Sports season
The1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the fourth in theCART era of U.S.open-wheel racing , consisted of 11 races, beginning inAvondale ,Arizona on March 28 and concluding at the same location on November 6. ThePPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion wasRick Mears .Rookie of the Year wasBobby Rahal .
Though it was not officially part of the CART calendar, most of the teams and drivers also competed at theUSAC -sanctioned66th Indianapolis 500 .Gordon Johncock was victorious at Indy.
Jim Hickman was fatally injured in a practice crash for theTony Bettenhausen 200 at Milwaukee, he was 39 years old.
Drivers and constructors [ edit ] The followingteams anddrivers competed for the 1982CART World Series .
Team/Car Owner No Drivers Rounds Alex Morales Motorsports 3 Pancho Carter All Alsup Racing 2 Bill Alsup All 27 Spike Gehlhausen 7 Arciero Racing 66 Pete Halsmer 8-9, 11 Armstrong Mould Racing Team 43 Greg Leffler 2 Bettenhausen Racing 8 Gary Bettenhausen 6, 11 Bettenhausen Racing w/ H&R Racing6 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 1-3, 5-11 Bignotti -Cotter Racing7 Tom Sneva All 21 Geoff Brabham All Brayton Racing 36 Patrick Bedard 1-2, 5 Scott Brayton 3, 7, 10 37 1, 5 BVC Racing 75 Dennis Firestone 1 Caliva Racing 38 Phil Caliva 8, 11 Chaparral Racing 5 Johnny Rutherford 1-9, 11 Circle Bar Auto Racing 39 Chet Fillip 11 Doug Shierson Racing 30 Howdy Holmes All Fletcher Racing 35 Gordon Smiley 2 George Snider 5, 7 Forsythe Racing 32 Héctor Rebaque 2-5, 8-9 33 Danny Sullivan 2-3 Al Unser Jr. 8 Frantz Racing w/Burger King 77 Tom Frantz 1, 5, 8 Garza Racing 55 Josele Garza All Gilmore Racing 14 A. J. Foyt 3-5, 7, 10 Gohr Racing 56 Joe Saldana 3-4 Gary Bettenhausen 5, 7-10 Grant King Racers 65 Todd Tuttle 4 GTS Racing 86 Al Loquasto 1, 7 Hamilton Racing 17 Ken Hamilton 5 HBK Racing 72 Tom Bigelow 3-7, 10 Bill Whittington 9 Hodgson-Curb 29 Bobby Olivero 1 Hoffman Racing 69 Jerry Sneva 10 Hoffman Racing w/ Rattlesnake Racing 42 Jim Hickman 2-6 Jamieson Racing 49 Chip Mead 1, 3 Spike Gehlhausen 3, 5 Jet Engineering 64 Steve Chassey 1 Bob Frey 3 Greg Leffler 6, 8-11 Joe Hunt Magneto 89 Phil Krueger 1-2 Dick Ferguson 8 Jerry Sneva 11 Joel McCray Racing 46 Leroy van Conett 1 Jerry Karl 4-8 Kraco Enterprises 18 Dick Ferguson 1-2 Bill Vukovich II 3 Mike Mosley 5-7, 10-11 99 Vern Schuppan 4, 8-9 Leader Card Racers 22 Dick Simon 1-8, 10-11 24 Bill Vukovich II 7 Longhorn Racing 10 Al Unser 1-10 Luxury Racers 65 Bob Brutto 1 Phil Krueger 5, 7, 9-11 Machinists Union Racing 31 Roger Mears All McElreath Racing 23 Jim McElreath 1, 7-8 Menard Racing 28 Herm Johnson 1-6, 8-9 Metametrix 47 Chris Kneifel 8-9 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 11 Newman Freeman Racing 68 Mike Chandler 8, 11 Patrick Racing 20 Gordon Johncock All 40 Mario Andretti All Rattlesnake Racing 11 Dick Ferguson 10-11 Ray W Lipper Racing 73 Ray Lipper 1 Rhoades Racing 12 Chip Ganassi 1-2, 4-5, 7, 10 Team Penske 1 Rick Mears All 4 Kevin Cogan All Tempero Racing 15 Bill Tempero 1, 4, 6, 8-9, 11 Truesports 19 Bobby Rahal 1, 3-11 Whittington Racing 91 Don Whittington 5 Wysard Racing 34 Hurley Haywood 1-2 Johnny Parsons 3-5, 7-8, 10 John Paul Jr. 9 Derek Daly 11
New to the schedule was the temporary circuit atBurke Lakefront Airport , and the permanent road course namedRoad America . Returning to the schedule after a one year absence (1981 was a USAC race) wasPocono Raceway , the 2.5 mile superspeedway would host a 500-mile race in 1982.
The schedule was originally set to feature a doubleheader with Formula One at Las Vegas on October 17.[ 1] After the F1 Grand Prix on Saturday, the track would be converted to an oval for an Indy car race on Sunday. This was cancelled after FISA rescheduled the Grand Prix for September and instituted a rule that banned two open-wheel series with engines over two liters from competing at the same venue on the same weekend.[ 2]
A race in Mexico City for October 31 was cancelled.[ 3]
Icon Legend O Oval/Speedway R Road course S Street circuit NC Non-championship race
Rd Date Name Circuit Location 1 March 28 Kraco Car Stereo 150 O Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona 2 May 1* Stroh's 200 O Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia NC May 30 Indianapolis 500 O Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana 3 June 13 Gould Rex Mays Classic O Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 4 July 4 Budweiser Cleveland 500 S Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 5 July 18 Norton Michigan 500 O Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 6 August 1 Tony Bettenhausen 200 O Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 7 August 15 Domino's Pizza Pocono 500 O Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania 8 August 29 AirCal 500K R Riverside International Raceway Riverside, California 9 September 19 Road America 200 R Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 10 September 26 Detroit News Grand Prix O Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 11 November 6 Miller High Life 150 O Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona
* The Stroh's 200 was scheduled for April 25, but postponed a week due to rain. NBC planned to cover on April 25, but did not return for the May 1 running.
Mario Andretti was credited with winning the pole position for theMichigan 500 , although he started 33rd due to a pre-race practice accident.Rick Mears started on the pole and both he and Andretti were credited with pole positions.
Final points standings [ edit ] 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 RY Rookie of the Year R Rookie