1985 IndyCar season

The 1985 IndyCar season, the seventh in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 15 races, beginning in Long Beach, California on April 14 and concluding in Miami, Florida on November 10. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Al Unser and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Danny Sullivan. Rookie of the Year was Arie Luyendyk. The 69th Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.

Drivers and Teams
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1985 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires.


 * - The number in parenthesis is the number the car used at the Indianapolis 500, if a different number was used.

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

Drivers
Point Scoring System:
 * Points are awarded based on each driver's resulting place (regardless of whether the car is running at the end of the race):

Bonus Points:
 * 1 For Pole Position
 * 1 For Leading The Most Laps Of The Race

Highlights
Mario Andretti dominated the first half of the season before breaking his collarbone in a crash during the Michigan 500, the first accident of his career that would force him to miss a later race. Andretti missed the race at Road America and was replaced by another former World Champion Alan Jones of Australia. Jones, who a month later returned to F1 with the Carl Haas owned Haas Lola team, finished third in the only IndyCar start of his career.

In the Sanair race (Molson Indy Montreal), Roberto Guerrero had a strong lead until he lost control and spun. Late in the race Jacques Villeneuve collided with leader Bobby Rahal in attempt to challenge for the lead, taking both out. The race finished under a yellow flag, but the safety car entered pit lane on the final lap, and thinking there would be a final restart, Pancho Carter passed Johnny Rutherford after the safety car entered pit lane and before the finish line. CART initially declared Carter the winner, but an appeals panel later overturned the decision and confirmed Rutherford's victory. In many codes of motorsport (typically FIA Code) the safety car enters pit lane as the field is on the final lap, and the cars cross the checkered flag together without the safety car on course. However, this practice is not accepted in North America, where the safety car leads the leaders to the finish line if the safety car situation exists.

Al Unser, Sr. won the season championship. Unser drove primarily in a substitution role for Penske's regular driver Rick Mears, who was recovering from leg injuries suffered in 1984. Mears ran only a partial schedule including the Indy 500 and a few other oval events.

Going into the final race of the season at Miami, the father and son duo of Al Unser, Sr. and Al Unser, Jr. emerged 1-2 in the championship points standings. In the closing laps of the final race, Danny Sullivan was leading, with Unser, Jr. in third. Roberto Moreno was running 4th and Al Unser, Sr. was fifth. As it stood, Unser, Jr. was tentatively the points leader, but Al Sr. was charging. With a few laps left in the race, Unser, Sr. passed Moreno for 4th position, and at the checkered flag, clinched the championship by 1 point over his son Al Jr.