1987 IndyCar season

1987 American Championship Car season
Series  : IndyCar
Champion : Bobby Rahal
Previous: 1986	Next: 1988

The 1987 IndyCar season, the ninth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Long Beach, California on April 4 and concluding in Miami, Florida on November 1. There was one non-championship event, the Marlboro Challenge. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Bobby Rahal and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. Rookie of the Year was Fabrizio Barbazza. The 71st Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1987 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No.	Driver(s)	Sponsor(s)	Rounds	Notes
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola T8700	Cosworth	14	A. J. Foyt	Copenhagen-Gilmore	3-4, 9-10, 13, 15
	March 86C		41	Stan Fox	Kerker Exhaust	3
				Davy Jones (R)	Skoal Classic	9, 13, 15
			44		Copenhagen-Gilmore	3
		Chevy V6	84	George Snider	Calumet Farms	3
Alex Morales Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	21	Johnny Rutherford	Vermont American	All
American Racing	March 86C	Buick	2	Jim Crawford	STP/ARS	3	1
				Gordon Johncock
Arciero Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	12	Fabrizio Barbazza (R)	Arciero Wines	1-13, 15	2
				Ludwig Heimrath (R)		14-15
	March 85C
				Graham McRae		15
Bettenhausen Motorsports	March 86C	Cosworth	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	United Oil/Call Free	1-5, 7-12
Centerline Wheels	March	Pontiac	59	Sammy Swindell	Centerline Wheels	3
Curb	March 87C/ March 86C	Cosworth	33	Tom Sneva	Skoal	1-9	3
				John Andretti (R)		10-15
			98	Ed Pimm		3, 9
Dale Coyne Racing	March 86C	Chevy/ Cosworth	19	Dale Coyne	Coyne Racing	1-2, 4-15	4
Dick Simon Racing	Lola T8700	Cosworth	22	Dick Simon	Soundesign/Mackenzie Financial	1-10, 13
				Wally Dallenbach, Jr. (R)	Menard's	11
				Ludwig Heimrath (R)	Mackenzie Financial	12
				John Richards (R)	Soundesign	14
				Jeff Wood (R)		15
			23	Ludwig Heimrath (R)	Mackenzie Financial	1-10
				Jeff Wood (R)	Spirit of Wichita	11-14
				Fulvio Ballabio (R)	Burago	15
	Lola T8600/ T8700		27	John Richards (R)	Soundesign/ Mackenzie Financial	5-8	5
	Lola T8600			Ian Ashley	Mackenzie Financial	15
Doug Shierson Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	30	Al Unser, Jr.	Domino's Pizza	All
Galles Racing	March 87C/ Lola T8700	Judd/ Cosworth	11	Jeff MacPherson	MacHoward Leasing	All	6
	March 87C	Judd	15	Geoff Brabham	Team Valvoline	All
Gohr Racing	March 86C	Cosworth	56	Rocky Moran	Genesee Beer Wagon	1
				Gary Bettenhausen		2-4, 9-10
	March 87C/ March 86C			Scott Goodyear (R)	Genesee Beer Wagon/Rothmans	6-8, 11-12, 14-15	7
Granatelli Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	4	Roberto Guerrero	True Value/ STP	1-12
				Al Unser		13
				Raúl Boesel		14-15
Hemelgarn Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	71	Arie Luyendyk	Living Well/ Provimi Veal	All
		Buick	81	Rich Vogler	KFC/ Living Well	3
		Cosworth	91	Scott Brayton	Amway/ Autostyle Cars	3, 5-6, 9-10
	March 86C	Buick		Johnny Parsons	KFC/ Living Well	3
Interscope Racing	PC-16/ March 87C	Chevy A/ Cosworth	25	Danny Ongais	Interscope/ Panasonic	3, 9, 13, 15	8
Intersport	March 86C	Cosworth	17	Dominic Dobson	Intersport	3
JP Racing	March 86C	Cosworth	35	Spike Gehlhausen	JP Racing	3
Kraco Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	18	Michael Andretti	Kraco	All
Leader Cards Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	24	Randy Lewis	Toshiba/ Altos/ Oracle/ Western Digital	All
Los Angeles Drywall	March 85C	Cosworth	19	Dick Ferguson	Los Angeles Drywall	3
			27			9
Machinists Union Racing	March 87C	Cosworth	29	Pancho Carter	Hardee's/ Machinists Union	3, 9-15
	March 86C		44	Chip Robinson	Carteret Savings/ Machinists Union	1, 6, 13
				Tom Sneva		15
	March 87C		55	Josele Garza	Schaefer/ Machinists Union	All
	March 86C		59	Mike Nish		1-2
	March 86C/ March 87C			Rick Miaskiewicz		5, 7-8, 12	9
Newman Teamworks	Lola T8600	Cosworth	51	Didier Theys (R)	Pepsi/ GFE	1, 11
				Davy Jones (R)		12
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T8700	Chevy A	5	Mario Andretti	Hanna Car Wash	All
NFW Racing	March 86C	Cosworth	36	Graham McRae	NFW	11-12
Pace Racing	March 87C	Buick	77	Derek Daly	Schied/ Superior/ MetroLink	3
Patrick Racing	March 87C	Chevy A	7	Kevin Cogan	Marlboro	1-4, 6-15
			20	Emerson Fittipaldi		All
Penske Racing	PC-16/ March 87C	Chevy A	3	Danny Sullivan	Miller American	All	10
			8	Rick Mears	Pennzoil Z-7	All	11
	March 86C	Cosworth	6	Al Unser	Cummins/ Holset Turbo	9-10
	PC-16	Chevy A	9			15
	March 86C	Cosworth	25			3
Porsche	Porsche	Porsche	6	Al Unser	Quaker State	14
				Al Holbert		15
Raynor	Lola T8700	Cosworth	10	Dennis Firestone	Raynor Garage Door	1-3
	Lola T8600			Phil Krueger		3
	Lola T8700			Derek Daly		4-15
Truesports	Lola T8700	Cosworth	1	Bobby Rahal	Budweiser	All
			2	Didier Theys (R)		15
United Oil	March 87C	Cosworth	87	Steve Chassey	United Oil/ Life of Indiana	3
Walther	March 86C	Cosworth	76	Rocky Moran	Walther	3
WENS	March 86C	Cosworth	97	Rick Miaskiewicz	Pizza Hut/ WENS	3

Notes

(R) – Rookie

1.^  Crawford was injured on Pole Day, and replaced by Johncock.

2.^  All three drivers listed as entries at Miami.

3.^  Curb used March 86C Chassis at round 3 only.

4.^  Coyne used a Cosworth engine at round 7 only.

5.^  Richards used a Lola T8700 at round 6 only.

6.^  MacPherson used a Lola T8600 at rounds 11 and 12 only, and used Cosworth at rounds 10, 13-15 only.

7.^  Goodyear used a March 86C at round 7 only.

8.^  Ongais practiced at round 3 with a PC-16/Chevy A combo, but did not attempt to qualify due to injury.

9.^  Miaskiewicz used a March 87C at round 7 only.

10.^  Sullivan used a PC-16 at rounds 1-2, 4-5 only.

11.^  Mears used a PC-16 at rounds 1-2, 4-7 only.

Grands Prix

Rd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location
1	April 5	Grand Prix of Long Beach	Street Circuit	Long Beach, California
2	April 12	Dana 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
3	May 24	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
4	May 31	Dana-Rex Mays 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
5	June 14	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
6	June 28	Meadowlands Grand Prix	Street Circuit	East Rutherford, New Jersey
7	July 5	Cleveland Grand Prix	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
8	July 19	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
9	August 2	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
10	August 16	Quaker State 500	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania
11	August 30	Road America 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
12	September 6	Escort Radar Warning 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
13	September 20	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Nazareth Speedway	Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
14	October 11	Laguna Seca 300k	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California
NC	October 31	Marlboro Challenge	Tamiami Park	Miami, Florida
15	November 1	Miami Indy Challenge	Tamiami Park	Miami, Florida

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

  Non-championship race

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

Race results

Rd	Name	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Grand Prix of Long Beach	Mario Andretti	1:05.886	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
2	Dana 200	Mario Andretti	21.832	Roberto Guerrero	Vince Granatelli Racing	Report
3	Indianapolis 500	Mario Andretti	2:47.139	Al Unser	Penske Racing	Report
4	Dana-Rex Mays 200	Roberto Guerrero	23.544	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	Report
5	Budweiser/G.I.Joe's 200	Roberto Guerrero	59.207	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	Report
6	Meadowlands Grand Prix	Mario Andretti	1:01.097	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	Report
7	Cleveland Grand Prix	Roberto Guerrero	1:05.509	Emerson Fittipaldi	Patrick Racing	Report
8	Molson Indy Toronto	Bobby Rahal		Emerson Fittipaldi	Patrick Racing	Report
9	Marlboro 500	Michael Andretti	33.406	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	Report
10	Quaker State 500	Mario Andretti	44.795	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
11	Road America 200	Mario Andretti	1:52.687	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
12	Escort Radar Warning 200	Roberto Guerrero	1:15.585	Roberto Guerrero	Vince Granatelli Racing	Report
13	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Michael Andretti	21.926	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	Report
14	Laguna Seca 300k	Mario Andretti	52.926	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	Report
NC	Marlboro Challenge	Raul Boesel		Bobby Rahal	Truesports
15	Miami Indy Challenge	Mario Andretti	1:54.630	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	Report

Race summaries

Long Beach

Mario Andretti started on the pole position and dominated the Long Beach Grand Prix, his third win in four years at the circuit. It marked the first-ever victory in Indy car competition for the Ilmor Chevrolet Indy V-8 engine. Emerson Fittipaldi was a close second until he dropped out with turbocharger failure.

Phoenix

Roberto Guerrero qualified third, but failed post-qualifying inspection for being 2.5 pounds underweight. He was forced to start last on the grid. Guerrero quickly charged through the field, and was in the top five by lap 46. He dueled with Bobby Rahal for the lead on lap 62, and dominated the second half. Even a stop-and-go penalty for hitting a tire in the pits did not slow Guerrero's run.

Guerrero won by 8 seconds over Rahal, becoming only the fourth driver in modern Indy car history to win a race from the last starting position.

Indianapolis 500

Mario Andretti dominated the entire month of May at Indy. He ran the fastest practice laps, won the pole position, the pit stop contest, and dominated the first 177 laps. With only 23 laps to go, Andretti suddenly slowed with fuel injection trouble. Al Unser, Sr., who had entered the month without a ride took the lead with 18 laps to go, and recorded one of the biggest upsets in Indy history.

Roberto Guerrero, the winner at Phoenix, stalled in the pits while leading due to a failing clutch, and came home second.

Milwaukee

While leading the race on lap 149, Mario Andretti broke a rear wing, sending the car hard into the outside and inside walls. He was taken to the hospital with relatively minor injuries. Mario's son Michael Andretti took the lead after the accident, locked in a duel with Roberto Guerrero.

On lap 177, Guerrero suddenly blew his engine, leaving Michael Andretti in the lead. A late-race caution allowed Bobby Rahal to close the gap, but Michael held on for the victory. Rahal finished second.

Portland

Bobby Rahal won his first race of the season, passing Michael Andretti for the lead on lap 70 of 104. Rahal built up a 22-second lead late in the race, but slowed to conserve fuel over the final 10 laps. Andretti closed to within 6 seconds, but managed only second place.

Meadowlands

Bobby Rahal made it back-to-back victories, winning for the second time of the season at the Meadowlands. Rahal also took over the points lead.

Cleveland

Emerson Fittipaldi and Bobby Rahal pitted for the final time on lap 53, both hoping to stretch their fuel to the finish. Fittipaldi pulled out to an 18-second lead, and despite the fuel light flashing over the final five laps, held on to win his first race of the season.

Rahal finished a strong second, and increased his lead in the points standings.

Toronto

Emerson Fittipaldi looked to win his second race in a row, but a final lap mishap almost cost him the race. With Danny Sullivan running second on the final lap, Fittipaldi led by about 4 seconds at the white flag. Down the Lake Shore Drive backstretch on the final lap, however, Fittipaldi became mired in traffic. Through the hairpin, the track was essentially blocked by three backmarkers, which allowed Sullivan to dramatically close the gap. With two turns to go, Sullivan dove below Fittipaldi for the lead, but the two cars touched wheels. Fittipaldi's car stayed straight, but Sullivan spun out.

Fittipaldi went on to win, while Sullivan limped across the finish line to hold on to second. Bobby Rahal came home third and padded his championship lead.

Michigan 500

With 8 laps to go, Michael Andretti led Indy 500 winner Al Unser, Sr. and Bobby Rahal. Andretti needed to make his final pit stop, but a faulty clutch nearly cost him dearly. Andretti's car sputtered and nearly stalled as he pulled away, and he lost several seconds.

Back on the track, Michael maintained a 9-second to the finish, with Unser finishing second. Third place Rahal maintained a 9-point advantage over Michael in the points championship.

Pocono 500

Mario Andretti started from the pole and led 22 laps, but gets too low in turn one on lap 89, and crashed hard into the outside wall. He suffers a separated shoulder, his second injury of the season. The rough apron of turn one was stained by lime, which caused Andretti's car to lose traction.

Rick Mears, who had not won a race in two years, led Geoff Brabham late in the race, but was low on fuel. Mears' car sputtered on the final lap, but he crossed the line under power to take the victory. It was the first 500-mile race victory for the Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8 engine. Brabham, meanwhile, scored a career-best second place, and the best finish yet for the new Brabham-Honda engine. Roberto Guerrero, who led with 17 laps to go, dropped to third when he was forced to pit for fuel five laps from the end.

Points leader Bobby Rahal came home 5th, and maintained a championship lead of 14 points over Michael Andretti.

Road America

After four months of disappointments and injuries, Mario Andretti final found the winner's circle for the first time since the season opener. Despite recovering from a separated shoulder, Andretti won the pole and dominated the race wire-to-wire, leading all 50 laps. Geoff Brabham scored his second runner-up finish in a row.

The top two drivers in the points standings, Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti, both finished out of the points.

Mid-Ohio

Bobby Rahal was leading by half a lap and looking for his third consecutive victory at Mid-Ohio. With about 12 laps to go, however, Rahal tangled with the lapped car of Rick Miaskiewicz, forcing him to pit with a punctured tire.

Roberto Guerrero blew by the limping car of Rahal to take the lead on lap 74, and Michael Andretti swept into second. Andretti had a golden opportunity to make up ground in the championship hunt, but a few laps later, blew his engine. Rahal climbed back up to second, while Guerrero won his second race of the season.

Four days later, Guerrero would be injured during a tire test at Indianapolis. He was struck in the head by a tire, leaving him in a coma, and sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Nazareth

CART made its debut at the newly-reconstructed Pennsylvania International Raceway in Nazareth. Hometown driver Michael Andretti led 150 laps, looking to make up as much ground as possible in the championship hunt against Bobby Rahal.

Al Unser, Sr. drove substitution for the injured Roberto Guerrero, charging to as high as second place late in the race. With seven laps to go, Unser touched wheels with Jeff MacPherson, and smacked the outside wall coming out of turn 4. Rahal, who had lost a lap after nearly stalling in the pits, moved up to second at the checkered flag. With two races remaining, Rahal held a 25-point lead.

Laguna Seca

With the championship down to two drivers, Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti, Rahal needed to finish the final two races to hold on to his second-consecutive CART title. Rahal had won the Laguna Seca event three years in a row, going for four.

When Michael Andretti dropped out on lap 36 with alternator trouble, Rahal clinched the championship title, regardless of his finish at the final race in Miami. Later in the race, Mario Andretti dropped out, enabling Rahal to take the lead and win at Laguna Seca for a record fourth year in a row.

Rahal celebrated in victory lane both the race win and the CART championship title.

Tamiami Park

With the championship title already decided, Michael Andretti dominated en route to victory, but still finished second in the points standings.

Rahal, who had won the exhibition Marlboro Challenge a day earlier, finished 7th.

Championship Standings

Pos Driver LB PIR1 IND MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIC POC ROA MDO NAZ LAG MIA Pts 1 Bobby Rahal 23 2 26 2 1* 1* 2 3 3 5 23 2* 5 1 7 188 2 Michael Andretti 4 4 29 1 2 5 6 5 1* 8 16 13 1* 22 1* 158 3 Al Unser, Jr. 2 14 4 5 20 8 3 20 18 23 3 23 6 4 2 107 4 Roberto Guerrero 12 1* 2 16* 19 19 5* 4 14 3 7 1 106 5 Rick Mears 9 20 23 21 3 18 7 10 21 1* 9 4 3 3 5 102 6 Mario Andretti 1* 5 9* 17 10 2 10 15 19 19 1* 17 19 17* 4 100 7 Arie Luyendyk 14 3 18 4 16 6 19 7 5 4 4 11 4 6 11 98 8 Geoff Brabham 16 8 24 12 9 4 22 DNS 8 2 2 7 12 5 3 90 9 Danny Sullivan 22 11 13 11 11 20 4 2 4 17 5 3 22 2 12 87 10 Emerson Fittipaldi 19 18 16 7 14 3 1 1* 7 18 18 6 21 20 10 78 11 Josele Garza 5 6 17 22 6 24 16 17 12 11 11 8 8 8 18 46 12 Fabrizio Barbazza 17 12 3 14 4 16 24 11 6 14 8 24 13 42 13 Al Unser 1 2 15 10 24 DNQ 39 14 Tom Sneva 3 17 14 13 21 7 8 6 30 9 37 15 Derek Daly 15 3 15 9 11 16 24 10 26 9 16 14 22 27 16 Kevin Cogan 18 21 31 18 12 21 13 27 9 19 5 5 18 21 25 17 John Andretti 6 10 11 7 8 24 18 Johnny Rutherford 23 9 11 9 7 11 9 21 28 26 24 12 20 15 16 23 19 Jeff MacPherson 10 13 8 8 13 21 17 22 23 20 25 21 9 9 24 21 20 Dick Simon 20 10 6 20 18 14 23 23 9 21 18 15 21 Randy Lewis 8 19 32 19 8 23 12 9 15 16 13 22 DNQ 19 19 15 22 Scott Brayton 12 5 10 22 25 14 23 A.J. Foyt 19 6 26 7 7 25 14 24 Gary Bettenhausen 16 5 15 13 13 10 25 Pancho Carter 27 20 6 14 14 17 12 14 9 26 Chip Robinson 6 25 15 8 27 Raul Boesel 16 6 8 28 Scott Goodyear 22 15 8 20 18 11 15 7 29 Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. 11 15 10 DNQ 13 20 DNQ 11 22 15 25 7 30 Didier Theys 7 22 17 6 31 Dennis Firestone 21 7 DNQ 6 32 Stan Fox 7 6 33 Jeff Wood 10 15 DNQ 10 23 6 34 Ludwig Heimrath 15 22 30 10 12 17 18 19 25 12 15 23 DNQ 5 35 Davy Jones 28 10 19 14 13 3 36 Rick Miaskiewicz DNQ 22 14 12 16 1 37 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. 12 1 38 John Richards 26 13 14 13 0 39 Rocky Moran 13 DNQ 0 40 Dale Coyne DNS DNQ DNQ 17 15 25 18 DNS 24 17 20 DNQ 21 DNQ 0 41 Ed Pimm 21 16 0 42 Danny Ongais Inj 17 DNQ 27 0 43 Ian Ashley 20 0 43 Rich Vogler 20 0 45 Graham McRae 21 DNQ DNQ 0 46 Gordon Johncock 22 0 47 Steve Chassey 25 0 48 Fulvio Ballabio 26 0 49 Dick Ferguson DNQ 29 0 50 George Snider 33 0 Mike Nish DNQ DNQ - Tom Bigelow DNQ - Dominic Dobson DNQ - Spike Gehlhausen DNQ - Phil Krueger DNQ DNQ - Johnny Parsons DNQ - Sammy Swindell DNQ - Al Holbert DNQ - Jim Crawford Inj - Pos Driver LB PIR1 IND MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIC POC ROA MDO NAZ LAG MIA Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place (Top 5) Light Blue 6th–10th place (Top 10) Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrew (WD) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Driver replacement (Rpl) Injured (Inj) Race not held (NH) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

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):

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Points	20	16	14	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Bonus Points:

• 1 For Pole Position
• 1 For Leading The Most Laps Of The Race

See also

• 1987 Indianapolis 500
• 1987 in Indy Lights

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