The 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 8th national championship season of

American open wheel racing American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

sanctioned by

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

. The season consisted of 17 races, and one non-points exhibition event.

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal ( ; born January 10, 1953) is an American racing driver and motorsports executive. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. As co-owner of R ...

was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was

Chip Robinson Chip Robinson (born March 29, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired race car driver. He won the 1987 IMSA Camel GT series championship and the 1987 24 Hours of Daytona (with Al Holbert, Derek Bell, and Al Unser Jr. in a Porsche and ...

. The

1986 Indianapolis 500 The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being Rainout (sports), rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend. Bobby Rahal was the ...

was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship.

won the Indy 500, and would later become the first driver since 1980 to win Indy and the CART championship in the same season. The first two races of the season were won by

Kevin Cogan John Kevin Cogan (born March 31, 1956) is an American former race car driver who drove in Formula One from to . Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving for Tyrrell at the ...

( Phoenix) and

Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American former racing driver, and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART champions ...

(

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

), respectively, the first career wins for both drivers on the CART circuit. Rain delayed the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

, postponing it for six days.

, driving for

Truesports Truesports
Truesports taurtoisemotorsports.com was an automobile racing team founded by Jim ...

, passed Kevin Cogan with two laps to go, and won for car owner

Jim Trueman James R. Trueman (May 25, 1935 – June 11, 1986) was an American businessman and automobile racing team owner. His most successful business ventures were Red Roof Inn motels and the Truesports racing team. Bobby Rahal won the 1986 Indianapo ...

, who was stricken with cancer. Trueman died less than two weeks later. The season would shape up as a two-man battle between Rahal and Michael Andretti. Andretti won at

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, which put him in the points lead for the first time. On

Father's Day Father's Day is a day set aside for honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. "Father's Day" complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in som ...

, Andretti was leading on the final lap at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. His car ran out of fuel on the final turn of the final lap, and his father

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

beat him to the finish line by 0.07 seconds. It would go down in lore as one of the most shocking finishes in Indy car history, as well as the closest finish in Indy car history on a road course (until 1997). Rahal was back in victory lane in July, winning the inaugural Molson Indy Toronto, but Michael Andretti still held the points lead. Rahal won four out of five races during a stretch in August and September, and emerged with a 9-point lead in the standings with two races left.

won a key victory at the second-to-last race of the season at Phoenix, while Rahal finished 3rd. Going into the season finale at

Tamiami Park Tamiami Park is a public urban park in metropolitan Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University. Background The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was ...

, Rahal held a scant 3-point lead over Andretti. Neither driver was a factor at Miami, and just past the halfway point, Andretti dropped out with a broken halfshaft. Rahal effectively clinched the championship when Andretti dropped out.

Roberto Guerrero Roberto José Guerrero Isaza (born 16 November 1958) is a Colombian-American former race driver. He participated in 29 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 23 January 1982, becoming the first Colombian to start a Formula One Grand Prix. Wit ...

won the pole and dominated the race, leading the first 111 laps. But on the final lap, his car sputtered and he ran out of fuel. Al Unser Jr. slipped by to steal the victory, his lone win of 1986. Unser Jr. won from 19th starting position, the furthest back any driver had won a CART road/street course race at the time.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1986 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires. *- The number in parentheses for chassis & engine indicates the round number it was used at. *- The number in parentheses for car number is the number the car used at the

, if a different number was used.

Season summary

Schedule

Oval/Speedway
Road/Street course
NC Non-championship event
*The Indianapolis 500 was scheduled for May 25, but postponed due to rain.
**The Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays was scheduled for June 1, but postponed due to the delay of running the Indianapolis 500 on May 31.
***The Road America race was started on September 21, but stopped after a few laps due to rain, the rest was run on October 4.

Race results

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

Drivers points standings

References

* * * * {{Champ Car Seasons Champ Car seasons