Sports season
The 1997 CART PPG World Series season was the nineteenth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing . It 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 . Mercedes-Benz won their first and only CART engine-manufacturer's title.
After a settlement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , CART relinquished its license of the "IndyCar" trademark for 1997 and beyond. As a result, the series was renamed for the first time since 1980. The CART term, which had been mostly eschewed since 1992, was brought back and embraced, a new logo was unveiled, and participants were encouraged to refer to the machines of the CART series as "Champ Cars ". The revival of the historic term (and curtailing the use of the mostly generic term "Indy cars") helped to differentiate the machines from those of the rival Indy Racing League , and was part of a concerted and necessary effort to distance the series from the Indianapolis 500 , to which it no longer had any link.[ 1] 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. This was the first season since 1983 not to feature Emerson Fittipaldi .
Drivers and constructors [ edit ] The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 CART World Series season.
Team Chassis Engine Tires No Drivers Rounds Primary Sponsors Target Chip Ganassi Reynard 97i Honda HRR F 1 Jimmy Vasser All Target 4 Alex Zanardi 1–16 Arie Luyendyk 17 Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-26 -97 Ilmor -Mercedes IC108D G 2 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro 3 Paul Tracy All Walker Racing Reynard 97i Honda HRR G 5 Gil de Ferran All Valvoline Newman-Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford XD G 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco -Havoline 11 Christian Fittipaldi 1–2, 9–17 Budweiser Roberto Moreno 3–8 Team Rahal Reynard 97i Ford XD G 7 Bobby Rahal All Miller Lite 8 Bryan Herta All Shell Hogan Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D F 9 Dario Franchitti (R) 1–16 Hogan Racing Robby Gordon 17 Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D G 16 Patrick Carpentier (R) 1–14, 17 Alumax Roberto Moreno 15–16 PacWest Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D F 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes 18 Mark Blundell All Motorola Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 97i Ford XD G 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. 11, 14, 16 Herdez Lola T97/00 1–10, 12–13, 15, 17 34 Roberto Moreno 1 Data Control Paul Jasper (R) 2–7 Hype Christian Danner 8–9 Payton/Coyne Racing Charlie Nearburg (R) 10, 13 Nearburg Exploration Dennis Vitolo 11–12 Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 97i Charlie Nearburg (R) 14, 16 Nearburg Exploration Christian Danner 15 Payton/Coyne Racing Dennis Vitolo 17 SmithKline Beecham Patrick Racing Reynard 97i Ford XD F 20 Scott Pruett All Brahma 40 Raul Boesel All Della Penna Motorsports Lola T97/00 Ford XD G 21 Richie Hearn All Ralphs Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 97i Toyota RV8B F 24 Hiro Matsushita All Panasonic 25 Max Papis All MCI Team KOOL Green Reynard 97i Honda HRR F 27 Parker Johnstone All KOOL Tasman Motorsports Reynard 97i Honda HRR F 31 André Ribeiro 10–17 LCI Lola T97/00 1–9 32 Adrian Fernández All Tecate All American Racing Reynard 96i Reynard 97i Toyota RV8B G 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II All Castrol 98 P. J. Jones All Project Indy Lola T97/00 Ford XD G 64 Dennis Vitolo 1, 3–4, 15–16 SmithKline Beecham Arnd Meier (R) 2, 5–6, 8–14, 17 Hasseröder Davis Racing Reynard 97i Ford XD G 77 Gualter Salles (R) All Davis Racing Indusval Forsythe Racing Reynard 96i Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D F 99 Greg Moore All Player's
Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location TV Broadcaster 1 March 2 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota O Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Florida ABC 2 April 6 Sunbelt IndyCarnival R Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise , Australia ABC 3 April 13 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach R Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California ABC 4 April 27 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota O Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania ABC 5 May 11 Hollywood Rio 400K O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro , Brazil ABC 6 May 24 Motorola 300 O Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois ABC 7 June 1 Miller 200 O Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin ESPN 8 June 8 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix R The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit , Michigan ABC 9 June 22 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline R Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon ESPN 10 July 13 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland R Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio ABC 11 July 20 Molson Indy Toronto R Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario ABC 12 July 27 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota O Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan ABC 13 August 10 Miller 200 R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio ABC 14 August 17 The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200 R Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ESPN 15 August 31 Molson Indy Vancouver R Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia ESPN 16 September 7 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Texaco/Havoline 300 R Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California ESPN 17 September 28 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota O California Speedway Fontana, California ESPN
– The Australian Indy Grand Prix was supposed to run 182 miles, but was shortened due to time constraints. – Portland was supposed to be 193 miles, but was shortened due to rain. O Oval/Speedway R Road/Street course
(R) Dedicated road course, (O) Oval/Speedway, (S) Temporary street circuit
Final driver standings [ edit ] Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th–6th place Light Blue 7th–12th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 12) 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
Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
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