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.

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
					Arie Luyendyk		Fontana Only
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-26-97	Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz IC108D	Goodyear	2	Al Unser, Jr.	Marlboro
				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
					Roberto Moreno		Long Beach through Detroit Only
Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	Goodyear	7	Bobby Rahal	Miller Lite
		Ford XB		8	Bryan Herta	Shell
Hogan Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	9	Dario Franchitti (R)	No Sponsor
					Robby Gordon		Fontana Only
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Goodyear	16	Patrick Carpentier (R)	Alumax
					Roberto Moreno		Vancouver and Laguna Seca Only
PacWest	Reynard 97i	Mercedes-Benz	Firestone	17	Maurício Gugelmin	Hollywood
				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
					Paul Jasper (R)	HYPE	Surfers Paradise through Milwaukee Only
	Lola T97/00 Reynard 97i				Christian Danner		Detroit, Portland and Vancouver Only
					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
		Ford XD		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
				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
				32	Adrian Fernández	Tecate/Quaker State
All American Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Toyota	Goodyear	36	Juan Manuel Fangio II	Castrol
				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
					Arnd Meier (R)
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	Laguna Seca Raceway	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

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) 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):

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. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "1997 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series (sic)". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. 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. Retrieved 2009-05-20. 
• "Standings after California". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

See also

• 1997 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• 1997 Indianapolis 500
• 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season
• 1997 Indy Lights season