1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

Notable team and driver changes

• Tom Sneva left Jerry O'Connell Racing for new team Bignotti-Cotter Racing. The team scaled back to part-time for 1981.
• Team Penske expanded to a three-car operation, with Bill Alsup joining. His owner-driver team Alsup Racing only ran part-time in 1981.
• After racing a limited schedule beforehand, Tony Bettenhausen Jr. ran his first full-time season with his new owner-driver team Bettenhausen Racing.
• Dick Simon replaced Sheldon Kinser at Leader Card Racing, leaving Kinser without a ride. Simon's old team, Vollstedt Enterprises, did not compete.
• Mario Andretti returned to running the majority of the races after a stint in Formula One, driving for Patrick Racing. He replaced Tom Bagley, who was left without a ride.
• Rookie driver Scott Brayton ran a full schedule with family-owned team Brayton Racing.
• After running part-time in 1980, Machinists Union Racing ran a full schedule with driver Larry Dickson.
• Spike Gehlhausen was replaced at Bob Fletcher Racing by rookie driver Bob Lazier.
• Josele Garza ran his first season with family-owned team Garza Racing.
• Steve Chassey ran his first full-time season for the Jet Engineering team.
• AMI Racing only ran two races in 1981 after running full-time in 1980. Gary Bettenhausen was left without a full-time ride.
• Interscope Racing also stopped running full-time, along with driver Danny Ongais.
• At Cannon Racing, Larry Cannon only ran the first few races, with most of the rest driven by Dick Ferguson.
• This was Bobby Unser's final season of IndyCar racing. See the 1981 Indianapolis 500 for more information.

Notable equipment changes

• Tempero Racing switched from an Eagle to McLaren chassis.
• Menard Racing switched from an Offenhauser to Chevrolet engine. With this shift the Cannon Racing team was the only full-time team that still used Offenhauser engines.

Race Results

More information Rd, Race ...

Rd	Race	Pole Position	Winning driver	Winning team	Race time
1	Kraco Car Stereo 150	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral	1:17:08
NC	Indianapolis 500	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	3:35:42
2	Gould Rex Mays Classic	Gordon Johncock	Mike Mosley	All American Racers	1:19:03
3	Kraco Twin 125	Johnny Rutherford	Rick Mears	Team Penske	0:51:29
4		Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	0:45:20
5	Norton Michigan 500	Tom Sneva	Pancho Carter	Alex Foods	3:45:45
6	Los Angeles Times 500	Geoff Brabham	Rick Mears	Team Penske	2:43:40
7	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Johnny Rutherford	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter	1:41:41
8	Detroit News Grand Prix	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:10:30
9	Watkins Glen 200	Mario Andretti	Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:52:17
10	I Copa México 150	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske	1:24:48
11	Miller High Life 150	Bobby Unser	Tom Sneva	Bignotti-Cotter	1:20:10

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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

More information Pos, Driver ...

Pos Driver PHX1 MIL1 ATL1 ATL2 MIC1 RIR MIL2 MIC2 WTG MXC PHX2 Pts 1 Rick Mears 4 1 1* 3 1* 2 1 1 1 8 304 2 Bill Alsup 5 8 8 4 3 11 4 3 5 17 175 3 Pancho Carter 7 20 5 5 1* 10 10 18 15 6 5 166 4 Gordon Johncock 6 16 4 4 36 2 6 5 10 3 3 142 5 Johnny Rutherford 1* 6 2* 3 22 21 4 20 2 26 21 120 6 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 12 7 11 2 DNS 14 10 8 11 19 107 7 Bobby Unser 2 21 13 6 16 9 3 7 17 15* 2 99 8 Tom Sneva 3 4 23 24 1* 19 21 20 1* 96 9 Bob Lazier  RY  12 13 17 9 10 5 16 13 4 4 13 92 10 Al Unser 17 5 6 7 11 14 5 3 14 2 22 90 11 Mario Andretti 11 3 3 2 2* 16* 4 81 12 Tom Bigelow 9 5 24 9 11 60 13 Scott Brayton  R  15 11 9 10 7 8 21 24 20 23 DNQ 57 14 Larry Dickson 10 10 12 9 16 12 8 7 22 DNQ 49 15 Gary Bettenhausen 6 19 42 16 Dick Simon 10 7 31 6 22 25 11 25 20 38 17 Herm Johnson 22 22 17 33 7 13 9 8 9 38 18 Mike Chandler 27 4 16 DNQ 37 19 Mike Mosley 1* DNS 18 DNS 26 7 24 32 20 Steve Chassey DNQ 24 23 22 20 15 15 12 5 DNQ 31 21 Josele Garza 21 14 12 18 19 12 8 23 24 18 6 30 22 Phil Caliva 19 15 8 DNS DNS DNQ 27 23 Kevin Cogan 2 16 28 11 23 23 24 Dick Ferguson 30 18 6 10 7 20 25 Steve Krisiloff 17 7 17 18 26 Rocky Moran  R  6 16 27 Geoff Brabham  R  9 19 9 14 28 Jerry Karl 8 23 21 21 14 22 25 19 19 13 29 Billy Engelhart 8 35 9 11 30 Larry Cannon 20 15 11 20 12 10 30 Roger Rager 13 13 18 21 DNQ DNQ 10 32 Bill Tempero 18 15 14 34 28 17 15 23 12 DNQ 7 33 Phil Krueger  R  14 20 14 16 6 33 Bill Vukovich II 15 DNQ 14 27 6 35 Gordon Smiley 25 18 10 5 36 Jim McElreath 19 11 DNQ 13 DNQ 4 36 Ross Davis DNQ 19 DNQ DNS 16 13 DNQ 4 36 Vern Schuppan 24 17 21 15 4 36 Jim Buick  R  16 19 20 16 DNS 4 40 Hurley Haywood 26 12 17 3 41 Spike Gehlhausen 14 13 2 41 Bob Frey 13 17 DNQ 2 41 John Mahler 25 27 20 DNQ 2 44 Jerry Sneva DNS 12 1 44 Chip Mead 29 14 1 44 Phil Threshie 18 1 44 Dennis Firestone 18 1 44 Johnny Parsons 18 1 Harry MacDonald 21 0 Cliff Hucul 26 25 22 0 Tom Frantz 22 0 Teddy Pilette 22 0 Ken Hamilton 23 0 Greg Leffler 23 0 Michel Jourdain Sr. 24 0 A. J. Foyt 26 0 Salt Walther 32 0 Bill Whittington 37 0 Chip Ganassi DNQ 0 Wally Pankratz DNQ DNQ 0 Orio Trice DNQ 0 Dean Vetrock DNQ 0 Pos Driver PHX1 MIL1 ATL1 ATL2 MIC1 RIR MIL2 MIC2 WTG MXC PHX2 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  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

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