1985 IndyCar season

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1985 IndyCar season

PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	15
Start date	April 14
End date	November 10
Awards
Drivers' champion	Al Unser
Constructors' Cup	March
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Arie Luyendyk
Indianapolis 500 winner	Danny Sullivan
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1984	1986

The 1985 IndyCar season, the seventh in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 15 races, beginning in Long Beach, California on April 14 and concluding in Miami, Florida on November 10. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Al Unser and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Danny Sullivan. Rookie of the Year was Arie Luyendyk. The 69th Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.

Drivers and Teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1985 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No*	Drivers	Sponsor	Notes
Team Penske	March 85C	Cosworth	4 (5)	Danny Sullivan	Miller American
			5 (1)	Rick Mears	Pennzoil Z-7	Raced by Mears at Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Michigan (both races) and Pocono. Raced by Unser at all other races.
			5 (1)	Al Unser	Pennzoil Z-7
			11	Al Unser	Hertz/Gould Charge	Indianapolis, Michigan (1) and Pocono with Hertz sponsorship, Michigan 2 with Gould Charge sponsorship.
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	30	Al Unser, Jr.	Domino's Pizza
Truesports Co.	March 85C	Cosworth	3 (10)	Bobby Rahal	Budweiser
Truesports Co.	March 85C	Cosworth	8	Ludwig Heimrath, Jr.	Red Roof Inns	Mid-Ohio only.
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	1 (3)	Mario Andretti	Beatrice	Andretti was injured at Michigan (1) and missed Road America. Jones replaced Andretti at Road America.
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	1 (3)	Alan Jones	Beatrice
Patrick Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	20	Bruno Giacomelli	STP Oil Treatment	Giacomelli: Long Beach, Portland, Meadowlands, Cleveland, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Sanair, Laguna Seca and Miami. Johncock: Indianapolis. Swindell: Michigan (1) and Pocono. Whittington: Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Michigan (2), Phoenix.
				Gordon Johncock
				Sammy Swindell
				Don Whittington
			40	Emerson Fittipaldi	7-Eleven/STP
			60	Rich Vogler	Kentucky Fried Chicken	Indianapolis Only.
All American Racers	Eagle 85GC/Lola T900	Cosworth	2	Tom Sneva	Skoal Bandit	Raced an Eagle 85 for Long Beach, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, a Lola T900 for Portland, Sanair, Laguna Seca and Phoenix, and an Eagle 85GC for the remainder of the races.
	Lola T900		97	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.		Indianapolis Only.
	Eagle 85GC/Lola T900		98	Ed Pimm		Raced an Eagle 85 at Long Beach and Indianapolis, a Lola T900 at Milwaukee, and an Eagle 85GC for the remainder of the races. Did not appear at Cleveland.
Kraco Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	18	Kevin Cogan	Kraco/Wolff Systems
Kraco Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	99	Michael Andretti	Electrolux/Kraco
Alex Morales Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	21	Johnny Rutherford	Vermont American
Machinists Union Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	55	Josele Garza	Schaefer/Machinists Union
			59	Pete Halsmer	Copenhagen/Machinists Union/Scot Lad Foods	Halsmer: Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Portland, Meadowlands, Cleveland, and Michigan (2). Keegan: Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and Miami. Ganassi: Michigan (1).
				Rupert Keegan
				Chip Ganassi
Galles Racing	March 85C	Buick/Cosworth	6	Pancho Carter	Valvoline/Buick Hawk	Carter raced at Long Beach, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Portland, Cleveland, Michigan (both), Pocono, Sanair, and Phoenix. Moreno raced at Meadowlands, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, and Miami. Buick engine for Long Beach and Indianpolis only.
		Buick/Cosworth	6	Roberto Moreno	Valvoline/Buick Hawk
		Cosworth	7	Geoff Brabham	Coors Light
Team Cotter	March 85C	Cosworth	9	Roberto Guerrero	True Value/Master Mechanic	DNS at Meadowlands due to practice wreck
Forsythe Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	32/33	Howdy Holmes	Jiffy Mixes/Indeck	Holmes in with No. 33 at all races except Laguna (accident), Phoenix and Miami. Lammers at Laguna (#32), Phoenix (#32) and Miami (#33).
Forsythe Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	32/33	Jan Lammers	Jiffy Mixes/Indeck
Pace Racing	March 84C/Lola T900	Cosworth	36	Dennis Firestone	Pace Electronics	A March 84C was raced in the first six races, and a Lola T900 was raced in the remainder. Firestone raced the car in the first 13 rounds, Bigelow relieved Firestone at Michigan (1), and Crawford raced the car in the final two rounds.
				Tom Bigelow
				Jim Crawford
Dick Simon Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	22/23	Raúl Boesel	Break Free	No. 22 raced by Simon on ovals and Boesel on road/street circuits. No. 23 raced by Simon at Meadowlands, and Boesel at Indianapolis and Michigan (1).
Dick Simon Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	22/23	Dick Simon	Break Free
Leader Card Racing	March 84C/March 85C	Cosworth	24	Rocky Moran	Justice Brothers/Leader Card/Kentucky Fried Chicken	Moran raced at Long Beach (84C), and DNQ'd at Portland (85C) and Meadowlands (84C).
	March 84C/March 85C			Tom Bigelow	Kentucky Fried Chicken/Palace Display Vans/Menard/Leader Card Racers	Bigelow was listed on the Indianapolis (85C) entry, and raced the car at Milwaukee (85C), Michigan (1)(84C) and Pocono (85C).
	March 84C			Phil Krueger	Leader Card Racers	Krueger DNQ at Cleveland
	March 85C			Herm Johnson	Leader Card Racers/Menard	Johnson raced at Road America and Mid-Ohio
	March 85C			Gary Bettenhausen	Leader Card Racers/Menard	Bettenhausen raced at Sanair, Phoenix and DNS at Michigan (2).
	March 84C/March 85C			Dominic Dobson	Leader Card	Dobson DNS at Meadowlands (84C), and raced at Laguna Seca (85C) and Miami (85C).
Part-time entries
Canadian Tire Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	67	Jim Crawford	Canadian Tire	Sanair only.
			76	Jacques Villeneuve		Villeneuve at all races except Indianapolis, Michigan (both) and Pocono. Parsons at Indianapolis.
			76	Johnny Parsons
Provimi Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	61	Arie Luyendyk	Provimi Veal	All races except Michigan (WD), Pocono and Mid-Ohio (wreck in practice).
Wysard Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	34	Jim Crawford	Canadian Tire/Malcolm Konner	Crawford at Long Beach, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Meadowlands and Cleveland, Brassfield at Miami. Canadian Tire sponsorship at Indianapolis only, Malcolm Konner sponsorship at Meadowlands only.
Wysard Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	34	Darin Brassfield	Canadian Tire/Malcolm Konner
Arciero Racing	Lola T900/March 85C	Cosworth	12	Bill Whittington	Arciero Wines	Whittington at all races except Michigan 1, Pocono, Sanair and Phoenix, Lanier at Phoenix. Lola T900 at all races except Michigan (2) and Miami.
	Lola T900/March 85C		12	Randy Lanier
	Lola T900		57	Randy Lanier		Long Beach, Indianapolis, Portland, Meadowlands, Cleveland, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and Miami.
Hemelgarn Racing	Lola T900/March 85C	Cosworth	71	Michael Roe	SPA*erobics/WTTV/Living Well/Autostyle	Roe at Long Beach, Indianapolis, Portland, Meadowlands, Cleveland, Gehlhausen at Milwaukee and Michigan 1, Mansilla at Road America, Mid-Ohio, Sanair, and Brayton at Laguna Seca, Phoenix and Miami. Lola T900 at all races except Sanair. Living Well sponsorship at all races except Long Beach. SPA*erobics at all races except Indianapolis, WTTV at Indianapolis only, and Autostyle at all races Brayton drove.
				Spike Gehlhausen
				Enrique Mansilla
				Scott Brayton
Brayton Racing	March 85C	Cosworth/Buick	37	Scott Brayton	Dreisbach & Sons/Hardee's/Jolly Rancher	Buick engine at Indianapolis and Milwaukee, Dreisbach & Sons sponsorship at Long Beach and Michigan (2), Hardee's sponsorship at Indianapolis and Milwaukee, and Jolly Rancher sponsorship at Portland, Meadowlands, Cleveland, Michigan (1) and Pocono.
Interscope Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	25	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	Long Beach, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Michigan (both), Pocono, Phoenix and Miami only
AMI Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	43	John Paul, Jr.	Satellite Technology	Paul Jr. at Indianapolis and Cleveland, Lammers at Portland and Meadowlands.
AMI Racing	March 85C	Cosworth	43	Jan Lammers	Satellite Technology
Gohr Racing	March 85C	Chevy	56	Steve Chassey	Genesee Beer	Raced at all rounds except Long Beach and Sanair
Circle Bar Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth	38	Chet Fillip	Circle Bar Truck Corral	Indianapolis (DNQ), Milwaukee, Cleveland and Michigan (1) only
Menard Cashway Lumber	March 85C	Cosworth	8	Herm Johnson	Menard Racing	Indianapolis only (DNQ).
Tom Hess Racing	Lola T800	Cosworth	27 (29)	Dick Ferguson	Kapsreiter Bier	Long Beach only.
	Lola T900			Derek Daly	Kapsreiter Bier	Indianapolis only.
				Jeff Wood	Colin Bennett	Cleveland only.
				Ian Ashley	Hess Racing	Miami only.
Purcell Racing	March 83C	Cosworth	50	Tom Bigelow	Zanetis	Indianapolis only, neither car qualified.
			50	Phil Krueger	Zanetis
			51	Phil Krueger	Drilling & Producing
			51	Jerry Karl	Drilling & Producing
Gilmore Racing	March 85C/Lola T900	Cosworth	14	A. J. Foyt	Copenhagen/Gilmore	Entered at Indianapolis, Meadowlands, Cleveland, Michigan (1), Pocono, Sanair, Phoenix and Miami. Ran Sanair with Lola T900.
	March 84C	Cosworth	41	Mike Nish	Gilmore/Foyt	Indianapolis (DNQ) and Phoenix (DQ, Practice) only.
	March 85C	Chevy	44	George Snider	Foyt Chevrolet	Indianapolis only
	March 85C	Cosworth	84	Chip Ganassi	Calumet Farms	Indianapolis only
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola T800	Chevy	19	Dale Coyne	Dale Coyne Racing	Entered all rounds except Indianapolis and Sanair
Theodore Racing	Theodore	Cosworth	15	Chico Serra	Ensign Racing	Portland only.

- The number in parenthesis is the number the car used at the Indianapolis 500, if a different number was used.

Race winners

Round	Date	Event Name	Event Location	Winner
1	April 14	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	Mario Andretti
2	May 26	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Danny Sullivan
3	June 2	Dana-Rex Mays Classic at Milwaukee	Milwaukee Mile	Mario Andretti
4	June 16	Stroh's/G. I. Joe's 200 at Portland	Portland International Raceway	Mario Andretti
5	June 30	Meadowlands United States Grand Prix	Meadowlands Sports Complex	Al Unser, Jr.
6	July 7	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Cleveland, Ohio	Al Unser, Jr.
7	July 28	Michigan 500	Michigan International Speedway	Emerson Fittipaldi
8	August 4	Provimi Veal 200 at Road America	Road America	Jacques Villeneuve
9	August 18	Domino's Pizza 500 at Pocono	Pocono Raceway	Rick Mears
10	September 1	Escort 200 at Mid Ohio	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Bobby Rahal
11	September 8	Molson Indy 300 at Sanair Super Speedway	Sanair Super Speedway	Johnny Rutherford
12	September 22	Detroit News 200 at Michigan International Speedway	Michigan International Speedway	Bobby Rahal
13	October 6	Stroh's 300K at Laguna Seca	Laguna Seca Raceway	Bobby Rahal
14	October 13	Dana 150 at Phoenix	Phoenix International Raceway	Al Unser
15	November 20	Beatrice Indy Challenge	Miami, Florida	Danny Sullivan

Oval/Speedway

Road Course/Street Circuit

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

Full Series results

Drivers

Pos	Driver	LB	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIC1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIC2	LAG	PIR	MIA	Pts
1	Al Unser	5	4		4	3	3	2*	7	3	27	13*	12	2	1*	4	151
2	Al Unser Jr.	9	25	7	2*	1*	1	15	17*	2*	4	3	23	3	2	3	150
3	Bobby Rahal	27	27	9	20	25	28	6	4	4	1*	10	1*	1*	6	2*	133
4	Danny Sullivan	3	1	4	27	18	27	14	13	5	2	5	8	8	4	1	126
5	Mario Andretti	1*	2*	1*	1	26	14*	10		7	7	15	21	11	3	27	114
6	Emerson Fittipaldi	2	13	8	3	2	8	1	5	6	8	25	13	24	8	26	104
7	Tom Sneva	8	20	2	24	6	11	3	21	8	15	7	5	19	19	21	66
8	Jacques Villeneuve	7	DNQ	22	23	21	4		1		3	11		25	13	17	54
9	Michael Andretti	19	8	19	28	4	7	27	2	13	14	19	25	9	5	25	53
10	Rick Mears		21	3				30		1			2				51
11	Johnny Rutherford	10	6	23	9	14	15	4	DNS	14	22	1	9	21	26	19	51
12	Josele Garza	28	31	7	12	27	6	19	18	26	11	6	6	7	10	9	46
13	Ed Pimm	12	9	21	19	DNS		5	11	20	9	8	3	14	9	12	45
14	Kevin Cogan	23	11	16	5	7	9	7	25	17	21	9	4	17	22	24	44
15	Geoff Brabham	6	19	12	14	24	2	29	15	19	13	4	16	10	12	22	41
16	Pancho Carter	13	33	5	13		16	16		12		2	10		7		37
17	Roberto Guerrero	26	3	6	15	DNS	19	13	19	18	18	23	24	4	21	28	34
18	Arie Luyendyk	17	7	17	21	10	5	Wth	6		DNS	18	15	22	25	7	33
19	Bruno Giacomelli	18			10	5	10		22		6	16		6		14	32
20	Jim Crawford	4	16	DNS		9	13					20			15	16	16
21	Bill Whittington	16	14	DNS	26	16	24		24		5		17	DNQ		8	15
22	Scott Brayton	11	30	DNQ	6	15	25	8		16			22	26	18	DNQ	15
23	Alan Jones								3								14
24	Danny Ongais	DNQ	17					20		22			7		14	6	14
25	Howdy Holmes	14	10	11	17	13	22	9	10	21	16	21	18	DNS			12
26	Jan Lammers				16	12								5	20	13	11
27	Michael Roe	21	DNQ		7	8	26										11
28	Roberto Moreno					28			16		25			16		5	10
29	Johnny Parsons		5														10
30	Raul Boesel	20	18		11	11	12	28	8		23			20		23	10
31	Enrique Mansilla								9		10	12					8
32	Pete Halsmer		DNQ	15	8	19							11				7
33	Dennis Firestone	22	DNQ	20	18	DNQ	21	11	20	9	17	14	DNS	23			6
34	Steve Chassey		DNQ	DNS	DNQ	20	DNS	12	26	11	12		14	15	11	DNQ	6
35	Rupert Keegan										19			12		10	4
36	Dick Simon		26	13		17		25		10		17	19		DNQ		3
37	Chet Fillip		DNQ	10				18	17								3
38	Dominic Dobson					DNS								18		11	2
39	Herm Johnson		DNQ						12		24						1
40	Derek Daly		12														1
41	Randy Lanier	24	DNQ		22	22	20		14		20			13	17	15	0
42	Spike Gehlhausen			14				18									0
43	John Paul, Jr.		15				17										0
44	Phil Krueger		DNQ				DNQ	21		15							0
45	Rocky Moran	15			DNQ	DNQ											0
46	Gary Bettenhausen											22	DNS		16		0
47	Tom Bigelow		DNQ	18				26		23							0
48	Ian Ashley															18	0
49	A.J. Foyt		28			23				24		24			23	20	0
50	Don Whittington		24	DNQ				20							24		0
51	Chip Ganassi		22					22									0
52	Dale Coyne	DNQ		DNS	DNQ	DNQ	DNS	24	23	27	28		DNS	27	DNQ	DNQ	0
53	Sammy Swindell							23		25							0
54	Rich Vogler		23														0
55	Jeff Wood						23										0
56	Dick Ferguson	25	DNQ														0
57	Chico Serra				25												0
58	Ludwig Heimrath, Jr.										26						0
59	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.		29														0
60	George Snider		32														0
–	Darin Brassfield															DNQ	-
–	Frank Chianelli									DNQ							-
–	Tom Gloy									DNS							-
–	Gordon Johncock		Wth														-
–	Jerry Karl		DNQ														-
–	Mike Nish		DNQ												EX		-
–	Willy T. Ribbs		Wth														-
–	Ken Schrader		DNP														-
Pos	Driver	LB	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIC1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIC2	LAG	PIR	MIA	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place (Top 5)
Light Blue	6th–10th place (Top 10)
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrew (WD)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
	Driver replacement (Rpl)
	Injured (Inj)
	Race not held (NH)
	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

Highlights

Mario Andretti dominated the first half of the season before breaking his collarbone in a crash during the Michigan 500, the first accident of his career that would force him to miss a later race. Andretti missed the race at Road America and was replaced by another former World Champion (1980) Alan Jones of Australia. Jones, who a month later returned to F1 with the Carl Haas owned Haas Lola team, finished third in the only IndyCar start of his career.

In the Sanair race (Molson Indy Montreal), Roberto Guerrero had a strong lead until he lost control and spun. Late in the race Jacques Villeneuve collided with leader Bobby Rahal in attempt to challenge for the lead, taking both out. The race finished under a yellow flag, but the safety car entered pit lane on the final lap, and thinking there would be a final restart, Pancho Carter passed Johnny Rutherford after the safety car entered pit lane and before the finish line. CART initially declared Carter the winner, but an appeals panel later overturned the decision and confirmed Rutherford's victory. In many codes of motorsport (typically FIA Code) the safety car enters pit lane as the field is on the final lap, and the cars cross the checkered flag together without the safety car on course. However, this practice is not accepted in North America, where the safety car leads the leaders to the finish line if the safety car situation exists.

Al Unser, Sr. won the season championship. Unser drove primarily in a substitution role for Penske's regular driver Rick Mears, who was recovering from leg injuries suffered in 1984. Mears ran only a partial schedule including the Indy 500 and a few other oval events.

Going into the final race of the season at Miami, the father and son duo of Al Unser, Sr. and Al Unser, Jr. emerged 1-2 in the championship points standings. In the closing laps of the final race, Danny Sullivan was leading, with Unser, Jr. in third. Roberto Moreno was running 4th and Al Unser, Sr. was fifth. As it stood, Unser, Jr. was tentatively the points leader, but Al Sr. was charging. With a few laps left in the race, Unser, Sr. passed Moreno for 4th position, and at the checkered flag, clinched the championship by 1 point over his son Al Jr.

References

Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1985". Driver Database. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
"1985 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
"Official Box Score: 69th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
"Champ Car > Standings after Beatrice Indy Challange [sic]". Champ Car World Series. October 24, 2008. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
ChampCarStats.com (Archived 2009-07-26)]