1993 CART World Series Season

The 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 15th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART under the name "IndyCar". The season consisted of 16 races. Nigel Mansell was the national champion as well as the Rookie of the Year. The 1993 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500, his second career victory in that event.

The biggest story going into the season involved Newman/Haas Racing. Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion switched from Formula One to the CART IndyCar Series. Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing as teammate to Mario Andretti, taking the seat formerly held by Michael Andretti, who departed for one year to McLaren. Mansell came to the American open wheel series with considerable fanfare and huge media attention. He won the season-opener at Surfers Paradise, the first CART "rookie" to win his first start. At Phoenix, Mansell crashed during practice and was forced to sit out the race due to a back injury. At Indianapolis, he was leading the race with 16 laps to go when he was passed on a restart by Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk, and wound up third. He still won the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award.

Despite having missed the race at Phoenix, Mansell won five races (four of which were on ovals) en route to the CART championship, becoming the first driver to win the CART Series in his rookie season. He also became the first driver in history to be the Formula One champion and the CART IndyCar champion at the same time. His team Newman/Haas Racing would still manage to win the one oval race Mansell missed with Mario Andretti scoring his 52nd and final victory of his IndyCar career at Phoenix, Andretti would finish 6th in the final championship standings.

After winning his third CART championship in 1992, Bobby Rahal entered the 1993 season driving the R/H chassis (formerly the Truesports chassis). He finished second at Long Beach, but struggled to get his car up to speed, and failed to qualify at Indianapolis. He would run the remainder of the season with a 1993 Lola chassis, but with no victories. He did however finish 4th in points.

The 1993 schedule originally included plans for the Meadowlands Grand Prix to move to a street circuit in Manhattan on the roads surrounding the World Trade Center and West Street. The race was planned to be held on July 13, 1993. However, the race was cancelled in September 1992 due to cost and conflicts between sponsor Marlboro and Mayor David Dinkins' anti-tobacco advertising policies.

Drivers and constructors

* All teams competed with Goodyear tires.

Driver changes

Preseason

* On August 14, 1992, Scott Pruett confirmed he was out of a seat for 1993, after the demise of Truesports and the decision by Rahal-Hogan Racing, soon-to-be new owners of the team's facilities, to remain as a one-car operation.
* On October 17, 1992, Arciero Racing announced that rookie Mark Smith had signed a 12-race deal to drive the No. 25 car. The program was focused on the road courses and the Indianapolis 500, though he eventually entered the Nazareth race for his first Indy Car oval start after failing to qualify for the Indy 500. Smith had finished 7th in his third Indy Lights season, after being runner-up in 1991.
* On November 23, 1992, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that Robby Gordon had been signed on a full-time basis to drive the No. 14 car, which was raced by multiple drivers over the previous year. Gordon switched from Chip Ganassi Racing after his part-time rookie year. At the time, team owner A. J. Foyt did not commit to race at the Indianapolis 500.
* On November 24, 1992, King Racing announced it would expand his program to contest a full season with a one-car team, fielding Roberto Guerrero in the No. 40 car after his truncated pole-winning effort at the Indianapolis 500. The team also confirmed a three-car team for the Indy 500, with no other drivers assigned.
* On February 8, 1993, Rahal-Hogan Racing announced it would field a second car in five races for its new test driver Mike Groff. His program was due to begin in June at Milwaukee, where Rahal-Hogan intended to introduce its new 1993 car.

Team changes

Preseason

* On August 14, 1992, Truesports announced it would cease operations at the end of their eleventh season in the series, due to the declining interest of team owner Barbara Trueman. Truesports also announced a deal to sell its facilities at Columbus, Ohio facilities to Rahal-Hogan Racing, which would move from Indianapolis. On October 7, 1992, Rahal-Hogan Racing announced it would continue the development of the Truesports 92C chassis, which was renamed as the Rahal-Hogan RH-001 in February 1993.
* On September 29, 1992, the Buick Motor Division announced it would discontinue its Indy Car program after nine seasons, stopping further development on its stock-block engines, which had been largely confined to the Indianapolis 500 due to the more restrictive CART rules regarding turbocharger boost. Chevrolet responded to this development in early October 1992 by making their V8/A engines available for Indy-only teams or partial programs.

* On October 17, 1992, Frank Arciero announced that Arciero Racing would return as an independent team, reverting the gradual ownership transfer over the 1992 season to McCormack Motorsports, which would continue on its own. Arciero signed a deal with Penske Racing to use its 1992 package, consisting of a Penske PC-21 chassis and Chevrolet V8/B engines, as part of a technical alliance that included joint testing.
* On November 23, 1992, A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that the team would switch engine suppliers, from Chevrolet to the Ford XB engine, which went along with the signing of Ford factory driver Robby Gordon. He would compete in the first two races of the season with a Lola T92/00 bought from Chip Ganassi Racing, the same package Gordon had driven before. Two days later, on November 25, 1992, Walker Motorsports announced the same switch of engines with returning driver Scott Goodyear.
* On November 24, 1992, King Racing announced it would compete with the new Chevrolet V8/C engines for its first full-time season, ditching the discontinued Buick powerplant.

Schedule

Oval/Speedway

Road/Street course
*Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the PPG Indy Car title.

Results

Points standings

Drivers standings

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

See also

* 1993 Indianapolis 500
* 1993 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
* 1993 Indy Lights season

Footnotes

References

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{{Champ Car Seasons

Champ Car seasons
IndyCar
IndyCar