1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1983 CART season
1983 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	13
Start date	April 17
End date	October 29
Awards
Drivers' champion	Al Unser
Constructors' Cup	March
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Teo Fabi
Indianapolis 500 winner	Tom Sneva
	← 1982 1984 →

The 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 5th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 13 races. Al Unser was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Teo Fabi. The 1983 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but an arrangement was made such that it counted towards the CART points championship. Tom Sneva won the Indy 500, after three previous runner-up finishes.

Al Unser jumped out to the early points lead, with second-place finishes in the first three races of the season. Unser finished second at Indianapolis to Tom Sneva, but not without some controversy. Rookie Al Unser Jr. was accused of blocking for his father, but Sneva prevailed, making the winning pass with ten laps to go. Unser won at Cleveland, finished second at the Michigan 500, and third at Road America. After 6 of 13 races, Unser had a 35-point lead over Tom Sneva in the standings.

Rookie Teo Fabi made headlines at Indianapolis, becoming the first rookie to win the pole since 1950. His car dropped out, however, with a failed fuel o-ring. After a mixed start to the year, Fabi's season came alive in July, winning his first career race at the Pocono 500. Fabi jumped from 8th in points to as high as second following his win at Mid-Ohio. Fabi began to whittle away at Unser's point lead. Unser was running consistently, and had no finish worse than 11th.

In the next-to-last race of the season at Laguna Seca, Fabi dominated. He won the pole position and led 95 of 98 laps, winning his third race of the season. With only one race to go, Unser's point lead was down to 15 points. At the season finale in Phoenix, Fabi put in another dominating performance. He won the pole and led 138 of 150 laps. Fabi's championship hopes, however, fell just short as Al Unser came home 4th. Al Unser won the title by a mere 5 points over Fabi.

Other top stories from 1983 included Newman/Haas Racing joining the series with driver Mario Andretti plus a new chassis from Lola, and the rookie debut of Al Unser Jr. Though Unser Jr. did not win any races, he had ten top-10 finishes en route to 7th in points.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1983 CART World Series. All competitors utilized Goodyear tires.

Team/Car Owner	No	Drivers	Rounds
Alex Morales Motorsports	21	Pancho Carter	All
All American Racers	98	Jeff Wood	11-12
Alsup Racing	11	Bill Alsup	1, 3-5, 7, 9-10, 12-13
Arciero Racing	66	Pete Halsmer	1, 3-13
Arciero Racing	66	Johnny Parsons	2
Armstrong Mould Racing Team	43	Steve Krisiloff	2
BC Pace Racing	36	Chuck Ciprich	7
Bettenhausen Racing	10	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	All
	82	Gary Bettenhausen	13
	90	Derek Daly	6, 9, 11-13
Bignotti-Cotter Racing	5	Tom Sneva	All
	6	Kevin Cogan	1, 3-13
	16	Kevin Cogan	2
Bob Ward Racing	47	Bob Ward	8
Brayton Racing	35	Patrick Bedard	2, 5, 7
Brayton Racing	37	Scott Brayton	2, 4-5, 7, 10-11
Circle Bar Auto Racing	38	Chet Fillip	1-2, 10
Circle Bar Auto Racing w/ Caliva Racing	38	Phil Caliva	8
Dick Simon Racing	32	Dick Simon	6
	22	Dick Simon	1-3, 5, 8-11, 13
	22	Jorge Koechlin	12
Doug Shierson Racing	30	Howdy Holmes	All
Douglas Schulz	48	Tom Klausler	6, 8
Forsythe Racing	33	Teo Fabi	All
Galles Racing	17	Al Unser Jr.	1, 3-13
Galles Racing	19	Al Unser Jr.	2
Gilmore Racing	1	George Snider	2
Gilmore Racing	14	A. J. Foyt	2
Gohr Racing	56	Steve Chassey	1-8, 11-13
GTS Racing	86	Drake Olson	6
GTS Racing	86	Al Loquasto	7
H&R Racing	28	Gary Bettenhausen	3, 7, 9
H&R Racing	28	Herm Johnson	9
HBK Racing	70	Tom Bigelow	3
HBK Racing	78	Tom Bigelow	5
Herm Johnson Racing	42	Herm Johnson	4-5
Hoffman Racing	86	Dick Ferguson	5
Intercomp Racing	92	John Mahler	2
Interscope Racing	25	Danny Ongais	2
Jet Engineering	64	Greg Leffler	6, 8-9
Jet Engineering	64	Tom Bigelow	12
Joel McCray Racing	46	Phil Krueger	1, 3-4, 9
Kraco Enterprises	18	Mike Mosley	1-8, 10, 13
	18	Geoff Brabham	11-12
	99	Geoff Brabham	8, 10
	99	Michael Andretti	11-13
Leader Card Racers	8	Johnny Parsons	5
		Tom Bagley	7
		Randy Lewis	12
	24	Chip Mead	9-10
Machinists Union Racing	9	Roger Mears	1-4, 6-13
Machinists Union Racing	55	Josele Garza	2, 4-12
McElreath Racing	23	Jim McElreath	1, 5, 7
Newman/Haas Racing	3	Mario Andretti	All
Patrick Racing	40	Johnny Rutherford	1, 7, 10-11, 13
	40	Danny Ongais	4-6
	60		3
	20		7-9
	60	Chip Ganassi	2, 4-5, 7, 9-13
	20	Chip Ganassi	6
	20	Gordon Johncock	1-5
Primus Racing	72	Chris Kneifel	2, 4-13
Racing Team VDS	12	John Paul Jr.	1, 4-13
Racing Team VDS	12	Geoff Brabham	2
Rattlesnake Racing w/ Agajanian Curb	29	Mike Chandler	2
	19	Mike Chandler	5
	19	Dick Ferguson	7
Rhoades Racing	41	Doug Heveron	1
	46	Jerry Karl	7-8
	61	Jerry Karl	3, 5
Simpson Sports	90	Dennis Firestone	2
Team Penske	1	Rick Mears	1, 3-13
	2	Rick Mears	2
	7	Al Unser	All
Tempero Racing	15	Bill Tempero	4, 9
Truesports	2	Bobby Rahal	1, 3-12
Truesports	4	Bobby Rahal	2
Whittington Racing	91	Don Whittington	2, 5, 7
Whittington Racing	94	Bill Whittington	2, 4, 7
Wysard Racing	34	Derek Daly	1-2
		Desiré Wilson	3, 6-9, 11-13
		Geoff Brabham	5

Schedule

Of the notable changes to the schedule, there were the additions of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, which was formerly a Formula One championship event, and Laguna Seca Raceway. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio returned to the schedule after a 2 year hiatus, and finally starting this season there would only be one race per season at the Milwaukee Mile.


Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Location	TV Broadcaster
-	March 20	Kraco Car Stereo 150	O Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	N/A
1	April 17	Kraco Dixie 200	O Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	NBC
2	May 29	Indianapolis 500	O Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana	ABC
3	June 12	Gould Rex Mays Classic	O Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	ESPN
4	July 3	Budweiser Cleveland 500	s Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	ESPN
5	July 17	Norton Michigan 500	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	NBC
6	July 31	Provimi Veal 200	R Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	TNN
7	August 14	Domino's Pizza 500	O Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	NBC
8	August 29*	Budweiser 500K	R Riverside International Raceway	Riverside, California	ESPN
9	September 11	Escort Radar Warning 200	R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	ESPN
10	September 26	Detroit News Grand Prix	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	ESPN
11	October 8	Caesars Palace Grand Prix	R Caesars Palace	Las Vegas, Nevada	NBC
12	October 23	Cribari Wines 300k	R Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	ESPN
13	October 29	Miller High Life 150	O Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	NBC

O Oval/Speedway
R Dedicated road course
S Street circuit

The season-opening Phoenix race was cancelled due to flooding.
The Riverside race was scheduled for August 28, but pushed a day due to rain.

Season Summary

Race results

Rd	Race Name	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time	Report
1	Kraco Dixie 200	Rick Mears	26.730	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	1:22:29	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	Teo Fabi	2:53.582	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	3:05:03	Report
3	Gould Rex Mays Classic	Teo Fabi	26.259	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter Racing	1:17:42	Report
4	Budweiser Cleveland 500	Mario Andretti	1:13.516	Al Unser	Penske Racing	2:51:54	Report
5	Norton Michigan 500	Teo Fabi	35.621	John Paul Jr.	VDS Racing	3:42:27	Report
6	Provimi Veal 200	Mario Andretti	1:58.898	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:00:42	Report
7	Domino's Pizza 500	Tom Sneva	46.912	Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	3:42:28	Report
8	Budweiser 500K	Teo Fabi	1:30.887	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	2:45:28	Report
9	Escort Radar Warning 200	Bobby Rahal	1:21.364	Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	2:01:49	Report
10	Detroit News Grand Prix	Bobby Rahal	35.075	Rick Mears	Penske Racing	1:05:49	Report
11	Caesars Palace Grand Prix	John Paul Jr.	34.888	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	2:17:48	Report
12	Cribari Wines 300k	Teo Fabi	56.920	Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	1:44:28	Report
13	Miller High Life 150	Teo Fabi	24.947	Teo Fabi	Forsythe Racing	1:11:03	Report

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

Final points standings

Pos	Driver	ATL	INDY	MIL	CLE	MIC	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MIC	CPL	LAG	PHX	Pts
1	Al Unser	2	2	2	1*	2	3	11	11	4	5	4	11	4	151
2	Teo Fabi RY	20	26	4	3	15	15	1*	2	1*	3	25	1*	1*	146
3	Mario Andretti	5	23	18	15	3	1	7	16	2	4	1*	2	2	133
4	Tom Sneva	14	1*	1*	5	25	4	12	5	7	21	15	18	3	96
5	Bobby Rahal	21	20	6	19	5	10*	5	1	3	2	9	7	DNS	94
6	Rick Mears	8*	3	3	7	4	17	3	19	9	1*	13	21	17	92
7	Al Unser Jr. R	6	10	13	9	7	2	2	4*	18	10	10	4	8	89
8	John Paul Jr. R	3	DNQ		21	1*	5	29	3	20	7	2	26	11	84
9	Chip Ganassi		8		13	8	21	26		25	6	3	3	5	56
10	Pancho Carter	16	7	14	8	6	7	6	7	10	15	6	25	10	53
11	Pete Halsmer	4	DNQ	9	2	33	14	14	27	24	14	5	20	7	48
12	Roger Mears	7	28	8	6	DNQ	8	16	9	12	16	7	6	16	43
13	Howdy Holmes	9	6	7	12	32	16	13	13	8	8	17	5	21	39
14	Mike Mosley	13	13	5	4	17	25	4	24	DNQ	11			24	36
15	Kevin Cogan	15	5	20	25	27	19	15	21	6	20	16	22	6	26
16	Gordon Johncock	1	14	23	26	26									20
17	Chris Kneifel R		12		27	9	26	8	22	13	24	8	9	15	19
18	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	10	17	10	18	18	12	10	8	14	9	21	14	18	19
19	Steve Chassey	17	11	19	22	10	6	25	17			12	10	19	17
20	Danny Ongais		21	12	28	23	18	24	10	5					14
21	Geoff Brabham		4			22			18		12	20	16		13
22	Josele Garza		25		17	19	11	9	20	23	17	11	12		9
23	Tom Klausler R						22		6			DNQ			8
24	Jeff Wood R											22	8		5
25	Scott Brayton		9		24	12		28			13	26			5
26	Derek Daly R	22	19		DNS		9			22		18	23	22	4
27	Michael Andretti R											19	24	9	4
28	Desiré Wilson R		DNQ		10		20	31	14	16		23	19	13	3
29	Dick Simon	DNQ	15	11		14	13		25	15	19	14		23	2
30	Jim McElreath	11				13		23							2
31	Greg Leffler		DNQ		DNQ		24		15	11					2
32	Phil Krueger	DNQ	DNQ	17	11					27					2
33	Dick Ferguson		DNQ			11		22							2
34	Jerry Karl		DNQ	16	DNQ	21		32	12						1
35	Gary Bettenhausen		DNQ	22				27		DNS				12	1
36	Doug Heveron R	12	DNQ												1
37	Randy Lewis R												13		0
38	Bill Alsup	DNS	DNQ	21	20	16		20		19	22		27	14	0
39	Tom Bigelow		DNQ	15	DNQ	29							17	DNQ	0
40	Bill Whittington R		18		15			19							0
41	Jorge Koechlin R												15		0
42	Herm Johnson		DNQ		16	24	DNQ			17					0
43	Mike Chandler		16			31									0
44	Patrick Bedard R		30			28		17							0
45	Chet Fillip R	19	33							DNQ	18				0
46	Johnny Rutherford	18	Wth					21			23	24		20	0
47	Al Loquasto		DNQ					18							0
48	Don Whittington		27			20		33							0
49	Bill Tempero		DNQ		23		DNQ			21					0
50	Johnny Parsons		22			30									0
51	Phil Caliva		DNQ						23						0
52	Drake Olson R				DNQ		23								0
53	Dennis Firestone		24												0
54	Chip Mead									26	25				0
55	Bob Ward R								26			DNQ		DNS	0
56	Steve Krisiloff		29		DNQ										0
57	Chuck Ciprich R		DNQ					30							0
58	A. J. Foyt		31												0
59	George Snider		32												0
60	Tom Bagley				DNQ			34							0
-	Richard Hubbard				DNQ		DNQ			DNQ					0
-	Barry Ruble				DNQ		DNQ								0
-	Teddy Pilette		DNQ		DNS										0
-	Harry MacDonald		DNQ												0
-	Mark Alderson		DNQ												0
-	Jim Buick		DNQ												0
-	Larry Cannon		DNQ												0
-	Bob Frey		DNQ												0
-	Amber Furst		DNQ												0
-	Spike Gehlhausen		DNQ												0
-	Bob Harkey		DNQ												0
-	Sheldon Kinser		DNQ												0
-	Bob Lazier		DNQ												0
-	John Mahler		DNQ												0
-	Mack McClellan		DNQ												0
-	Graham McRae		DNQ												0
-	Dave Peperak		DNQ												0
-	Roger Rager		DNQ												0
-	Ken Schrader		DNQ												0
-	Jerry Sneva		DNQ												0
-	Rich Vogler		DNQ												0
-	Bill Vukovich II		DNQ												0
-	John Morton								DNQ						0
-	Lee Kunzman		DNP												0
-	Dave McMillan		DNP												0
-	Bobby Olivero		DNP												0
-	Bill Puterbaugh		DNP												0
-	Larry Rice		DNP												0
-	Dale Whittington		DNP												0
Pos	Driver	ATL	INDY	MIL	CLE	MIC	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MIC	CPL	LAG	PHX	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th-6th place
Light Blue	7th-12th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 12)
Purple	Did not finish
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
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

References

Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1983". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1983 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Official Box Score: 67th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"Standings after Phoenix". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.