1986 CART season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Bobby Rahal
Season
Races	17
Start date	April 6
End date	November 11
Awards
Drivers' champion	Bobby Rahal
Constructors' Cup	March
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Chip Robinson
Indianapolis 500 winner	Bobby Rahal
← 1985 1987 →

The 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 8th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 17 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Bobby Rahal was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Chip Robinson. The 1986 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500, and would later become the first driver since 1980 to win Indy and the CART championship in the same season.

The first two races of the season were won by Kevin Cogan (Phoenix) and Michael Andretti (Long Beach), respectively, the first career wins for both drivers on the CART circuit. Rain delayed the Indianapolis 500, postponing it for six days. Bobby Rahal, driving for Truesports, passed Kevin Cogan with two laps to go, and won for car owner Jim Trueman, who was stricken with cancer. Trueman died less than two weeks later.

The season would shape up as a two-man battle between Rahal and Michael Andretti. Andretti won at Milwaukee, which put him in the points lead for the first time. On Father's Day, Andretti was leading on the final lap at Portland. His car ran out of fuel on the final turn of the final lap, and his father Mario beat him to the finish line by 0.07 seconds. It would go down in lore as one of the most shocking finishes in Indy car history, as well as the closest finish in Indy car history on a road course (until 1997).

Rahal was back in victory lane in July, winning the inaugural Molson Indy Toronto, but Michael Andretti still held the points lead. Rahal won four out of five races during a stretch in August and September, and emerged with a 9-point lead in the standings with two races left. Michael Andretti won a key victory at the second-to-last race of the season at Phoenix, while Rahal finished 3rd.

Going into the season finale at Tamiami Park, Rahal held a scant 3-point lead over Andretti. Neither driver was a factor at Miami, and just past the halfway point, Andretti dropped out with a broken halfshaft. Rahal effectively clinched the championship when Andretti dropped out. Roberto Guerrero won the pole and dominated the race, leading the first 111 laps. But on the final lap, his car sputtered and he ran out of fuel. Al Unser Jr. slipped by to steal the victory, his lone win of 1986. Unser Jr. won from 19th starting position, the furthest back any driver had won a CART road/street course race at the time.

Drivers and Teams

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1986 Indy Car World Series season. All cars used Goodyear tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No*	Drivers	Rounds
Bignotti-Cotter Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	2 (5)	Roberto Guerrero	All
Curb-All American Racers	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	33	Tom Sneva	All
			66	Ed Pimm	All except 8, 11-12, 14
				Derek Daly	8, 11-12, 14
	Eagle 86GC		98	Jan Lammers	1-3
Dick Simon Racing	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX	22	Raul Boesel	All
			23	Dick Simon	3, 10, 12
				Chip Robinson	6-7, 17
				Ian Ashley	8, 11, 14
Galles Racing	Lola T86/00 (2-11, 13-17)[1] March 86C(1, 12)[2]	Cosworth DFX (1-4, 12-17)[3] Honda/Judd (5-11)[4]	8	Geoff Brabham	All
	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX	9	Roberto Moreno	1-11, 13-17
				Pancho Carter	12
			15		3, 9-10
Hemelgarn Racing	March 86C (1, 3, 9-10, 13)[5]	Cosworth DFX (1, 9-10, 13)[6] Buick V-6 (3)[7]	71	Scott Brayton	1, 3, 9-10, 13
		Cosworth DFX		Jacques Villeneuve Sr.	2, 4-8, 11-12, 14-17
			81		3
Kraco Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	18	Michael Andretti	All
Leader Card Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	24	Gary Bettenhausen	1, 3-4, 9-10, 12-13, 16
				Dominic Dobson	2, 5-8, 11, 14-15, 17
	March 85C		42	Phil Krueger	3
Machinists Union Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	55	Josele Garza	1-11, 17
				Johnny Parsons	12-13, 16
				Desiré Wilson	14-15
			59		11
				Chip Ganassi	1, 3
				Johnny Parsons	4, 7, 9-10
			95		3
Alex Morales Motorsports	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	6	Rich Vogler	3
			21	Johnny Rutherford	All
Newman/Haas Racing	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX	5 (2)	Mario Andretti	All
Patrick Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	7	Kevin Cogan	All
			20	Emerson Fittipaldi	All
Penske Racing	March 86C (1, 3-5, 7-11, 13-16)[8] Penske PC-15 (2, 6, 12, 17)[9]	Cosworth DFX (1, 3-5, 7-10)[10] Chevy 265A (2, 6, 11-17)[11]	1/ 86 (4)	Rick Mears	All
	March 86C (1-16)[12] Penske PC-15 (17)	Cosworth DFX (1-16)[13] Chevy 265A (17)	4 (1)	Danny Sullivan	All
	March 86C (9-10, 17) Penske PC-15 (1, 3)	Chevy 265A (1, 3, 9-10, 17	11	Al Unser	1, 3, 9-10, 17
Doug Shierson Racing	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX	30	Al Unser Jr.	All
Truesports	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	3	Bobby Rahal	All
Part-time entries
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	14	A. J. Foyt	1, 3-4, 9-10, 13, 16-17
		Chevy V6	44	Mike Nish	3
		Cosworth DFX	84	George Snider	3, 9
				Sammy Swindell	10
Arciero Racing	March 86C March 85C (11, 13)	Cosworth DFX	12	Randy Lanier	1-9
				Steve Chassey	11, 14-16
				Eddie Cheever	17
				Jeff MacPherson	13
Bettenhausen Motorsports	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	16	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	3
	Lola T86/00/ March 86C		61	Arie Luyendyk	All except 5 and 12
Dale Coyne Racing	Coyne DC-1	Chevy	19	Dale Coyne	All except 3-4
Gohr Racing	March 86C	Buick V-6 (Until Mid-Ohio) Cosworth DFX	56	Steve Chassey	3-4, 9
				Rocky Moran	6-7, 10-11, 13-17
				John Morton	8
	March 85C	Buick V-6	65	Rupert Keegan	3
J.P. Racing	Lola T900	Cosworth DFX	10	Spike Gehlhausen	3, 9-10, 13
March Engineering	March 86C	Buick V-6	25	Danny Ongais	3
			31	Jim Crawford	3
Mosquito Autosport	March 85C	Cosworth DFX	16 (19)	Rick Miaskiewicz	2-4, 6-8
Pace Racing	Lola T86/00	Cosworth DFX	36	Randy Lewis	2, 6-8, 11, 14-15, 17
				Dennis Firestone	3, 9-10, 12, 13, 16
Team Menard	March 86C	Cosworth DFX	28	Herm Johnson	3

• - The number in parentheses for chassis & engine indicates the round number it was used at.
• - The number in parentheses for car number is the number the car used at the Indianapolis 500, if a different number was used.

Season Summary

Schedule

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Location	TV Broadcaster
1	April 6	Dana 200 for Special Olympics	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	ESPN
2	April 13	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	R  Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	NBC
3	May 31*	Indianapolis 500	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana	ABC
4	June 8**	Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	ESPN
5	June 15	Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	ESPN
6	June 29	Chase Grand Prix at the Meadowlands	R  Meadowlands Sports Complex	East Rutherford, New Jersey	NBC
7	July 6	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	R  Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	ESPN
8	July 20	Molson Indy Toronto	R  Streets of Toronto	Toronto, Ontario	ESPN
9	August 2	Michigan 500	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	NBC
10	August 17	Domino's Pizza 500	O  Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	ESPN
11	August 31	Escort Radar Warning 200	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	ESPN
12	September 7	Molson Indy Montreal	O  Sanair Super Speedway	Saint-Pie, Quebec	ESPN
13	September 28	Pepsi Cola 250	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	ESPN
14	October 4***	Race For Life 200	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	Untelevised
15	October 12	Nissan Monterey Grand Prix Featuring the Champion Spark Plug 300	R  Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	ESPN
16	October 19	Circle K/Fiesta Bowl 200	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	ESPN
17	November 9	Nissan Indy Challenge	R  Tamiami Park	Miami, Florida	NBC

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course
NC Non-championship event
*The Indianapolis 500 was scheduled for May 25, but postponed due to rain.
**The Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays was scheduled for June 1, but postponed due to the delay of running the Indianapolis 500 on May 31.
***The Road America race was started on September 21, but stopped after a few laps due to rain, the rest was run on October 4.

Race results

Rd	Event Name	Pole Position	Winner	Winning team	Race time
1	Dana 200 for Special Olympics	Mario Andretti	Kevin Cogan	Patrick Racing	1:39:42
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Danny Sullivan	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	1:57:34
3	Indianapolis 500	Rick Mears	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	2:55:43
4	Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	1:42:45
5	Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200	Emerson Fittipaldi	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	1:50:53
6	Chase Grand Prix at the Meadowlands	Michael Andretti	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:49:17
7	Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix	Danny Sullivan	Danny Sullivan	Team Penske	1:43:01
8	Molson Indy Toronto	Emerson Fittipaldi	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	2:05:50
9	Michigan 500	Rick Mears	Johnny Rutherford	Alex Morales Motorsports	3:38:45
10	Domino's Pizza 500	Michael Andretti	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	3:17:13
11	Escort Radar Warning 200	Mario Andretti	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	1:56:18
12	Molson Indy Montreal	Rick Mears	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	1:48:05
13	Pepsi Cola 250	Rick Mears	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	1:22:33
14	Race for Life 200	Bobby Rahal	Emerson Fittipaldi	Patrick Racing	2:26:42
15	Champion Spark Plug 300k	Mario Andretti	Bobby Rahal	Truesports	1:33:20
16	Circle K/Fiesta Bowl 200	Bobby Rahal	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	1:29:06
17	Nissan Indy Challenge	Roberto Guerrero	Al Unser Jr.	Doug Shierson Racing	1:52:45

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

Drivers points standings

Pos Driver PHX1 LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIC1 POC MDO SAN MIC2 ROA LAG PHX2 MIA Pts 1 Bobby Rahal 16 18 1 6 20 3 15 1 10* 14 1 1* 1 5 1* 3 8 179 2 Michael Andretti 15* 1* 6 1* 2* 20 2 19 11 11* 10 6 2* 2* 3 1* 18 171 3 Danny Sullivan 4 11 9 11 11 1 1* 2 25 16 3* 5 12 6 2 2 26 147 4 Al Unser Jr. 12 2 5 8 3 9 8 4* 8 6 5 2 21 11 23 6 1 137 5 Mario Andretti 7 5 32 5 1 24 3 3 21 1 24 8 10 9 4 4 11 136 6 Kevin Cogan 1 17 2 12 14 21 23 5 22 2 4 4 4 20 9 14 4 115 7 Emerson Fittipaldi 3 16 7 24 12 2 13 17 20 19 21 3 3 1 7 5 20 103 8 Rick Mears 19 20 3* 3 16 19 4 8 12 8 17 18 8 3 17 20 3 89 9 Roberto Guerrero 8 DNS 4 18 13 4* 17 20 24 21 2 17 22 4 5 12 2* 87 10 Tom Sneva 2 4 33 2 4 17 5 9 18 15 12 13 5 12 22 18 22 82 11 Johnny Rutherford 5 9 8 4 15 7 10 10 1 18 8 16 9 14 12 9 12 78 12 Geoff Brabham 10 3 12 21 7 22 14 14 4 12 20 11 11 22 6 8 5 64 13 Raul Boesel 13 19 13 14 8 23 6 7 5 5 7 9 15 8 14 13 19 54 14 Josele Garza 23 7 18 7 17 8 7 23 2 7 14 24 45 15 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. 8 20 15 5 5 19 24 11 19 10 19 16 6 38 16 Roberto Moreno 20 6 19 13 18 18 25 18 6 10 16 6 16 20 10 17 30 17 Arie Luyendyk 6 15 15 9 16 24 6 23 17 18 13 7 10 15 21 29 18 Ed Pimm 22 22 17 10 6 12 DNS 15 24 7 11 7 10 29 19 Pancho Carter 16 3 3 15 28 20 Randy Lanier 11 13 10 20 9 6 9 21 19 21 21 A. J. Foyt 17 24 19 9 4 16 22 23 16 22 Jan Lammers 9 14 DNQ 8 23 9 13 23 Derek Daly DNQ 6 10 13 11 24 Johnny Parsons 27 22 21 16 29 7 23 11 8 25 Randy Lewis 10 10 20 11 15 24 18 14 8 26 Chip Robinson  RY  14 7 6 27 Spike Gehlhausen DNQ 7 22 18 6 28 Ian Ashley 15 9 23 4 29 Sammy Swindell 9 4 30 Mike Nish  R  DNQ DNS 10 24 22 3 31 Dominic Dobson  R  12 19 11 18 16 19 18 21 13 3 32 Rick Miaskiewicz  R  21 DNQ 16 15 11 13 DNS 2 33 Gary Bettenhausen 21 11 23 26 13 21 20 19 2 34 Dale Coyne DNQ 23 21 DNQ 12 DNQ DNQ 26 23 12 DNQ 17 DNS DNQ 25 2 35 John Morton 12 1 36 Rocky Moran  R  13 16 25 25 DNQ 21 15 21 16 0 37 Jeff MacPherson 22 15 13 DNQ 0 38 Desiré Wilson 13 19 16 0 39 Scott Brayton 24 30 13 27 19 0 40 Dennis Firestone Wth 17 28 14 14 17 0 41 Al Unser 18 22 14 20 15 0 42 Dick Simon 14 22 23 20 0 43 Chip Ganassi 14 21 0 44 Steve Chassey DNQ 17 28 17 0 45 Danny Ongais 23 0 46 Tom Phillips 24 0 47 Rich Vogler 25 0 48 George Snider 26 27 0 49 Eddie Cheever 27 0 50 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 28 0 51 Jim Crawford 29 0 52 Phil Krueger 31 0 - Rupert Keegan  R  DNQ - - Herm Johnson DNQ - - Steve Bren  R  DNQ - - John Paul Jr. Wth - Pos Driver PHX1 LBH INDY MIL POR MEA CLE TOR MIC1 POC MDO SAN MIC2 ROA LAG PHX2 MIA Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th-6th place Light Blue 7th–12th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 12) 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) 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  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie