Machinists Union Racing was a

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 ...

Indy Car INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

team owned by the

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Or ...

and run by the IAM's national automotive coordinator

Andy Kenopensky Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

, a former appointee to the

United States Metric Board The United States Metric Board (USMB) was a United States government agency set up to encourage metrication. The United States Metric Board was commissioned by the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 205d, enacted on December 23, 1975). The ...

. The team competed in CART from 1981 to 1990. The team was the brainchild of IAM president William Winpisinger. It began sponsoring racing in 1978 by sponsoring a USAC Champ Car race at

Trenton Speedway Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...

and sponsoring the Indy Car driven by Jerry Karl. The union formed its own team in 1981. From 1981 to 1988 it was additionally sponsored by

Schaefer Beer Schaefer Beer is a brand of American beer first produced in New York City during 1842 by the F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company.The Shaefer Beer Stor The company relocated to Brooklyn in the early 20th century. It went public in 1968 with a $1 ...

alongside the Machinists Union branding. The team's most notable drivers during this time were

Josele Garza Josele GarzaBiography
(born March 15, 1962 in

who drove for the team from 1983 to 1987 and Roger Mears who drove for the team in 1982 and 1983. Garza finished 12th in the CART championship in 1985 and 11th in 1987. Garza brought the team its best CART finish of second at the

Michigan 500 The Firestone Indy 400 was an IndyCar Series race held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event was most recently held in 2007. From 1981 to 2001, the event was better-known as the Michigan 500, and was held in high pre ...

in 1986. Mears finished 9th in 1982 and 12th in 1983 and finished fourth at

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside ...

in 1982.

Scott Atchison Scott Barham Atchison (born March 29, 1976) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians between 2004 and 2015. He also pla ...

and

Kevin Cogan John Kevin Cogan (born in Culver City, California on March 31, 1956) is a former race car driver who drove in Formula One from to . Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving ...

drove for the team in 1988 and saw little success, although Cogan did register the team's best finish of third at the

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

in 1988, finishing 13th in the 1988 championship while Atchison finished 20th. Veteran driver

Pancho Carter Duane C. Carter Jr. (born June 11, 1950), nicknamed "Pancho", is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in CART Indy car races. He won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, finished third in the ...

joined the team with co-sponsorship from

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate owne ...

and finished 13th and 20th in two seasons with the team with a best finish of 7th, coming in his first race for the team. All team members were card-carrying members of the IAM. They had initially experimented with building their own chassis in 1980 but it was abandoned before it hit the track. Throughout his involvement in the sport, team manager Andy Kenopensky was a constant critic of CART's management of the sport and complained that the racing was too expensive and that rules were being crafted to benefit large-budget teams at the expense of small-budget teams such as his own. The union and Schaefer also sponsored a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

entry for

Joe Ruttman Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944) is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. With 13 career wins in the Truck Series he is currently tied for 13th ...

in the 1989 Daytona 500 fielded by CalCar Motorsports.'California Dreamin' of a Race Team in Tennessee
''RPM Race Report'', September 2, 1989, Retrieved 2013-09-16

Drivers

(1988) *

(1987, 1989–1990) *

(1988–1989) *

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� ...

(1981) *

Chip Ganassi Floyd Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) better known as Chip Ganassi, is a US businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scen ...

(1985–1986) *

Josele Garza Josele GarzaBiography
(born March 15, 1962 in

(1983–1987) * Pete Halsmer (1985) * Jerry Karl (1978) *

Rupert Keegan Rupert Keegan (born 26 February 1955) is a former racing driver from England. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 8 May 1977. He scored no championship points. Keegan won the 1976 British Formula 3 Cha ...

(1985) * Peter Kuhn (1984) *

Jan Lammers Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver from the Netherlands whose most notable claim to fame is victory in the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours for Silk Cut Jaguar/ TWR, next to a four-season spell in Formula One ...

(1986) * Randy Lewis (1984) *

Roger Mears __NOTOC__ Roger Mears (born April 24, 1947 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former off-road driver who also drove in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1978–1984 seasons, with 31 combined career starts, and started in the 1982 ...

(1982–1983) *

Rick Miaskiewicz Rick Miaskiewicz (born March 22, 1953) is a former American race car driver from Pittsburgh. He won the Can-Am championship in 1985, the series' next to last year of operations, and then moved to the CART series for 1986. He competed in five ra ...

(1987) * Mike Nish (1986) *

Johnny Parsons John Wayne Parsons1975 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (May 25, 1975) (born August 26, 1944 in Van Nuys, California) is an American race car driver. He is the son of 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner John ...

(1984, 1986) *

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors. Pruett started racing go ...

(1988) *

Chip Robinson Chip Robinson (born March 29, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired race car driver. He won the 1987 IMSA Camel GT series championship and the 1987 24 Hours of Daytona (with Al Holbert, Derek Bell, and Al Unser Jr. in a Porsche an ...

(1987) *

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 ...

(1987) *

Sammy Swindell Samuel Alan "Slammin Sammy" Swindell (born October 26, 1955) is an American sprint car driver. He is a three-time champion and four-time runner-up in the World of Outlaws series; he has also competed in NASCAR and Champ Car competition and attem ...

(1987) (failed to qualify) *

Phil Threshie Phil Threshie (born April 12, 1953 in Alamo, California) is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1977-1981 seasons, with 15 combined career starts, including the 1978-1979 Indianapolis 500 The Indi ...

(1980) *

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

(1988) *

Desiré Wilson Desiré Randall Wilson (born 26 November 1953) is a former racing driver from South Africa and one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non ...

(1986)

Complete Racing Results

PPG CART Indycar World Series

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) # Ran in conjunction with Mergard Racing.

References

{{Champ Car teams Auto racing teams in the United States Champ Car teams International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers