1988 IndyCar season

1988 IndyCar season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races 16
Start date April 10
End date November 6
Awards
Drivers' champion Danny Sullivan
Constructors' Cup Lola
Manufacturers' Cup Chevrolet
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year John Jones
Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears
Chronology
Previous season Next season
1987 1989

The 1988 IndyCar season, the tenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on April 10 and concluding in Miami, Florida on November 6. There was one non-championship event, the Marlboro Challenge. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Danny Sullivan and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was John Jones. The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.

Contents

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1988 Indy Car World Series.

Team Chassis Engine Tires No Drivers Notes
Newman/Haas Racing Lola Chevrolet Goodyear 6 Mario Andretti
Patrick Racing March/Lola Chevrolet Goodyear 20 Emerson Fittipaldi
Galles Racing March Chevrolet/Cosworth Goodyear 3 Al Unser, Jr.
Team Penske Penske Chevrolet Goodyear 5 Rick Mears
9 Danny Sullivan
1/60 Al Unser Indianapolis 500, Michigan & Pocono only
Porsche North America March Porsche Goodyear 8 Teo Fabi
Truesports Lola Judd/Cosworth Goodyear 1/4 Bobby Rahal
Kraco Racing March/Lola Cosworth Goodyear 18 Michael Andretti
Doug Shierson Racing March/Lola Cosworth Goodyear 30 Raul Boesel
Raynor Racing Lola Cosworth Goodyear 10 Derek Daly
Arciero Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 12 John Jones did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Granatelli Racing Lola/March Cosworth/Chevrolet Goodyear 2/4 Roberto Guerrero did not qualify at Milwaukee,
not competing at Toronto & Meadowlands
2/4 Al Unser Toronto & Meadowlands only
58/71/85 Gordon Johncock Michigan & Pocono only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Machinists Union Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 11 Kevin Cogan not competing at Meadowlands, Michigan, Pocono & Mid-Ohio
Scott Pruett Meadowlands & Mid-Ohio only
55 Scott Atchison did not qualify at Indianapolis 500 & Nazareth
29/11 Rich Vogler Indianapolis 500, Michigan & Pocono only
Buick 28 Pancho Carter Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Dick Simon Racing Lola Cosworth Goodyear 7 Arie Luyendyk
22 Dick Simon Phoenix, Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee, Michigan, Pocono &
Nazareth only
Scott Pruett Long Beach only
Didier Theys Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Meadowlands, Mid-Ohio,
Road America, Laguna Seca & Tamiami Park only
23 Fulvio Ballabio Long Beach, Mid-Ohio & Road America only
Tero Palmroth Indianapolis 500 & Portland only
Jean-Pierre Frey Laguna Seca & Tamiami Park only
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Lola Cosworth Goodyear 14 A. J. Foyt withdrew (ill) at Michigan
Johnny Rutherford Michigan only
Johnny Parsons Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
March 48 Rocky Moran Indianapolis 500 only
Chevrolet 84 Stan Fox Indianapolis 500 only
Bettenhausen Motorsports Lola/March Cosworth/Judd Goodyear 16 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. did not qualify at Long Beach,
not competing at Portland & Tamiami Park
Dennis Vitolo Tamiami Park only
Alex Morales Motorsports March Cosworth Goodyear 21 Howdy Holmes
Hemelgarn Racing Lola Judd/Cosworth/Buick Goodyear 91 Scott Brayton not competing at Mid-Ohio, Road America & Laguna Seca
71 Ludwig Heimrath not competing at Phoenix, Milwaukee, Michigan, Pocono,
Nazareth & Laguna Seca
Ken Johnson Laguna Seca only
81/71 Tom Sneva Indianapolis 500 & Michigan only
Gohr Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 56 Rocky Moran Long Beach, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Meadowlands, Mid-Ohio,
Road America, Laguna Seca & Tamiami Park only
Billy Vukovich III Phoenix, Indianapolis 500, Michigan & Pocono only
Bernstein Racing Lola Buick Goodyear 15 Jim Crawford Indianapolis 500 only
17 Johnny Rutherford Indianapolis 500 only
Curb Racing Lola Cosworth Goodyear 98 John Andretti not competing at Mid-Ohio, Road America, Laguna Seca &
Tamiami Park
Gary Trout Motorsports March Cosworth Goodyear 33 Steve Chassey Indianapolis 500 only
35 Ed Pimm Mid-Ohio & Road America only
Leader Card Racing Lola Cosworth Goodyear 24 Randy Lewis not competing at Nazareth
16 Dominic Dobson Portland only
Dobson Motorsports Lola Cosworth Goodyear 17/92 Dominic Dobson Indianapolis 500 & Laguna Seca only
Dale Coyne Racing March Chevrolet Goodyear 19 Dale Coyne Milwaukee, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Meadowlands,
Michigan, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca & Tamiami Park only
did not qualify at Indianapolis 500, Pocono & Nazareth
did not start at Phoenix & Road America
Dominic Dobson Long Beach only
Los Angeles Drywall March Cosworth Goodyear 27 Dick Ferguson Long Beach only, did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
Ed Pimm did not qualify at Indianapolis 500
KargoStopper Lola Cosworth Goodyear 88 Darin Brassfield Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only
BDR Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 43 Steve Bren Laguna Seca only
Andale Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 69 Bernard Jourdain Laguna Seca & Tamiami Park only
U.S. Engineering March Cosworth Goodyear 77 Phil Krueger Cleveland, Michigan & Pocono only
Kent Baker Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 97 Phil Krueger Indianapolis 500 only
Scheid Tire Centers March Cosworth Goodyear 46 Gary Bettenhausen Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Calumet Farms March Chevrolet Goodyear 84 George Snider Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
GF Racing March Cosworth Goodyear 25 Giupponi Franca Mid-Ohio & Laguna Seca only but did not qualify
José Romano Road America & Tamiami Park only but did not qualify
Indiana Carbon March Cosworth Goodyear 87 Spike Gehlhausen Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Mergard March Cosworth Goodyear 36 Harry Sauce Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify
Performers, Inc. March Cosworth Goodyear 77 Tom Bigelow Indianapolis 500 only but did not qualify

Results

Races

Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date Pole position Winning driver Winning team Report
1 Checker 200 Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix, Arizona April 10 Rick Mears Mario Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Report
2 Long Beach Grand Prix Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 17 Danny Sullivan Al Unser, Jr. Galles Racing Report
3 72nd Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana May 29 Rick Mears Rick Mears Team Penske Report
4 Dana-Rex Mays 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin June 5 Michael Andretti Rick Mears Team Penske Report
5 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 19 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Team Penske Report
6 Cleveland Grand Prix Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 3 Danny Sullivan Mario Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Report
7 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 17 Danny Sullivan Al Unser, Jr. Galles Racing Report
8 Meadowlands Grand Prix Meadowlands Sports Complex East Rutherford, New Jersey July 24 Emerson Fittipaldi Al Unser, Jr. Galles Racing Report
9 Marlboro 500 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan August 7 Rick Mears Danny Sullivan Team Penske Report
10 Quaker State 500 Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania August 21 Rick Mears Bobby Rahal Truesports Report
11 Escort Radar Warning 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio September 4 Danny Sullivan Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing Report
12 Race for Life 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin September 11 Danny Sullivan Emerson Fittipaldi Patrick Racing Report
13 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania September 25 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Team Penske Report
14 Champion Spark Plug 300 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California October 16 Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Team Penske Report
NC Marlboro Challenge Tamiami Park University Park, Florida November 5 Danny Sullivan Michael Andretti Kraco Racing Report
15 Miami Indy Challenge 200 Tamiami Park University Park, Florida November 6 Danny Sullivan Al Unser, Jr. Galles Racing Report
  Oval/Speedway
  Road Course/Street Circuit
  Non-championship race

Full Series Results

Final driver standings

Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL POR CLE TOR MEA MIC POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG MIA Pts
1 Danny Sullivan 23 13 23* 2 1 3* 2 4 1 18 5 4 1 1* 5 182
2 Al Unser, Jr. 18 1* 13 20 4 4 1* 1 21 2 4 7 19 6 1* 149
3 Bobby Rahal 16 2 5 6 12 2 5 5 2 1 18 2 12 4 18 136
4 Rick Mears 22 8 1 1* 6 23 6 3 13* 23 3 12 7* 5 2 129
5 Mario Andretti 1* 15 20 17 5 1 25 2 12 17 2 3 3 3 15 126
6 Michael Andretti 3 7 4 7 11 14 3 6 3 25 26 5 2 2 17 119
7 Emerson Fittipaldi 21 16 2 3 3 19 4 14* 19 21 1* 1* 8 16 20 105
8 Raul Boesel 5 4 7 4 26 5 8 9 11 5 6 14 5 21 22 89
9 Derek Daly 13 5 29 11 19 6 23 24 16 4 9 6 10 7 23 53
10 Teo Fabi 7 24 28 9 7 24 10 18 25 24 8 8 4 10 21 44
11 John Jones 20 12 DNQ 14 8 7 7 7 8 8 7 13 11 11 16 44
12 Roberto Guerrero 2 19 32 DNQ 14 20 20 3 11 22 6 14 26 40
13 Kevin Cogan 8 3 11 22 20 10 24 24 15 9 4 40
14 Arie Luyendyk 9 10 10 15 2* 18 20 20 28 26 25 19 9 22 14 31
15 Didier Theys 10 9 18 21 10 23 8 3 29
16 A. J. Foyt 4 11 26 5 15 11 15 17 Wth 16 22 10 17 24 25 29
17 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. 9 DNQ 33 19 15 17 8 4 15 16 16 13 26 25
18 Howdy Holmes 10 17 12 8 16 13 11 23 23 7 14 11 14 23 8 24
19 Al Unser 3 9 19 9 13* 23
20 Scott Atchison 12 9 DNQ 16 25 12 13 10 10 12 15 20 DNQ 25 9 17
21 Gordon Johncock DNQ 6 6 16
22 Phil Krueger 8 17 5 22 15
23 Scott Brayton 15 23 31 10 9 16 14 11 26 10 18 24 12
24 Dick Simon 19 9 12 7 19 20 11
25 Rocky Moran 6 16 13 22 12 15 13 17 28 13 9
26 Bernard Jourdain 20 6 8
27 Jim Crawford 6 8
28 Ludwig Heimrath 14 25 23 26 19 12 19 21 7 7
29 Randy Lewis 17 21 15 21 22 21 21 13 14 20 21 9 15 10 7
30 Billy Vukovich III 11 14 17 9 6
31 John Andretti 14 20 21 18 17 8 22 25 24 14 16 5
32 Rich Vogler 17 15 11 2
33 Dennis Vitolo 11 2
34 Dale Coyne DNS DNQ 13 24 25 16 22 27 DNQ 24 DNS DNQ 27 12 1
35 Ed Pimm DNQ 12 15 1
36 Ken Johnson 12 1
37 Jean-Pierre Frey 13 19 0
38 Scott Pruett 18 16 20 0
39 Fulvio Ballabio 25 17 18 0
40 Steve Bren 17 0
41 Dominic Dobson 26 18 21 18 0
42 Tero Palmroth 19 18 0
43 Johnny Rutherford 22 18 0
44 Darin Brassfield 23 19 0
45 Tom Sneva 27 22 0
46 Dick Ferguson 22 DNQ 0
47 Steve Chassey 24 0
48 Stan Fox 30 0
Gary Bettenhausen DNQ 0
Tom Bigelow DNQ 0
Pancho Carter DNQ 0
Giupponi Franca DNQ DNQ 0
Spike Gehlhausen DNQ 0
Johnny Parsons DNQ 0
José Romano DNQ DNQ 0
Harry Sauce DNQ 0
George Snider DNQ 0
Pos Driver PHX LBH INDY MIL POR CLE TOR MEA MIC POC MDO ROA NAZ LAG MIA 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
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
* Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Point Scoring System:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Points 20 16 14 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus Points:

Nation's Cup

Pos Country Pts
1 United States 317
2 Brazil 158
3 Italy 52
4 Canada 50
5 Ireland 45
6 Colombia 40
7 Netherlands 31
8 Belgium 29
9 Mexico 8
10 England 8
11 Switzerland 0
12 Finland 0
Pos Country Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos Chassis Pts
1 Lola T8800/T8700 248
2 Penske PC-17 231
3 March 88C/87C/86C/85C 222
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos Engine Pts
1 Chevrolet A 320
2 Cosworth 206
3 Judd 131
4 Porsche 44
5 Buick 8
Pos Engine Pts

References

See also

AAA
NASCAR
USAC
CART / CCWS
IRL / INDYCAR
Years marked in italics are not official championship years.
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