1996 IndyCar season

For the inaugural 1996 season of the Indy Racing League, see 1996 Indy Racing League season.

1996 American Championship Car season
Series  : IndyCar
Champion : Jimmy Vasser
Previous: 1995	Next: 1997 (CART)

The 1996 IndyCar season, the eighteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 8, in which it was marred by the death of Jeff Krosnoff. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Jimmy Vasser. Rookie of the Year was Alex Zanardi. This was the first season after the split with the Indy Racing League and the last year that CART licensed the "IndyCar" trademark from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Indianapolis 500 was replaced in the Series by the U.S. 500, held in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 Indy Car World Series season.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No	Drivers	Sponsor	Notes
All American Racers	Eagle MK-V	Toyota	Goodyear	36	Juan Manuel Fangio II	Castrol
				98	P. J. Jones	Castrol
Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 96I	Toyota	Firestone	25	Jeff Krosnoff (R) Max Papis	MCI	Krosnoff was fatally injured at Toronto
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 96I	Mercedes IC 108C	Goodyear	16	Stefan Johansson	Alumax
	Penske PC-25			26	Gary Bettenhausen	Alumax	U.S. 500 only
Brahma Sports Team Team Green	Reynard 96I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	1	Raul Boesel	Brahma
Comptech Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	Firestone	49	Parker Johnstone	Motorola
Della Penna Motorsports	Lola T96/00	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	44	Richie Hearn	Food 4 Less	Long Beach, Toronto, Laguna Seca only
Dick Simon Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	7	Marco Greco Eliseo Salazar	Cristal; Mobil 1; Copec	Miami, Rio only Milwaukee, Portland, Michigan 500 only
				22	Carlos Guerrero Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Herdez	Miami, Rio, Australia, U.S. 500 only Milwaukee, Detroit, Portland only
Forsythe Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford Cosworth	Firestone	99	Greg Moore (R)	Player's
Galles Racing	Lola T96/00	Mercedes IC 108C	Goodyear	10	Eddie Lawson Davy Jones	Delco Electronics	Jones took ride at 2nd Michigan race
Hogan Penske	Penske PC-25	Mercedes IC 108C	Goodyear	9	Emerson Fittipaldi Jan Magnussen	Marlboro; Mobil 1	Fittipaldi retired due to injury after 2nd Michigan race
Jim Hall Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	Goodyear	8	Gil de Ferran	Pennzoil
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-25	Mercedes IC 108C	Goodyear	2	Al Unser, Jr.	Marlboro
				3	Paul Tracy	Marlboro
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	6	Michael Andretti	Texaco/Kmart
				11	Christian Fittipaldi	Budweiser/Kmart
PacWest Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	17	Maurício Gugelmin	Hollywood Cigarettes
				21	Mark Blundell (R) Teo Fabi	VISA	Fabi filled in for the injured Blundell at Long Beach, Nazareth only
Patrick Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford Cosworth	Firestone	20	Scott Pruett	Firestone Tires
Payton/Coyne Racing	Lola T96/00	Ford Cosworth	Firestone	19	Hiro Matsushita	Panasonic
			Goodyear	34	Roberto Moreno	MiJack
Project Indy	Reynard 96I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	64	Dennis Vitolo	SmithKline Beecham
Target Ganassi Racing	Reynard 96I	Honda	Firestone	4	Alex Zanardi (R)	Target
				12	Jimmy Vasser	Target
Tasman Motorsports	Lola T96/00	Honda	Firestone	31	André Ribeiro	LCI International
				32	Adrián Fernández	Tecate
Team Rahal	Reynard 96I	Mercedes IC 108C	Goodyear	18	Bobby Rahal	Miller
				28	Bryan Herta	Shell
Walker Racing	Reynard 96I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	5	Robby Gordon	Valvoline
				15	Fredrik Ekblom Scott Goodyear Mike Groff	Valvoline	Limited schedule

Results

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	March 3	Paul Tracy	Greg Moore	Jimmy Vasser	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
2	IndyCar Rio 400	Autódromo de Jacarepaguá	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	March 17	Alex Zanardi	Gil de Ferran	André Ribeiro	Tasman Motorsports	Report
3	Australian Indy Car Grand Prix	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia	March 31	Jimmy Vasser	Jimmy Vasser	Jimmy Vasser	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
4	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	April 14	Gil de Ferran	Paul Tracy	Jimmy Vasser	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
5	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	April 28	Paul Tracy	Emerson Fittipaldi	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
6	U.S. 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	May 26	Jimmy Vasser	Alex Zanardi	Jimmy Vasser	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
7	Miller Genuine Draft 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	June 2	Paul Tracy	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
8	ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix	The Raceway on Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan	June 9	Scott Pruett	Christian Fittipaldi	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
9	Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	June 23	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
10	Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	June 30	Jimmy Vasser	Unknown	Gil de Ferran	Jim Hall Racing	Report
11	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	July 14	André Ribeiro	Alex Zanardi	Adrián Fernández	Tasman Motorsports	Report
12	Marlboro 500	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	July 28	Jimmy Vasser	Adrián Fernández	André Ribeiro	Tasman Motorsports	Report
13	Miller 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	August 11	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Ganassi Racing	Report
14	Texaco/Havoline 200	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 18	Alex Zanardi	Paul Tracy	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
15	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia	September 1	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Report
16	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	September 8	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Ganassi Racing	Report

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

Full Series Results

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MIA RIO SUR LBH NAZ US500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO ROA VAN LAG Pts 1 Jimmy Vasser 1 8 1* 1 7 1 10 12 13 10 8 9 2 6 7 4 154 2 Michael Andretti 9 22 19 7 1* 23 1 1 11 19 22 22 3 1 1* 9 132 3 Alex Zanardi 24 4* 21 24 13 17* 13 11 1* 2 2* 21 1* 3 26 1* 132 4 Al Unser, Jr. 8 2 9 3 3 8 2* 22 4 4 13 4 13 10* 5 16 125 5 Christian Fittipaldi 6 5 5 21 9 12 6 2* 3 7 7 10 7 16 3 10 110 6 Gil de Ferran 2 10 11 5* 23 9 9 3 2 1* 18 19 17 25 4 25 104 7 Bobby Rahal 5 6 20 14 6 19 7 21 6 15 3 24 5 2 2 7 102 8 Bryan Herta 10 13 17 12 11 15 14 13 26 5 6 2 4 5 6 2 86 9 Greg Moore 7 18 3 22 2 13 5 20 25 3 4 17 9 23 25 6 84 10 Scott Pruett 4 3 2 11 8 26 12 10 23 8 10 13 21 7 20 3 82 11 André Ribeiro 16 1 8 27 12 4 8 24 7 20 21 1* 8 19 21 19 76 12 Adrián Fernández 11 14 23 6 10 DNS 11 4 12 6 1 20 6 13 8 11 71 13 Paul Tracy 23* 19 22 4 5 7 3 17 27 9 5 DNS 12 18 29 60 14 Maurício Gugelmin 26 25 4 15 15 2 15 16 16 21 12 3 26 21 24 5 53 15 Stefan Johansson 19 23 6 19 19 16 27 7 9 12 17 5 11 4 17 21 43 16 Mark Blundell 17 27 5 22 5 8 11 11 6 10 20 12 24 41 17 Parker Johnstone DNS 16 24 2 20 11 16 14 5 25 26 18 12 11 11 13 33 18 Robby Gordon 3 15 16 13 22 20 17 26 10 18 9 8 18 17 10 15 29 19 Emerson Fittipaldi 13 11 25 20 4 10 4 25 20 22 14 25 29 20 Eddie Lawson 15 21 7 9 17 6 20 6 15 24 15 26 21 Roberto Moreno 27 9 12 8 24 3 25 23 19 14 23 23 23 22 27 12 25 22 Raul Boesel 14 7 13 16 21 24 26 8 28 26 24 7 22 14 23 20 17 23 Juan Manuel Fangio II 21 17 15 25 25 22 19 18 14 13 28 14 20 8 19 28 5 24 Jan Magnussen 14 26 22 8 5 25 Scott Goodyear 12 DNS 19 9 18 5 26 P. J. Jones Wth 24 9 24 23 20 16 25 18 13 27 4 27 Max Papis 24 9 22 4 28 Hiro Matsushita 18 24 10 28 26 14 28 19 21 17 27 15 19 15 15 23 3 29 Richie Hearn 10 25 17 3 30 Eliseo Salazar 21 18 11 15 2 31 Davy Jones 12 16 24 14 14 1 32 Marco Greco 25 12 1 33 Carlos Guerrero 20 20 14 0 34 Mike Groff 14 0 35 Jeff Krosnoff 22 26 18 26 18 18 18 15 17 16 16 1 0 36 Teo Fabi 18 16 Wth 0 37 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 23 23 DNS 22 16 26 0 38 Dennis Vitolo 17 0 39 Gary Bettenhausen 21 0 40 Fredrik Ekblom 25 0 Pos Driver MIA RIO SUR LBH NAZ US500 MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO ROA VAN LAG Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) 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

Note

¹ Jeff Krosnoff died at the Molson Indy Toronto after a horrendous accident. He was 31 years old.

Nation's Cup

• Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.

Pos	Country	Pts
1	United States	292
2	Brazil	212
3	Italy	132
4	Canada	114
5	Mexico	71
6	Sweden	43
7	United Kingdom	41
8	Argentina	5
9	Denmark	5
10	Japan	3
11	Chile	2
Pos	Country	Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Reynard 96I	295
2	Lola T9600	266
3	Penske PC-25/PC-23	145
4	Eagle MK V/96	9
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Honda	292
2	Ford XD/XB	252
3	Mercedes	214
4	Toyota	9
Pos	Engine	Pts

Drivers Breakdown

Pos ↓	Car	Driver ↓	Team ↓	Starts ↓	Wins ↓	Podiums ↓	Top 5's ↓	Top 10's ↓	Poles ↓	Points ↓
1	12	Vasser	Target Ganassi Racing	16	4	5	6	14	4	154
2	6	Andretti	Newman Haas Racing	16	5	6	6	9		131
3	4	Zanardi	Target Ganassi Racing	16	3	6	7	7	6	130
4	2	Unser, Jr.	Marlboro Team Penske	16	0	4	8	12		124
5	11	C. Fittipaldi	Newman Haas Racing	16	0	3	5	13		110
6	8	de Ferran	Jim Hall Racing	16	1	4	6	9	1	104
7	18	Rahal	Team Rahal	16	0	3	5	10		102
8	28	Herta	Team Rahal	16	0	2	5	8		86
9	99	Moore	Forsythe Racing	16	0	3	5	8		84
10	20	Pruett	Patrick Racing	16	0	3	4	9	1	82
11	31	Ribeiro	Tasman Motorsports	16	2	2	3	7	1	76
12	32	Fernandez	Tasman Motorsports	15	1	1	2	7		71
13	3	Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	14	0	1	4	6	3	60
14	17	Gugelmin	PacWest Racing	16	0	2	4	4		53
15	16	Johansson	Bettenhausen Racing	16	0	0	2	5		43
16	21	Blundell	PacWest Racing	13	0	0	2	5		41
17	49	Johnstone	Comptech Racing	15	0	1	2	2		33
18	5	Gordon	Walker Racing	16	0	1	1	5		29
18	9	E. Fittipaldi	Hogan Penske	12	0	0	2	3		29
20	10	Lawson	Galles Racing	11	0	0	0	4		26
21	34	Moreno	Payton/Coyne Racing	15	0	1	1	3		25
22	1	Boesel	Brahma Sports Team	16	0	0	0	3		17
23	36	Fangio	All American Racing	16	0	0	0	1		5
23	9	Magnussen	Hogan Penske	4	0	0	0	1		5
23	15	Goodyear	Walker Racing	4	0	0	0	1		5
26	98	P.J. Jones	All American Racing	10	0	0	0	1		4
26	25	Papis	Arciero-Wells Racing	3	0	0	0	1		4
28	19	Matsushita	Payton/Coyne Racing	16	0	0	0	1		3
28	44	Hearn	Della Penna Motorsports	3	0	0	0	1		3
30	7	Salazar	Dick Simon Racing	4	0	0	0	0		2
31	10	D. Jones	Galles Racing	5	0	0	0	0		1
31	7	Greco	Dick Simon Racing	2	0	0	0	0		1
33	25	Krosnoff	Arciero-Wells Racing	11	0	0	0	0		0
33	22	Jourdain	Della Penna Motorsports	5	0	0	0	0		0
33	22	Guerrero	Dick Simon Racing	3	0	0	0	0		0
33	21	Fabi	PacWest Racing	2	0	0	0	0		0
33	15	Ekblom	Walker Racing	1	0	0	0	0		0
33	15	Groff	Walker Racing	1	0	0	0	0		0
33	26	Bettenhausen	Bettenhausen Racing	1	0	0	0	0		0
33	64	Vitolo		1	0	0	0	0		0

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1996". Driver Database. http://www.driverdb.com/standings/5-1996/. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

• "1996 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1996.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

• "Standings after Laguna Seca". Champ Car World Series. http://www.champcar.ws/Results/Standings.asp?Year=1996. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

See also

• 1996 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• 1996 Indianapolis 500
• 1996 Indy Racing League season
• 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season
• 1996 Indy Lights season

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