1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series
1983 CART season | |
---|---|
PPG Indy Car World Series | |
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Season | |
Races | 13 |
Start date | April 17 |
End date | October 29 |
Awards | |
Drivers' champion | ![]() |
Constructors' Cup | ![]() |
Manufacturers' Cup | ![]() |
Nations' Cup | ![]() |
Rookie of the Year | ![]() |
Indianapolis 500 winner | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
All |
All American Racers | 98 | ![]() |
11-12 |
Alsup Racing | 11 | ![]() |
1, 3-5, 7, 9-10, 12-13 |
Arciero Racing | 66 | ![]() |
1, 3-13 |
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2 | ||
Armstrong Mould Racing Team | 43 | ![]() |
2 |
BC Pace Racing | 36 | ![]() |
7 |
Bettenhausen Racing | 10 | ![]() |
All |
82 | ![]() |
13 | |
90 | ![]() |
6, 9, 11-13 | |
Bignotti-Cotter Racing | 5 | ![]() |
All |
6 | ![]() |
1, 3-13 | |
16 | 2 | ||
Bob Ward Racing | 47 | ![]() |
8 |
Brayton Racing | 35 | ![]() |
2, 5, 7 |
37 | ![]() |
2, 4-5, 7, 10-11 | |
Circle Bar Auto Racing | 38 | ![]() |
1-2, 10 |
Circle Bar Auto Racing w/ Caliva Racing | ![]() |
8 | |
Dick Simon Racing | 32 | ![]() |
6 |
22 | 1-3, 5, 8-11, 13 | ||
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12 | ||
Doug Shierson Racing | 30 | ![]() |
All |
Douglas Schulz | 48 | ![]() |
6, 8 |
Forsythe Racing | 33 | ![]() |
All |
Galles Racing | 17 | ![]() |
1, 3-13 |
19 | 2 | ||
Gilmore Racing | 1 | ![]() |
2 |
14 | ![]() |
2 | |
Gohr Racing | 56 | ![]() |
1-8, 11-13 |
GTS Racing | 86 | ![]() |
6 |
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7 | ||
H&R Racing | 28 | ![]() |
3, 7, 9 |
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9 | ||
HBK Racing | 70 | ![]() |
3 |
78 | 5 | ||
Herm Johnson Racing | 42 | ![]() |
4-5 |
Hoffman Racing | 86 | ![]() |
5 |
X | ![]() |
2 | |
Interscope Racing | 25 | ![]() |
2 |
Jet Engineering | 64 | ![]() |
6, 8-9 |
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12 | ||
Joel McCray Racing | 46 | ![]() |
1, 3-4, 9 |
Kraco Enterprises | 18 | ![]() |
1-8, 10, 13 |
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11-12 | ||
99 | 8, 10 | ||
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11-13 | ||
Leader Card Racers | 8 | ![]() |
5 |
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7 | ||
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12 | ||
24 | ![]() |
9-10 | |
Machinists Union Racing | 9 | ![]() |
1-4, 6-13 |
55 | ![]() |
2, 4-12 | |
McElreath Racing | 23 | ![]() |
1, 5, 7 |
Newman/Haas Racing | 3 | ![]() |
All |
Patrick Racing | 40 | ![]() |
1, 7, 10-11, 13 |
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4-6 | ||
60 | 3 | ||
20 | 7-9 | ||
60 | ![]() |
2, 4-5, 7, 9-13 | |
20 | 6 | ||
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1-5 | ||
72 | ![]() |
2, 4-13 | |
Racing Team VDS | 12 | ![]() |
1, 4-13 |
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2 | ||
w/ Agajanian Curb | 29 | ![]() |
2 |
19 | 5 | ||
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7 | ||
Rhoades Racing | 41 | ![]() |
1 |
46 | ![]() |
7-8 | |
61 | 3, 5 | ||
Simpson Sports | 90 | ![]() |
2 |
Team Penske | 1 | ![]() |
1, 3-13 |
2 | 2 | ||
7 | ![]() |
All | |
Tempero Racing | 15 | ![]() |
4, 9 |
Truesports | 2 | ![]() |
1, 3-12 |
4 | 2 | ||
Whittington Racing | 91 | ![]() |
2, 5, 7 |
94 | ![]() |
2, 4, 7 | |
Wysard Racing | 34 | ![]() |
1-2 |
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3, 6-9, 11-13 | ||
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5 |
Schedule[]
Of the notable changes to the schedule, there was the additions of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix which was formally 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 | ![]() |
O Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | N/A |
1 | April 17 | ![]() |
O Atlanta Motor Speedway | Hampton, Georgia | NBC |
2 | May 29 | ![]() |
O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Indianapolis, Indiana | ABC |
3 | June 12 | ![]() |
O Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | ESPN |
4 | July 3 | ![]() |
S Burke Lakefront Airport | Cleveland, Ohio | ESPN |
5 | July 17 | ![]() |
O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | NBC |
6 | July 31 | ![]() |
R Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | ESPN |
7 | August 14 | ![]() |
O Pocono International Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | NBC |
8 | August 29* | ![]() |
R Riverside International Raceway | Riverside, California | ESPN |
9 | September 11 | ![]() |
R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | ESPN |
10 | September 26 | ![]() |
O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | ESPN |
11 | October 8 | ![]() |
S Caesars Palace | Las Vegas, Nevada | NBC |
12 | October 23 | ![]() |
R Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California | ESPN |
13 | October 29 | ![]() |
O Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | NBC |
O Oval/Speedway
R Dedicated road course
S Temporary 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 | ![]() |
26.730 | ![]() |
Patrick Racing | 1:22:29 | Report |
2 | Indianapolis 500 | ![]() |
2:53.582 | ![]() |
3:05:03 | Report | |
3 | Dana-Rex Mays Classic | ![]() |
26.259 | ![]() |
1:17:42 | Report | |
4 | Budweiser Cleveland 500 | ![]() |
1:13.516 | ![]() |
Penske Racing | 2:51:54 | Report |
5 | Norton Michigan 500 | ![]() |
35.621 | ![]() |
3:42:27 | Report | |
6 | Provimi Veal 200 | ![]() |
1:58.898 | ![]() |
Newman/Haas Racing | 2:00:42 | Report |
7 | Domino's Pizza 500 | ![]() |
46.912 | ![]() |
Forsythe Racing | 3:42:28 | Report |
8 | Budweiser 500K | ![]() |
1:30.887 | ![]() |
Truesports | 2:45:28 | Report |
9 | Escort Radar Warning 200 | ![]() |
1:21.364 | ![]() |
Forsythe Racing | 2:01:49 | Report |
10 | Detroit News Grand Prix | ![]() |
35.075 | ![]() |
Penske Racing | 1:05:49 | Report |
11 | Caesars Palace Grand Prix | ![]() |
34.888 | ![]() |
Newman/Haas Racing | 2:17:48 | Report |
12 | Cribari Wines 300k | ![]() |
56.920 | ![]() |
Forsythe Racing | 1:44:28 | Report |
13 | Miller High Life 150 | ![]() |
24.947 | ![]() |
Forsythe Racing | 1:11:03 | Report |
- Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.
Final points standings[]
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See also[]
- 1982–83 USAC Championship Car season
- 1983 Formula Atlantic season
- 1983 Indianapolis 500
- 1983–84 USAC Championship Car season
- http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1983.htm
- http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 193-194)
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. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- "Standings after Phoenix". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- Champ Car seasons
- 1983 in American motorsport
- 1983 in CART