CART: A season review of the 1997 PPG World Series
The 1997 CART PPG World Series season saw open-wheel legends such as Al Unser Jr., Scott Pruitt, P.J. Jones, and Alex Zanardi competing for the championship.
Back in the late 1990s, American open-wheel racing had the CART and Indy Racing Series competing for the lion’s share of motorsports attention. CART had a large number of high-profile drivers to assist in keeping spectators.
Let’s take a look at the 1997 season of CART competition that saw Alex Zanardi take a relentless championship win.
The tracks
The 1997 CART PPG World Series made stops to 17 tracks in total, with four of those tracks being located outside of the United States (two in Canada, one in Australia and one in Brazil).
The 1997 race schedule was as follows.
| Race | Race Name | Location |
| 1 | Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami | Homestead, Florida |
| 2 | Sunbelt Indy Carnival | Surfers Paradise, Australia |
| 3 | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach | Long Beach, California |
| 4 | Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix | Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
| 5 | Rio 400k | Rio De Janeiro, Brazil |
| 6 | Motorola 300 | Madison, Illinois |
| 7 | Miller 200 | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 8 | ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix | Detroit, Michigan |
| 9 | Budweiser/G.I. Joe’s 200 | Portland, Oregon |
| 10 | Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 11 | Molson Indy Toronto | Toronto, Ontario |
| 12 | U.S. 500 | Brooklyn, Michigan |
| 13 | Miller 200 | Lexington, Ohio |
| 14 | Texaco/Havoline 200 | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
| 15 | Molson Indy Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| 16 | Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | Monterey, California |
| 17 | Marlboro 500 | Fontana, California |
Notes from the season
- Newman-Haas Racing got their first win at the season opener in Homestead, Florida in their brand new Swift 007.i chassis, which was driven by Micheal Andretti. This win would be the only win for the team in 1997. It was the first win in a Swift chassis since April 17, 1983.
- Patrick Carpentier won Rookie of the Year while driving for Bettenhausen Racing in a Reynard 97i with a Mercedes-Benz engine.
- Reynard won the 1997 Constructors’ Cup with 346 points ahead of Penske at 156 points, Swift at 143 points, and Lola at 45 points.
- Mercedes-Benz won the Engine Manufacturers’ Cup with 316 points followed by Honda with 290 points, Ford with 230 points and Toyota with 15 points.
- The tire competition between Goodyear and Firestone was incredible, with Goodyear owning the first portion of the season. Firestone came back with a much-improved tire and managed to edge out Goodyear by the end of the season.
The Results
More from IndyCar
- IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
- IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
- IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
- Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
- IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024
Alex Zanardi won the 1997 CART PPG World Series championship while driving for Target Chip Ganassi in a Honda-powered Reynard 97i. He earned win in the races at Long Beach, Cleveland, Michigan, Mid-Ohio and Road America as well as another four top five finishes, which netted the Italian 195 championship points. Zanardi won Rookie of the Year just one year prior in 1996.
Gil de Ferran finished the season in second place driving for the single-car team of Walker Racing, also in a Honda-powered Reynard 97i. De Ferran did not earn any victories in the 1997 season, but he earned seven podium finishes and an additional six top 10 finishes.
Next. Top 10 most unbreakable records in racing. dark
In the coming years, the competition between CART and the Indy Racing League heated up, and the two series eventually merged into what we have today with IndyCar. The topics of having multiple chassis, tires and engine suppliers have come into debate and raised questions of sustainability. One thing is certain: the cars looked and sounded amazing and even had an influence on the current UAK18 aero kit that IndyCar had success with this past season.