This will return next week to finish out the season. I started a new job this week and have been training all week.
Best of Both Worlds: An IndyCar Timeline
- Thread starter Chocolate Raines
- Start date
Very understandable take all the time you need and good luck with the new job.
1995 Round 16
ROUND SIXTEEN: NAZARETH
The battle for the championship raged on for another week. Senna and Villeneuve came into Nazareth looking to do well at the tricky oval. Practice and qualifying went in Jacques' favor; he was the quickest in practice and qualified 3rd. Senna struggled in both sessions and ended up 19th. He hoped he wouldn't stay down there and get up towards the front to challenge Villeneuve quickly.
This was it, Mario Andretti's final INDYCART start. Since announcing this this two years ago, he had been counting down the days to when it would happen. He wanted to retire in front of his hometown fans and they showed up for him. When he was introduced in driver introductions, it was an experience you wish you'd have been there in person to experience. It was all about him that day. He received the key to Nazareth from the mayor, who also proclaimed September 17th to be Mario Andretti day. Even the race was renamed to the Arrivederci Mario Grand Prix. During all the festivities, Mario held a press conference to announce his post-retirement plans. There were rumors that he was going to start a team, and that turned out to be true. He announced he would be the one to buy out King Racing's INDYCART team and turn it into Team Andretti. Most things would stay the same, Roberto Guererro would stay, the car would still be a Ford-Cosworth powered Lola, and it would still be #26. The sponsor is what would be changing. Gone were Budweiser and Quaker State and in was Kool Cigarettes. Bud was leaving the sport and Quaker State was moving to Team Menard. Andretti is really excited to be a team owner and hopes his team can last and build a legacy.
Guererro showing of his new 1996 ride.
Robby Gordon and Michael Andretti were the front row. Gordon led, but Andretti stayed in pursuit. Michael finally passed him on lap 20. Not long later, his teammate Jimmy Vasser made contact with Al Unser Jr on the backstretch. Both were out. Andretti continued to lead. The next caution came out on lap 40 for Buddy lazier tagging the turn four wall. By this point, Senna worked his way up to sixth. Villeneuve was second. Ayrton was itching to go back green and catch Jacques. He wouldn't be able to as Villeneuve was too far ahead, and then passed Michael for the lead.
By the time he pitted around lap 93, just short of halfway, the running order had changed drastically. Guererro assumed the lead followed by Stefan Johansson and Scott Goodyear. Jacques was down to 7th, Andretti 10th, and Senna had fallen outside the top ten. Johansson was closing on Guererro, when Jeff Andretti stalled out causing another caution. Paul Tracy won the race off pit road and led afterwards.
Scott Sharp started 21st. Most people would've expected him to finish somewhere around there. By lap 130, he was fourth. He whipped around Guererro and set his sights on Villeneuve and Tracy. Fortunately for him, they would pit. Sharp was now leading a race for the first time in his INDYCART career. There was less than 40 laps to go around the mile long oval. AJ Foyt told Sharp to not pit under any circumstance, they were gonna gamble on fuel mileage. Two more cautions would happen; Michael Andretti had a botched pit stop where a tire came off and he hit the wall. Cousin John then hit the wall in the same spot Lazier did. Sharp stayed out through both of these.
The restart would come with nine laps to go. Sharp had some buffer over Tracy and Villeneuve, he just had to hope he didn't run out of fuel. The laps wound down, his fuel alarm started going off. Sharp stayed so focused that he didn't even see the checkered flag wave! It wasn't til Foyt came over the radio congratulating him that he knew what happened. "Those laps went by so fast!" he exclaimed in victory lane. "I was so worried we weren't going to make it, thank God the car didn't run out". The win was the first for the Foyt team since AJ himself won in 1981. This was a much needed win for the team as they had been struggling all season and gives them great momentum for 96'.
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CHASS./ENG. | LAPS | STATUS | LED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | 14 | Scott Sharp | Copenhagen (A.J. Foyt) | Lola / Ford | 200 | running | 38 | 20 |
2 | 4 | 3 | Pennzoil (Roger Penske) | Penske / Honda | 200 | running | 38 | 17 | |
3 | 3 | 27 |
| Player's Ltd. (TheMann Racing) | Reynard / Porsche | 200 | running | 45 | 14 |
4 | 13 | 16 |
| Alumax (Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.) | Penske / Honda | 200 | running | 0 | 13 |
5 | 1 | 11 |
| Valvoline / Cummins (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 200 | running | 19 | 10 |
6 | 7 | 4 |
| Miller Genuine Draft (Rahal Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 199 | running | 0 | 8 |
7 | 16 | 26 | Roberto Guererro | Budweiser King / Quaker State (Kenny Bernstein) | Lola / Ford | 199 | running | 13 | 6 |
8 | 10 | 20 |
| Motorola / Firestone (Pat Patrick) | Lola / Aurora | 199 | running | 0 | 5 |
9 | 9 | 7 |
| Tecate Beer / STP (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 199 | running | 0 | 4 |
10 | 8 | 12 | Bryan Herta | Shell (Rahal Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 199 | running | 0 | 3 |
11 | 6 | 28 | Olivier Grouillard | LCI (Sal Incadela) | Lola / Aurora | 199 | running | 0 | 2 |
12 | 14 | 23 | Raul Boesel | Duracell / Mobil 1 (Dick Simon) | Lola / Aurora | 198 | running | 0 | 1 |
13 | 19 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | Marlboro (Roger Penske) | Penske / Honda | 198 | running | 0 | |
14 | 25 | 22 | Gil de Ferran | Mobil 1 (Dick Simon) | Lola / Aurora | 196 | running | 0 | |
15 | 23 | 34 | Willy T Ribbs | Mi-Jack (Dale Coyne) | Reynard/ Porsche | 196 | running | 0 | |
16 | 24 | 33 |
| Texaco-Havoline / Kmart (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 194 | running | 0 | |
17 | 12 | 17 | Jeff Andretti | Bank of America / PacWest (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 186 | running | 0 | |
18 | 22 | 71 |
| VISA / PacWest (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 185 | running | 0 | |
19 | 18 | 8 | John Andretti | Labatts (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 183 | crash | 0 | |
20 | 17 | 15 | Scott Goodyear | Canadian Tire (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 179 | electrical | 10 | |
21 | 26 | 18 |
| Conseco (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 179 | running | 0 | |
22 | 5 | 5 |
| Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 172 | crash | 37 | |
23 | 11 | 10 | Arie Luyendyk | Target / Scotch Video (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 155 | engine | 0 | |
24 | 2 | 9 |
| Target / 3M (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 57 | overheating | 0 | |
25 | 20 | 19 |
| AGFA (Dale Coyne) | Reynard / Porsche | 38 | crash | 0 | |
26 | 15 | 6 | Jimmy Vasser | Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 30 | crash | 0 | |
27 | 27 | 25 |
| Panasonic / Duskin (Arciero Wells Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 0 | did not start | 0 |
| Rank | Driver | Points | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Villeneuve | 158 | |
| 2 | Ayrton Senna | 152 | -7 |
| 3 | Bobby Rahal | 120 | -38 |
| 4 | Robby Gordon | 117 | -41 |
| 5 | Michael Andretti | 110 | -48 |
| 6 | Scott Pruett | 102 | -56 |
| 7 | Jimmy Vasser | 99 | -59 |
| 8 | Al Unser Jr | 87 | -71 |
| 9 | Roberto Guererro | 78 | -80 |
| 10 | Adrian Fernandez | 63 | -95 |
| 10 | Paul Tracy | 63 | -95 |
| 12 | Stefan Johansson | 59 | -99 |
| 13 | Scott Goodyear | 55 | -103 |
| 14 | Danny Sullivan | 51 | -107 |
| 15 | Bryan Herta | 47 | -111 |
| 16 | Jeff Andretti | 43 | -115 |
Last edited:
Foyt winning...its so weird...like the browns winning the super bowl.
Wonder where tony stewart's gonna make his full time debut next year...is menard gonna go full time along with him?
Wonder where tony stewart's gonna make his full time debut next year...is menard gonna go full time along with him?
Yeah this is taking another week off. I'm busy yet again. Once Laguna Seca is out, the finale shouldn't be too long after. It's a fantasy race so I can write it however I want.
1995 Round 17
ROUND SEVENTEEN: LAGUNA SECA
The penultimate race of an epic season took place at Laguna Seca. It was still a two man battle for the championship, but that could change today. Hopefully it doesn't and there can be a great battle at Atlanta. Villeneuve had another great qualifying run grabbing pole. Senna once again struggled and ended up 14th.
Toyota had their grand unveiling of their 1996 teams. Arciero Wells Racing will be their flagship team with Hiro Matsushita returning for another season. A brand new team will accompany them: Bradley Motorsports. Bradley is a chain of food stores owned by Denver businessman Brad Calkins. He and his son Brad Jr, known as "Buzz", have run the last three seasons in Indy Lights. Brad Sr. wanted to move the team up in case Buzz couldn't get a ride. Toyota will probably start out rough as it's their first year, but as time goes on they hopefully will improve and so will their teams. Like Porsche, Reynard will be Toyota's official chassis.
Buzz Calkins eager to start his rookie season.
This could've been the first race that the whole field finished the race. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Olivier Grouillard and Arie Luyendyk collided sending Grouillard airbourne and off into a barrier. He had no injuries. Scott Goodyear then spun off course and dropped out.
John Andretti would go on to win his first race since Surfers paradise back in 1991; his second career win. Senna stayed in sixth while Villeneuve came home 11th. This couldn't have been a better finish for them. This TIED them for the points lead at 160. Now Atlanta's truly going to be a battle. Whoever finishes ahead of the other will be champion. Here's the results and points:
| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CHASS./ENG. | LAPS | STATUS | LED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 8 | John Andretti | Labatt's (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 84 | running | 54 | 21 |
2 | 8 | 6 | Jimmy Vasser | Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 84 | running | 0 | 16 |
3 | 6 | 17 | Jeff Andretti | Bank of America / PacWest (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 84 | running | 2 | 14 |
4 | 12 | 5 |
| Kmart / Texaco-Havoline (Newman Haas Racing) | Lola / Ford | 84 | running | 0 | 12 |
5 | 5 | 20 |
| Motorola / Firestone (Pat Patrick) | Lola / Aurora | 84 | running | 0 | 10 |
6 | 14 | 1 | Ayrton Senna | Marlboro (Roger Penske) | Penske / Honda | 84 | running | 0 | 8 |
7 | 11 | 4 |
| Miller Genuine Draft (Rahal Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 84 | running | 0 | 6 |
8 | 7 | 9 |
| Target / 3M (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 84 | running | 0 | 5 |
9 | 4 | 26 | Roberto Guererro | Quaker State / Budweiser King (Gerry Forsythe) | Lola / Ford | 84 | running | 0 | 4 |
10 | 15 | 7 |
| Tecate Beer / STP (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 84 | running | 0 | 3 |
11 | 1 | 27 |
| Player's Ltd. (TheMann Racing) | Reynard / Porsche | 83 | running | 28 | 2 |
12 | 13 | 12 | Bryan Herta | Shell (Rahal Letterman Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 83 | running | 0 | 1 |
13 | 19 | 71 | Wally Dallenbach jr | VISA / PacWest (Bruce McCaw) | Lola / Ford | 83 | running | 0 | |
14 | 18 | 16 |
| Alumax (Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.) | Penske / Honda | 83 | running | 0 | |
15 | 16 | 11 |
| Valvoline / Cummins (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 83 | running | 0 | |
16 | 20 | 3 | Paul Tracy | Pennzoil (Roger Penske) | Penske / Honda | 83 | running | 0 | |
17 | 10 | 49 |
| Acura (Comptech Racing) | Penske / Honda | 83 | running | 0 | |
18 | 22 | 22 | Gil de Ferran | Mobil 1 (Dick Simon) | Lola / Aurora | 83 | running | 0 | |
19 | 21 | 14 | Scott Sharp | Copenhagen (A.J. Foyt) | Lola / Ford | 82 | running | 0 | |
20 | 24 | 34 | Willy T Ribbs | Mi-Jack (Dale Coyne) | Reynard / Porsche | 82 | running | 0 | |
21 | 25 | 23 | Raul Boesel | Duracell Charger (Dick Simon) | Lola/ Aurora | 81 | running | 0 | |
22 | 26 | 25 |
| Panasonic / Duskin (Arciero Wells Racing) | Lola / Aurora | 81 | running | 0 | |
23 | 23 | 18 |
| Conseco (Rick Galles) | Reynard / Aurora | 80 | running | 0 | |
24 | 17 | 15 | Scott Goodyear | Canadian Tire (Derrick Walker) | Reynard / Porsche | 70 | mechanical | 0 | |
25 | 2 | 10 | Arie Luyendyk | Target / Scotch Video (Chip Ganassi) | Reynard / Ford | 66 | crash | 0 | |
26 | 9 | 28 | Olivier Grouillard | LCI (Sal Incadela) | Lola / Aurora | 63 | crash | 0 | |
DNQ: Franck Freon
| Rank | Driver | Points | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Villeneuve | 160 | |
| 1 | Ayrton Senna | 160 | |
| 3 | Bobby Rahal | 126 | -34 |
| 4 | Michael Andretti | 122 | -38 |
| 5 | Robby Gordon | 117 | -43 |
| 6 | Jimmy Vasser | 115 | -45 |
| 7 | Scott Pruett | 112 | -48 |
| 8 | Al Unser Jr | 92 | -68 |
| 9 | Roberto Guererro | 82 | -78 |
| 10 | Adrian Fernandez | 66 | -94 |
| 11 | Paul Tracy | 63 | -97 |
| 12 | Stefan Johansson | 59 | -101 |
| 13 | Jeff Andretti | 57 | -103 |
| 14 | Scott Goodyear | 55 | -105 |
In two weeks Senna and Villeneuve will fight for the championship. Which one will prevail? Find out soon.
Last edited:
1995 Finale
ROUND 18: SENNA VS VILLENEUVE
VS
It all came down the the finale at Atlanta. Two highly competitive drivers would be going at it for the PPG Cup trophy today. F1's past vs it's future by way of INDYCART. Both men have fought so hard to be where they are going into today. May the best one win.
Senna has been nothing but dominant since entering the series. He won nearly all the races last year en-route to the championship. This year hasn't been as dominant, but he's won when it mattered. He's suffered more setbacks this year, a wreck with Michael Andretti at Road America, poor qualifying, and a few engine problems. Nonetheless, he's stayed strong and consistent and looks to get his second consecutive championship today.
Villeneuve has had a rapid ascent in INDYCART. His miraculous qualifying run for the 1993 Indy 500 was a sign of things to come from the young Canadian. his team was able to get sponsorship and support from Porsche in 94' and proved his self quickly. He won one race and picked up rookie honors. 1995 has been a bigger year for him. three wins, seven podiums, and six poles. A championship would be a great way to ride into F1 next year. He will hopefully accomplish more than his father could in his short career before it tragically ended.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced their replacement for Arie Luyendyk. They held a press conference pre-race to introduce him. His name is Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi. Alex has previously raced in F1 for the now defunct Team Lotus and as a test driver for Benetton. After Lotus died he spent some time in sports cars, but wanted to get back into open wheel racing. He set his sights on INDYCART. He ended up meeting Reynard's commercial director Rick Gorne who got him in touch with Ganassi. Chip liked what he saw, but race engineer Mo Nunn was skeptical. Ganassi convinced him otherwise. The Italian driver will sign his contract tomorrow on his 29th birthday. Al Unser Jr looks forward to his new teammate to take him under his wing. Zanardi is starting off in the right place.
Senna continued to lead, but Jacques wasn't letting him get away. He caught up and the two had another side-by-side duel. Bobby Rahal also joined in on the action. Villeneuve was able to take the lead, while Senna came down to block Rahal. Another caution for debris happened and everyone pitted. Jacques won the race off pit road and continued to lead after the restart. Then, more chaos on the frontstretch: Rahal got loose coming out of turn four. He overcorrected and came up into Michael Andretti. It was very similar to Stan Fox's Indy 500 crash. The impact flipped Rahal on his side (fortunately not upside down), spun him around, and he slammed into the pit road wall. Andretti was sitting in the middle of the track. Other cars around them were able to get by unscathed. The race was red flagged. Michael hopped out of his car. The safety crews surrounded Bobby's car. He was seen moving his head but he wasn't getting out; he was clearly in pain. They were able to get him out of his car and on a stretcher. Rahal waved to the cheering crowd as he was loaded onto the ambulance. It was later revealed that he had badly bruised legs and left arm, but no broken bones. He should be able to recover during the offseason and return in March. What a miracle.
The two continued their fight. Villeneuve led. The rest of the race remained green and relied on pit strategy. Jacques pitted first. Senna stretched his fuel mileage out as much as he could until he finally came in. He got back up to speed very quickly before Villeneuve was anywhere near him. Jacques gave it all he had, but it wasn't enough. Senna went on to win the race and the championship. His crew was ecstatic on pit road while Roger Penske clapped and hugged everyone. @TheMann, and his Dad sat there in silence. A Porsche executive who was a guest of theirs for the race literally cried, the manufacturer had won everything this year including the Manufacturers Championship. To loose out on the driver's one was heart wrenching.
"We did everything we could and in the end we came up short" said a solemn Villeneuve. "Porsche was on their A-Game this year and we experienced a season like no other. I really wanted this going into F1, but I feel like I will become a world champion in a few short years. Happy for Ayrton and the success he's been having over here. He's wished me the best of luck in my future endeavor and has told me a lot of things to know about racing in it. I hope he has a good career here in INDYCART and I hope to race him again someday".
Senna was awestruck at his win. "If you had told me coming here would have given me two titles, I don't know whether I'd believe you. I was nervous coming into this early last year but Team Penske set me up for success. We had a rough year honestly, Indy 500 qualifying troubles, a potential disqualification back at Portland that was thankfully dropped, my collision with Michael, to overcome all of that and win this means so much. People say I'm the greatest driver in the world right now, I'm not going to say whether they are right or not, I just want to enjoy this moment. This is for everyone in Brazil, no matter who you are, you can achieve this success one day if you try really hard. I can't wait to go back to Sao Paulo and celebrate. There will be a lot of celebration there tonight and when I arrive. I'm going to have a fun and relaxing offseason and be back for next year. Can't wait!"
So ends the 1995 season. I was a great season with many winners and an epic championship. 96' looks to be a bigger and better year for the series. New events, drivers, and manufacturers. American open-wheel racing has never been stronger. Who knows what would've happened of Tony George had ever gotten anywhere with his idea for a series? A possible tragedy may have been avoided. We'll never know. While Senna celebrates, I leave you with some awards. They are:
| Constructors' Cup |
Reynard |
|---|---|
| Manufacturers' Cup |
|
| Nations' Cup |
United States |
| Rookie of the Year |
See you in 1996!
YOUR 1995 PPG INDYCART CHAMPION: AYRTON SENNA
Wait...what do you do to simulate atlanta? And in fact, how will you simulate the races that were on the IRL schedule in real life?
I actually based this on the 1992 Hooters 500. Jacques was Alan Kulwicki and Senna as Bill Elliott. Elliott won that race. Since there's no bonus points for leading laps in INDYCART, Senna taking the win gave him the championship. Future races that were IRL may be based on those.
1996 Preview
1996 PREVIEW
SCHEDULE:
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Circuit | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 3 |
Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami | O Homestead Miami Speedway | Miami, Florida | |||
| 2 | March 17 |
Australian IndyCar Grand Prix | S Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Australia | |||
| 3 | March 31 |
Dura Lube 200 | O Phoenix International Raceway | Phoenix, Arizona | |||
| 4 | April 14 |
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | S Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | |||
5 | April 28 |
| O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |||
| 6 | May 26 |
80th Indianapolis 500 | O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | |||
| 7 | June 2 |
ITT Detroit Automotive Grand Prix | S The Raceway on Belle Isle | Detroit, Michigan | |||
| 8 | June 9 |
Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 | R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon | |||
9 | June 30 | Miller Genuine Draft 200 | O The Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | |||
10 | July 7 | Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland | S Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport | Cleveland, Ohio | |||
| 11 | July 14 |
Molson Indy Toronto | S Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario | |||
| 12 | July 28 |
Marlboro 500 | O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | |||
| 13 | August 11 |
Honda Indy 200 | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | |||
| 14 | August 18 |
Ben & Jerry's 200 | R Burlington Raceway | Burlington, Vermont | |||
| 15 | September 1 |
Molson Indy Vancouver | S Streets of Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia | |||
16 | September 8 | Texaco / Havoline 200 | R Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | |||
17 | September 15 | Bosch Spark plug Grand Prix | O Nazareth Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | |||
| 18 | October 6 |
Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | R Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California | |||
19 | October 20 | Goodyear 500 | O Atlanta Motor Speedway | Hampton, Georgia |
INDYCART is hinting at starting the season sooner and ending it later next year with all the new venues they plan to add.
TEAMS:
Team Penske
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Honda
Tire: Goodyear
Drivers: (CAN) Paul Tracy, #3 Pennzoil
(BRA) Ayrton Senna, #1 Marlboro
Senna looks to make it a three-peat this year. He is already the favorite to win it. Tracy returns after signing a two year extension. The team switches to Reynard after ending their in house chassis program.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Ford
Tires: Firestone
Drivers: (USA) Al Unser Jr, #9 Target/Scotch
(ITA) Alex Zanardi, #10 Target/Barilla
Chip Ganassi believes his team is the strongest it's ever been. He thinks Unser Jr will win the title this year. Al is joined by new teammate Alex Zanardi who will either be a great supporting role, or be an embarrassment to the team. Time will tell.
Treadway Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Ford
Tires: Firestone
Driver: (NLD) Arie Luyendyk, #55 Bryant Heating and Air Conditioning
This team has a great driver and good equipment from Ganassi. They may come out swinging and contend for wins.
Newman-Hass Racing
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Ford
Tire: Goodyear
Drivers: (USA) Michael Andretti, #5 Texaco Havoline/K Mart
(USA) Jimmy Vasser, #6 Texaco Havoline/K Mart
The team unveils all new schemes for this year: all black. Andretti and Vasser will battle the their competition as well as themselves in their ongoing friendly (for now) fight to be the best driver on the team.
Porsche Indy North America (PINA)
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Porsche
Tire: Goodyear
Drivers: (USA) John Andretti, #8 Labatt Blue
(CAN) Scott Goodyear, #15 Canadian Tire
(USA) Robby Gordon, #11 Valvoline/ Cummins
Porsche had their best year in 1995 with all three drivers winning including the Indy 500. They look to continue their success this year and possibly get Robby to be champion.
TheMann Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Porsche
Tires: Goodyear
Driver: (CAN) Greg Moore, #99 Players LTD
Moore is expected to continue where Villeneuve left off. While he may or may not be a title contender, he is the clear frontrunner for rookie honors. He could become the next great Canadian driver.
Rahal-Letterman Racing
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Aurora
Tires: Goodyear
Drivers: (USA) Bobby Rahal, #4 Miller
(USA) Bryan Herta, #12 Shell
Rahal had a good championship run last year until he wrecked at Road America. Herta had an alright first year with the team. Now they both look to improve this year. They expect to finish in the top ten in points.
Galles Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Aurora
Tires: Goodyear
Drivers: (USA) Jeff Ward #7 Delco Electronics
Fernandez and Dallenbach are gone. Rick Galles brings in Ward for a rookie campaign. The once great team is now falling down the order.
Dick Simon Racing
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Aurora
Tires: Firestone
Drivers:(BRA) Raul Boesel, #23 Duracell
(BRA) Gil de Ferran, #22 Mobil 1
(USA) Lynn St. James, #90 JC Penney/McDonald's (Part-time)
Dick Simon hopes his team can return to where it was two years ago, but things change quickly in this sport. Both Boesel and de Ferran could be out after this year.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Ford
Tires: Goodyear
Driver: (USA) Scott Sharp, #14 Conseco
Sharp had a real up and down rookie year. Along the way there were many dnf's, but one shining moment at Nazareth with his first win. Copenhagen, the long time sponsor of Foyt is gone and in comes Conseco Financial.
Bettenhausen Motorsports
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Honda
Tires: Goodyear
Driver: (SWE) Stefan Johansson, #16 ALUMAX
This is looking to be Stefan's last year at the team. Can he finally win before he goes?
Team Andretti
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Ford
Tires: Goodyear
Driver: (COL) Roberto Guerrero, #26 Kool Cigarettes
New name, new owner, but can they continue their same pace and win this year?
Dale Coyne Racing with Walter Payton
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Porsche
Tires: Firestone
Drivers: multiple drivers, #19 MiJack
(USA) Willy T Ribbs, #34 MiJack
The 19 will be all pay drivers this year.
PacWest Racing
Engine: Ford
Chassis Lola
Tires: Firestone
Drivers: (USA) Jeff Andretti, #17 Bank of America
(USA) Wally Dallenbach Jr, #18 Visa
The PacWest team could pull off wins this year, from both drivers even. Jeff Andretti had a strong 1995 finishing just outside the top ten in points. Dallenbach could have the success here he had at Galles before they went downhill.
Arciero-Wells Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Toyota
Tires: Firestone
Driver: (JPN) Hiro Matsushita, #25 Panasonic
Cal Wells, TRD North America's competition director, joins Frank Arciero in creating Toyota's new flagship INDYCART team.
Patrick Racing
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Aurora
Tires: Firestone
Driver: (USA) Scott Pruett, #20 Motorola
Pat Patrick had a great return to full ownership last year with a win and a top ten points finish. Pruett was briefly a championship contender and this year, they're hoping that's more than brief.
Indy Regency
Chassis: Lola
Engine: Aurora
Tires: Firestone
Drivers: (FRA) Olivier Grouillard, #28 LCI Worldwide Telecommunications
(MEX) Adrian Fernandez, #29 Tecate/ LCI
Indy Regency had their breakout season last year with a surprise win. This year, Fernandez joins the fold. This could be a massive year for them.
Comptech Racing
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Honda
Tires: Firestone
Driver: (USA) Parker Johnstone, #49 Acura
Johnstone will be going full time this year.
Bradley Motorsports
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Toyota
Tires: Firestone
Driver: (USA) Buzz Calkins, #02 Bradley Stores
They wanted to be #2, but Penske currently has that number reserved in case Senna doesn't win the championship.
Della Penna Motorsports
Chassis: Reynard
Engine: Toyota
Tires: Goodyear
Driver: (USA) Ritchie Hearn, #44 Food4Less (Part-time)
Another new team announced in the offseason. Argentinian businessman John Della Penna moves his Formula Atlantic team up and brings his driver with him.
Before the season starts, I have a special feature about Senna running in the Daytona 500 and IROC's opening race. Stay tuned for that!
Last edited:
So wait, team green's already owned by andretti from the start? Is it mario?
Also, no tony stewart? That's really surprsing
Also, no tony stewart? That's really surprsing
If you read last year's Nazareth race, you would've seen Mario was buying out Kenny Bernstein's team.
Oh...guess i missed that...still, no smoke is weird...i thought he'd debut in 96
I'd say for the most part no. Anything specific that you wanted to know?
I can say that the big three motorsports (NASCAR, INDYCART, and F1) are going to be different at least.