1997 CART season

1997 CART season

PPG CART World Series
Season
Races	17
Start date	March 2
End date	September 28
Awards
Drivers' champion	Alex Zanardi
Constructors' Cup	Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup	Mercedes
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Patrick Carpentier

Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1996 (ICWS)	1998

The 1997 CART season, the nineteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 17 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 2 and concluding in Fontana, California on September 28. The PPG CART World Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi. Rookie of the Year was Patrick Carpentier. After a settlement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, CART had relinquished its exclusive license of the "IndyCar" trademark, resulting in the renaming of the Series for the first time since 1980. This was also the last year of title sponsorship by PPG Industries, although the Driver's Championship continued to be known as the PPG Cup until 1999.

1 Drivers and Constructors
2 Results
- 2.1 Races
3 Full Series Results
4 References
5 See also

Drivers and Constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 CART World Series season.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No	Drivers	Sponsor	Notes
Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard 97i	Honda	Firestone	1	Jimmy Vasser	Target
				4	Alex Zanardi	Target
				4	Arie Luyendyk	Target	Fontana Only
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-26-97	Mercedes-Benz	Goodyear	2	Al Unser, Jr.	Marlboro
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-26-97	Mercedes-Benz	Goodyear	3	Paul Tracy	Marlboro
Walker Racing	Reynard 97i	Honda	Goodyear	5	Gil de Ferran	Valvoline/Cummins
Newman-Haas Racing	Swift 007.i	Ford XB	Goodyear	6	Michael Andretti	Texaco/Kmart
		Ford XD		11	Christian Fittipaldi	Budweiser/Kmart
		Ford XD		11	Roberto Moreno	Budweiser/Kmart	Long Beach through Detroit Only
Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XB	Goodyear	7	Bryan Herta	Shell
Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	Goodyear	8	Bobby Rahal	Miller Lite
Hogan Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	9	Dario Franchitti (R)	No Sponsor
Hogan Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	9	Robby Gordon	No Sponsor	Fontana Only
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Goodyear	16	Patrick Carpentier (R)	Alumax
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Goodyear	16	Roberto Moreno	Alumax	Vancouver and Laguna Seca Only
PacWest	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	17	Maurício Gugelmin	Hollywood
PacWest	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	18	Mark Blundell	Motorola
Payton/Coyne Racing	Lola T97/00 Reynard 97i	Ford XD	Goodyear	19	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Herdez
	Lola T97/00			34	Roberto Moreno	Data Control	Homestead Only
	Lola T97/00				Paul Jasper (R)	HYPE	Lexmark Indy 300 through Milwaukee Only
	Lola T97/00 Reynard 97i				Christian Danner	HYPE	Detroit, Portland and Vancouver Only
	Lola T97/00 Reynard 97i				Charlie Nearburg (R)	Nearburg Explorations	Cleveland, Elkhart Lake and Laguna Seca Only
	Lola T97/00				Dennis Vitolo	Smith Kline Beecham	Toronto, Michigan, and Fontana Only
Patrick Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XB	Firestone	20	Scott Pruett	Brahma
Patrick Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	Firestone	40	Raul Boesel	Brahma
Della Penna Motorsports	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	Goodyear	21	Richie Hearn	Ralphs/Food 4 Less
Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 97i	Toyota	Firestone	24	Hiro Matsushita	Panasonic/Duskin
Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 97i	Toyota	Firestone	25	Max Papis	MCI
Team KOOL Green	Reynard 97i	Honda	Firestone	27	Parker Johnstone	KOOL
Tasman Motorsports	Lola T97/00	Honda	Firestone	31	André Ribeiro	LCI International/Marlboro
Tasman Motorsports	Lola T97/00	Honda	Firestone	32	Adrian Fernández	Tecate/Quaker State
All American Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Toyota	Goodyear	36	Juan Manuel Fangio II	Castrol
All American Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Toyota	Goodyear	98	P. J. Jones	Castrol
Project Indy	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	Goodyear	64	Dennis Vitolo	JAG/Marcelo Group/ Hawaiian Tropic	Homestead, Long Beach, Nazareth, Vancouver and Laguna Seca Only
Project Indy	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	Goodyear	64	Arnd Meier (R)	JAG/Marcelo Group/ Hawaiian Tropic
Davis Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	Goodyear	77	Gualter Salles (R)	Indusval
Forsythe Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	99	Greg Moore	Player's/Indeck

Results

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	March 2	Alex Zanardi	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
2	Sunbelt IndyCarnival Australia	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia	April 6	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	Report
3	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	April 13	Gil de Ferran	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
4	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	April 27	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Report
5	Hollywood Rio 400k	Autódromo de Jacarepaguá	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	May 11	Maurício Gugelmin	Gil de Ferran	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Report
6	Motorola 300	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois	May 24	Raul Boesel	Dario Franchitti	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Report
7	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	June 1	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Report
8	ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix	The Raceway on Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan	June 8	Gil de Ferran	Dario Franchitti	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Report
9	Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	June 22	Scott Pruett	Raul Boesel	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Report
10	Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	July 13	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
11	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	July 20	Dario Franchitti	Mark Blundell	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Report
12	U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	July 27	Scott Pruett	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
13	Miller 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	August 10	Bryan Herta	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
14	Texaco/Havoline 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 17	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
15	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia	August 31	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest	Report
16	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	September 7	Bryan Herta	Mark Blundell	Jimmy Vasser	Target Chip Ganassi	Report
17	Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota	California Speedway	Fontana, California	September 28	Maurício Gugelmin	Greg Moore	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Report

Oval/Speedway

Road Course/Street Circuit

Full Series Results

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	MIA	SUR	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	FON	Pts
1	Alex Zanardi	7	4	1*	11	4	4	13	26	11	1	2	1*	1*	1	4	3	DNS	195
2	Gil de Ferran	22	5	21	4	11	3	7	3*	2	2*	25	3	6	3	3	5	6	162
3	Jimmy Vasser	3	12	9	5	9	5	3	4	19	13	7	24	5	8	2*	1*	2	144
4	Maurício Gugelmin	6	17	2	9	22	6	5	16	6*	15	6	6	7	2	1	9	4	132
5	Paul Tracy	2	19*	7	1*	1	1	6	Wth	7	7	10	4	27	28	28	26	26	121
6	Mark Blundell	14	8	13	19	8	24	12	17	1	9	1*	2	26	16*	7	2	1	115
7	Greg Moore	4	2	23	16	2	13	1*	1	5	24	23	27	2	18	17	24	13	111
8	Michael Andretti	1*	3	22	2	21	11*	2	2	8	23	4	21	8	26	16	27	19	108
9	Scott Pruett	5	1	3	10	3	19	9	24	17	8	5	14	9	5	18	16	7	102
10	Raul Boesel	17	7	8	8	5	14	4	6	3	16	8	18	4	21	6	8	20	91
11	Bryan Herta	10	22	6	7	6	22	15	7	21	3	17	5	24	11	8	6	21	72
12	Bobby Rahal	16	10	10	6	10*	20	11	9	24	5	9	17	3	6	24	19	5	70
13	Al Unser, Jr.	27	27	4	3	7	18	20	8	25	4	20	20	22	7	5	11	22	67
14	André Ribeiro	12	6	14	26	15	10	26	25	13	14	3	23	10	22	10	4	17*	45
15	Christian Fittipaldi	26	28							4	6	11	16	21	4	9	21	9	42
16	Parker Johnstone	8	21	5	17	12	7	25	20	9	10	12	25	12	23	11	12	11	36
17	Patrick Carpentier	9	15	15	12	28	2	8	15	16	12	16	15	15	27			DNS	27
18	Adrián Fernández	13	11	11	23	26	8	24	27	10	17	14	26	23	12	19	23	3	27
19	Roberto Moreno	24		24	14	18	25	10	5							15	10		16
20	Gualter Salles	15	24	18	24	19	12	22	21	23	19	18	10	20	13	26	7	14	10
21	Richie Hearn	11	13	27	18	14	9	23	23	14	28	27	22	13	9	22	25	15	10
22	Dario Franchitti	25	9	12	13	27	17	16	13	26	11	26	19	11	25	13	13		10
23	Juan Manuel Fangio II	20	20	26	15	20	23	21	10	22	21	19	11	25	10	12	15	27	9
24	Max Papis	19	14	25	22	13	26	19	11	28	27	15	8	14	15	20	14	12	8
25	Dennis Vitolo	23		Wth	DNS							28	7			27	20	16	6
26	Robby Gordon																	8	5
27	Hiro Matsushita	21	25	20	25	23	15	17	19	15	20	22	9	19	24	14	28	23	4
28	P. J. Jones	28	26	16	21	16	21	14	14	20	25	21	28	17	14	25	17	10	3
29	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	18	18	17	20	17	16	27	22	12	18	13	13	18	20	21	22	18	1
30	Arnd Meier		16			25	DNS		18	18	22	24	12	16	19			25	1
31	Christian Danner								12	27						23			1
32	Charlie Nearburg										26			DNS	17		18		0
33	Paul Jasper		23	19	DNS	24	DNS	18											0
34	Arie Luyendyk																	24	0
Pos	Driver	MIA	SUR	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	FON	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)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Point Scoring System:

Points are awarded based on each driver's resulting place (regardless of whether the car is running at the end of the race):

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:

1 For Pole Position
1 For Leading The Most Laps Of The Race

Nation's Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.

Pos	Country	Pts
1	United States	252
2	Brazil	238
3	Italy	198
4	Canada	190
5	England	115
6	Mexico	27
7	Scotland	10
8	Argentina	9
9	Japan	4
10	Germany	2
11	Netherlands	0
Pos	Country	Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Reynard 97I/96I	346
2	Penske PC-26	156
3	Swift 007.i	143
4	Lola T9700	45
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Mercedes	316
2	Honda	290
3	Ford XD/XB	230
4	Toyota	15
Pos	Engine	Pts

References

Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1997 (sic)". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. http://www.driverdb.com/standings/5-1997/. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1997 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series (sic)". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1997.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"PPG Helps Penske Racing Go "Green" with ENVIROBASE High Performance Coatings" (Press release). PPG Industries. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. http://corporateportal.ppg.com/PPG/Newsroom/News/20090309.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
"Standings after California". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. http://www.champcar.ws/Results/Standings.asp?Year=1997. Retrieved 2009-05-19.