	Gould-Rex Mays 150	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Gordon Johncock	Mike Mosley	All American Racers
3	June 21	Kraco Twin 125	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Johnny Rutherford	Rick Mears	Team Penske
4	June 21	Kraco Twin 125	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske
5	July 25	Norton Michigan 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Tom Sneva	Pancho Carter	Alex Foods
6	August 30	Los Angeles Times 500	Riverside International Raceway	Riverside, California	Geoff Brabham	Rick Mears	Team Penske
7	September 5	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter
8	September 20	Detroit News Grand Prix	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske
9	October 4	Watkins Glen 150	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	Mario Andretti	Rick Mears	Team Penske
10	October 18	II Copa Mexico 150	Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez	Mexico City, Mexico	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske
11	October 31	Miller High Life 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter

Oval/Speedway

Road Course/Street Circuit

Final driver standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos	Driver	PHX1	MIL1	ATL1	ATL2	MIC1	RIR	MIL2	MIC2	WTG	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	Ret	175
3	Pancho Carter	7	Ret	5	5	1*	Ret	10	Ret	15	6	5	166
4	Gordon Johncock	6	16	4	4	Ret	2	6	5	10	3	3	142
5	Johnny Rutherford	1*	6	2*	3	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	120
6	Tony Bettenhausen Jr		12	7	11	2	DNS	14	10	8	11	Ret	107
7	Bobby Unser	2	Ret	13	6	Ret	9	3	7	Ret	15*	2	99
8	Tom Sneva	3	4			Ret	Ret	1*	Ret	Ret	Ret	1*	96
9	Bob Lazier	12	13	17	9	10	5	16	13	4	4	13	92
10	Al Unser	Ret	5	6	7	11	Ret	5	3	14	2	Ret	90
11	Mario Andretti	11	3	3	2				2*	Ret*		4	81
12	Tom Bigelow		9			5		Ret	9			11	60
13	Scott Brayton	15	11	9	10	7	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	57
14	Larry Dickson		10	10	12	9	Ret	12	8	7	Ret	DNQ	49
15	Gary Bettenhausen					6		Ret					42
16	Dick Simon	10	7			Ret	6	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	38
16	Herm Johnson		Ret	Ret	17	Ret	7	13		9	8	9	38
18	Mike Chandler					Ret	4				16	DNQ	37
19	Mike Mosley		1*	DNS		Ret		DNS	Ret		7	Ret	32
20	Steve Chassey	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	12	5		DNQ	31
21	Josele Garza	Ret	14	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	18	6	30
22	Phil Caliva			Ret	15	8	DNS	DNS				DNQ	27
23	Kevin Cogan		2	16		Ret	Ret	Ret					23
24	Dick Ferguson					Ret	Ret		6		10	7	20
25	Steve Krisiloff					Ret		7	17				18
26	Rocky Moran									6			16
27	Geoff Brabham	9					Ret				9		14
28	Jerry Karl	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret		13
29	Billy Engelhart		8			Ret		9					11
30	Larry Cannon	Ret	15	11	Ret	12							10
30	Roger Rager					13	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ		DNQ	10
32	Bill Tempero	Ret		15	14	Ret	Ret	17	15	Ret	12	DNQ	7
33	Phil Krueger	14					Ret				14	16	6
33	Bill Vukovich II					Ret	DNQ		14		Ret		6
35	Gordon Smiley						Ret			Ret		10	5
36	Jim McElreath	Ret							11	DNQ	13	DNQ	4
36	Ross Davis			DNQ	Ret		DNQ	DNS	16	13		DNQ	4
36	Vern Schuppan					Ret	Ret				Ret	15	4
36	Jim Buick	Ret	19	Ret	16	DNS							4
40	Hurley Haywood						Ret			12	17		3
41	Bob Frey	13	17			DNQ							2
41	Spike Gehlhausen			14	13								2
41	John Mahler		Ret				Ret	Ret				DNQ	2
44	Jerry Sneva					DNS						12	1
44	Chip Mead					Ret						14	1
44	Dennis Firestone			Ret									1
44	Johnny Parsons											Ret	1
44	Phil Threshie		18										1
Pos	Driver	PHX1	MIL1	ATL1	ATL2	MIC1	RIR	MIL2	MIC2	WTG	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 (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
DNS	Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS)
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

References

Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1981". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1981 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Standings after Phoenix". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

American Championship car racing (IndyCar) seasons

AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NASCAR	1952 1953

USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95

CART / CCWS	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~

INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

CART / Champ Car seasons (1979–2008)

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~

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