The 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the third in the

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

era of U.S.

open-wheel racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single-s ...

, consisted of 11 races, beginning in Avondale,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

on March 22 and concluding at the same location on October 31. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was

Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...

despite missing Round 2 at Milwaukee due to injuries sustained in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

of the Year was

Bob Lazier Robert Lazier (December 22, 1938 – April 18, 2020) was an American race car driver. Biography A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he raced in the CART series in 1981 and was CART's Rookie of the Year. He had fourth-place finishes at Watkins Gle ...

. After the disagreement with the USAC during the previous season, the 65th

was not part of the Series, however no competing race was scheduled and most CART teams and drivers did take part.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1981

CART World Series ''CART World Series'' is a racing video game for the PlayStation console, developed by Sony Interactive Studios America and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released in October 1997. ''CART World Series'' is based on the Championship ...

Notable team and driver changes

Tom Sneva Thomas E. Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. A former math teacher from Spokane ...

leaves

Jerry O'Connell Racing Jerry O'Connell Racing is an American auto racing team owned by Jerry O'Connell. The team debuted in 1970 as a Sugaripe Prune entry in 1970 Indianapolis 500 with driver Bill Vukovich, Jr. The team competed in the USAC & CART ranks until the team ...

for new team Bignotti-Cotter Racing. The team scales back to part-time for 1981. *

Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ...

expands to a three-car operation, with

Bill Alsup Bill Alsup (July 15, 1938 in Honolulu – August 9, 2016) was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams ( CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CA ...

joining. His owner-driver team Alsup Racing only runs part-time in 1981. * After racing limited schedule beforehand, Tony Bettenhausen Jr. runs his first full-time season with new owner-driver team

Bettenhausen Racing Bettenhausen may refer to: Places Germany * Bettenhausen, Baden-Württemberg, in the Rottweil district, Baden-Württemberg * Bettenhausen, Kassel, a district of the city Kassel, Hesse * Bettenhausen, Lich, in the Lich In fantasy fiction, a li ...

. *

Dick Simon Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record as ...

replaces

Sheldon Kinser Sheldon Kinser (December 9, 1942 – August 1, 1988), was an American race car driver. Kinser, a Bloomington, Indiana native, died of cancer. He was a three-time USAC Sprint Car Series Champion (1977, 1981, 1982). He also drove in the USAC and ...

at Leader Card Racing, leaving Kinser without a ride. Simon's old team, Vollstedt Enterprises, does not compete. *

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

returns to running the majority of the races after a stint in Formula One, driving for

Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in both Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick in the 1970s. The team is best known for winning the Indianapolis 500 on three occasions (1973, 1982, 1989), and the I ...

. He replaces

Tom Bagley Tom Bagley (born December 3, 1939, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is a former driver in the USAC, CART Championship Car, IMSA, Formula Atlantic, and Trans-Am Series. He raced Indycars in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career start ...

, who is left without a ride. * Rookie driver

Scott Brayton Scott Everts Brayton (February 20, 1959 – May 17, 1996) was an American race car driver on the American open-wheel circuit. He competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s, beginning with the 1981 event. Brayton was killed in practice after qualifying ...

runs a full schedule with family owned team Brayton Racing. * After running part-time in 1980,

Machinists Union Racing Machinists Union Racing was a CART Indy Car team owned by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and run by the IAM's national automotive coordinator Andy Kenopensky, a former appointee to the United States Metric Board. ...

runs a full schedule with driver

Larry Dickson Larry Dickson (born September 8, 1938, Marietta, Ohio), is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1965-1981 seasons, with 105 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1966-1969, 1971, 1978� ...

. * Spike Gehlhausen is replaced at Bob Fletcher Racing by rookie driver

. *

Josele Garza Josele GarzaBiography
(born March 15, 1962 in

runs his first season with family-owned team Garza Racing. *

Steve Chassey Steve Chassey (born February 27, 1945 in Brockton, Massachusetts), is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in 9 seasons (1981, 1983–1989, and 1992), with 44 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1983, 1987, a ...

runs his first full-time season for the Jet Engineering team. * AMI Racing only runs two races in 1981 after running full-time in 1980.

Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in Mi ...

is left without a full-time ride. *

Interscope Racing Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field (born June 1, 1953) is an American media mogul, record executive, entrepreneur and film producer. He co-founded Interscope Records with Jimmy Iovine and founded Interscope Communications to develop and produce f ...

also stops running full-time, along with driver

Danny Ongais Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 – February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver. Ongais was the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, CART, IndyCar, Formula One, and drag r ...

. * At Cannon Racing, Larry Cannon only runs the first few races, with most of the rest driven by

Dick Ferguson Dick Ferguson (March 16, 1950 in Los Angeles, California – September 26, 2010) was a driver in the Champ Car, CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1979-1985 and 1987-1988 seasons, with 26 career starts, including the 1980 Indianapol ...

. * This is

Bobby Unser Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. Fo ...

's final season of IndyCar racing. See the

1981 Indianapolis 500 The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1981. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winne ...

for more information.

Notable Equipment Changes

* Tempero Racing switches from an

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

chassis. * Menard Racing switches from an

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

engine. With this shift the Cannon Racing team is the only full-time team that still uses Offenhauser engines.

Schedule

Of note is the addition of the inaugural Michigan 500 to replace the California 500 at the now closed

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...

. - The Detroit News Grand Prix was supposed to run for 150 miles, but was shortened due to a scoring error.
Oval/Speedway Dedicated road course

Season Summary

Race Results

Note, the total time of the Norton Michigan 500 does not include red flag stoppage time as the race was stopped for nearly 1 hour due to a bad pit lane fire

Final driver standings

References

* * * {{Champ Car Seasons Champ Car seasons Indycar season