1996–97 Indy Racing League

1996–1997 Indy Racing League season
Indy Racing League
Season
Races	10
Start date	August 18, 1996
End date	October 11, 1997
Awards
Drivers' champion	Tony Stewart
Indianapolis 500 winner	Arie Luyendyk
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1996	1998

The 1996–97 Indy Racing League was a result of the league abandoning the concept of ending each season with the Indianapolis 500. The 1996–97 season would ultimately comprise the events following the Indy 500 in 1996, and all events contested in the calendar year of 1997.

The 1996–97 season was originally scheduled to begin at New Hampshire in August 1996 and end with the Indianapolis 500 in May 1997. At some point in 1996, the consensus regarding the unusual split-calendar season was decidedly unfavorable. Omitting the normal winter offseason caused potential difficulty with driver contracts, sponsor contracts, and equipment purchasing, which all traditionally followed a calendar-based schedule. In addition, the months of November, December, and the remainder of January were not expected to be filled with race dates, since few suitable venues, outside of Orlando, were available for the IRL in warm-weather locations.

Following the 1996 races at New Hampshire and Las Vegas, on October 9, 1996, the Indy Racing League announced that the league would revert to a calendar-based schedule for 1998. To prevent from awarding four championships in less than two and a half years, all events contested in the calendar year of 1997 were added to the last two races in 1996. Now combined, a single seventeen-month 1996–1997 championship would be awarded in October 1997.

The two remaining races in 1996 (New Hampshire and Las Vegas) were contested with the same equipment as the 1996 season. All races that took place in 1997, starting with the race at Orlando, were contested with all new purpose-built oval chassis from G-Force and Dallara with stock block naturally aspirated 4.0 liter V8's from Oldsmobile and Infiniti. Only seven drivers competed in all ten races of this seventeen-month-long marathon schedule.

Teams and drivers

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No.	Drivers	Round(s)
ABF Motorsports	Lola T92	Buick	Goodyear	96	Joe Gosek (R)	1
					Dave Steele (R)	2
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola T95[N 1] Dallara IR7[N 2] G Force GF01	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Oldsmobile	Goodyear	1	Scott Sharp[N 3]	1–4, 7
					Paul Durant (R)[N 4][N 5]	5
					Billy Boat (R)	6, 8–10
				11		5
				14	Davey Hamilton	All
Arizona Motorsports[N 6] Sinden Racing Services	Lola T95	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear Firestone[N 7]	40	Marco Greco[N 8]	1–2
	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile Infiniti[N 9]			Jack Miller (R)	3–10
				44	Steve Kinser (R)	5
					Allen May (R)	6
Beck Motorsports	Lola T94	Ford Cosworth	Firestone	54	Robbie Buhl	1–2
	Dallara IR7	Infiniti			Dennis Vitolo	5
Blueprint Racing	Lola T93[N 1] Dallara IR7	Menard[N 10] Buick[N 11] Oldsmobile	Firestone	16	Johnny Parsons	2
					Sam Schmidt (R)	4–6
				27	Jim Guthrie (R)[N 5]	All
				72	Claude Bourbonnais (R)	5
Bradley Motorsports	Reynard 95I[N 1] G Force GF01	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Oldsmobile	Firestone[N 1] Goodyear	12	Buzz Calkins[N 12]	1–7, 9–10
Byrd-Cunningham Racing	Reynard 95I[N 1] G Force GF01	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Infiniti[N 13] Oldsmobile	Firestone	10	Mike Groff[N 14]	1–5, 8
					Johnny Unser	6–7, 9
					Paul Durant (R)	10
Chastain Motorsports	G Force GF01	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	77	Stephan Gregoire	3–5, 7–10
Chitwood Motorsports	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	17	Danny Ongais	3
					Affonso Giaffone (R)	4–10
Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard 95I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	4	Richie Hearn	1–2
EuroInternational	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Firestone	50	Billy Roe (R)	4–5
Galles Racing	G Force GF01	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	4	Jeff Ward (R)[N 15]	3
					Kenny Brack (R)	4–10
				70	Marco Greco	7–10
Hemelgarn Racing	Reynard 94I	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Infiniti Oldsmobile[N 16]	Firestone	9	Brad Murphey	1–2
	Reynard 95I[N 1] Dallara IR7				Johnny Unser	5, 10
				90	Lyn St. James	5
				91	Buddy Lazier	All
ISM Racing	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	35	Jeff Ward (R)[N 17]	10
IZ Racing	Dallara IR7	Infiniti	Goodyear	95	Tyce Carlson (R)	10
Johansson Motorsports	G Force GF01	Infiniti	Firestone	36	Scott Harrington (R)	5
Kelley Racing	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	28	Mark Dismore	5–10
Knapp Motorsports	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Firestone	97	Greg Ray (R)[N 18]	5–8, 10
LP Racing	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Firestone	99	Sam Schmidt (R)	8–10
McCormack Motorsports	Lola T94	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	30	Stan Wattles (R)	1–2
	G Force GF01	Oldsmobile			Jeret Schroeder (R)	3–4
					Robbie Groff (R)	5–10
Metro Racing Systems	Riley & Scott V003	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	19	Stan Wattles (R)	10
Nienhouse Motorsports	Riley & Scott V004	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	23	Mike Shank (R)	10
Pagan Racing	Reynard 95I[N 10] Reynard 94I[N 11] Dallara IR7	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Infiniti[N 19] Oldsmobile	Goodyear	21	Roberto Guerrero	All
PDM Racing	Lola T93[N 1] Dallara IR7 G Force GF01[N 20]	Menard[N 1] Oldsmobile	Goodyear	18	John Paul, Jr.[N 21]	1–4, 8–10
					Tyce Carlson (R)	5–6
					Billy Boat (R)	7
				28	Tyce Carlson (R)	1–2
Project Indy	Reynard 95I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	64	Johnny Unser	1–2
Roe Racing	Dallara IR7	Oldsmobile	Firestone	24	Billy Roe (R)	10
Team Cheever	Lola T95[N 1] G Force GF01	Menard[N 1] Oldsmobile	Goodyear	51	Eddie Cheever	All
				52	Jeff Ward (R)	5
Team Menard	Lola T95[N 1] G Force GF01	Menard[N 1] Oldsmobile	Firestone	2	Tony Stewart	All
				3	Mark Dismore	1–2
					Robbie Buhl[N 22]	4–6, 9–10
Team SABCO	G Force GF01	Oldsmobile	Goodyear	42	Robby Gordon	5
Team Scandia	Lola T95[N 1] Reynard 95I[N 23] Lola T94[N 24] Dallara IR7	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Oldsmobile	Goodyear	7	Eliseo Salazar[N 25]	1–2, 5–10
				8	Stephan Gregoire	2
					Vincenzo Sospiri (R)	5–6
				22	Stephan Gregoire	1
					Michel Jourdain, Jr.	2
					Marco Greco	3–6
					Vincenzo Sospiri (R)	7–10
				33	Michele Alboreto	1–2
					Fermín Vélez (R)[N 5]	3–6
					Jimmy Kite (R)	7–10
				34	Affonso Giaffone (R)	2
					Alessandro Zampedri	5–6
Tempero/Giuffre Racing	Lola T93	Buick	Goodyear	15	David Kudrave	1
					Juan Carlos Carbonell (R)	2
Treadway Racing	Reynard 95I[N 1] Reynard 94I[N 26] G Force GF01	Ford Cosworth[N 1] Oldsmobile	Firestone	5	Arie Luyendyk	All
				6	Johnny O'Connell	2
					Scott Goodyear	3–10
Walker Racing	Reynard 95I	Ford Cosworth	Goodyear	50	Robby Gordon	2

Schedule

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Race summaries

Tony Stewart's 1996-97 IRL championship car.

Round 1: New Hampshire 1

This race took place August 18, 1996 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Richie Hearn won the pole. Tony Stewart had led 165 laps and had a nearly three-lap lead over second place, but coasted into the pits with 18 laps to go. Scott Sharp took over the lead, and stretched his fuel to the finish. The win was Sharp's first in an Indycar, and the first win for A. J. Foyt Enterprises since Pocono in 1981.

Top ten results

1. 1 - Scott Sharp
2. 12 - Buzz Calkins
3. 33 - Michele Alboreto
4. 10 - Mike Groff
5. 14 - Davey Hamilton
6. 21 - Roberto Guerrero
7. 40 - Marco Greco
8. 22 - Stephan Gregoire
9. 7 - Eliseo Salazar
10. 18 - John Paul, Jr.

Round 2: Las Vegas 1

This race took place September 15, 1996 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Arie Luyendyk won the pole. This race was carried live on ABC, but a slow pace caused by several cautions saw the broadcast run late, and was ultimately cut off before the conclusion of the race.

Top ten results

1. 4 - Richie Hearn
2. 22 - Michel Jourdain, Jr.
3. 10 - Mike Groff
4. 21 - Roberto Guerrero
5. 33 - Michele Alboreto
6. 12 - Buzz Calkins
7. 7 - Eliseo Salazar
8. 54 - Robbie Buhl
9. 40 - Marco Greco
10. 34 - Affonso Giaffone

Round 3: Walt Disney World

This race took place January 25, 1997 at Walt Disney World Speedway. It was the first race with the new chassis and 4000 cc naturally aspirated engines. Race shortened due to rain, originally scheduled for 200 laps. Tony Stewart won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 51 - Eddie Cheever, Jr.
2. 10 - Mike Groff
3. 6 - Scott Goodyear
4. 1 - Scott Sharp
5. 91 - Buddy Lazier
6. 27 - Jim Guthrie
7. 14 - Davey Hamilton
8. 22 - Marco Greco
9. 33 - Fermin Velez
10. 2 - Tony Stewart

Round 4: Phoenix

This race took place March 23, 1997 at Phoenix International Raceway. Tony Stewart won the pole.

After leading 85 laps, Tony Stewart along with Davey Hamilton, trailed Jim Guthrie on lap 154. On lap 180, a crash involving Sam Schmidt and Kenny Brack brought out a lengthy yellow flag. Guthrie stayed out, looking to stretch his fuel over the final 82 laps. Going into the race, Guthrie, the fledgling owner/driver of tiny Blueprint Racing, was forced to take out a second mortgage on his home to purchase his chassis.

During the final yellow, only 9 cars were still running, with only three on the lead lap. Tony Stewart pitted twice under the caution, once for tires and once for a wing adjustment, in an effort to run down Guthrie after the restart. With ten laps to go, the green came out, and Stewart closed the gap. Guthrie held him off, and won by 0.854 seconds. The $170,100 payoff for the victorious Guthrie helped settle his debts, and he later secured the sponsorship of Jacuzzi for Indianapolis. The race went down in Indy car lore as one of the biggest upsets in series history, with Guthrie one of the biggest underdogs ever to win an Indy car event.

Top ten results

1. 27 - Jim Guthrie
2. 2 - Tony Stewart
3. 14 - Davey Hamilton
4. 22 - Marco Greco
5. 77 - Stephan Gregoire
6. 10 - Mike Groff
7. 21 - Roberto Guerrero
8. 12 - Buzz Calkins
9. 18 - John Paul, Jr.
10. 16 - Sam Schmidt

Round 5: Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 was scheduled for May 25, 1997. Rain postponed the start until the following day, Monday, May 26. After 15 laps were run on Monday, rain fell again, halting the race, and postponing it for another day. It was resumed and run to conclusion Tuesday May 27. Arie Luyendyk sat on pole.

With just over two laps to go, Arie Luyendyk led teammate Scott Goodyear. Tony Stewart brushed the outside wall in turn 4, which brought out the yellow light. The pace car did not enter the track, however, to pick up the leader. Under caution pace, the field came down to complete the 199th lap. Without warning, the green and white flag were displayed at the starter's stand, signifying the field was back to racing conditions. None of the cars in the field were prepared for the restart, and yellow lights remained illuminated for many seconds afterwards. Luyendyk held on to win, but controversy about the officials' poor handling of the situation erupted afterwards.

Top ten results

1. 5 - Arie Luyendyk
2. 6 - Scott Goodyear
3. 52 - Jeff Ward
4. 91 - Buddy Lazier
5. 2 - Tony Stewart
6. 14 - Davey Hamilton
7. 11 - Billy Boat
8. 3 - Robbie Buhl
9. 30 - Robbie Groff
10. 33 - Fermin Velez

Round 6: Texas

This race took place June 7, 1997 at Texas Motor Speedway. It marked the first American open-wheel superspeedway night race. Tony Stewart won the pole. Tony Stewart was scored as the leader in the waning laps, and appeared to have nearly a one-lap lead over second place Billy Boat. Stewart was looking for his first career Indycar win, and the first win for Team Menard in Indy car racing. However, as Stewart crossed the line for two laps to go, he blew his engine. The car spun in turn 1, and he crashed into the outside wall. Billy Boat caught up, and appeared to take the lead. Race officials presented the checkered flag to Billy Boat as winner of the race, but Arie Luyendyk stormed to victory lane claiming he had won the race. Boat's owner A.J. Foyt slapped Luyendyk and told him to leave. The race tape was reviewed and it was determined that laps where Luyendyk, and in fact some other drivers, passed through pit road were not properly counted by the scoring system. Officially Luyendyk was declared the winner the following day. The entire top ten was shuffled about when the final official results were posted. Foyt, however refused to return the trophy and retains the original to this day. A duplicate was awarded to Luyendyk.

In the wake of the Texas scoring scandal, and the restart problems two weeks earlier at Indianapolis, USAC was immediately removed from sanctioning the series. The league switched to in-house sanctioning starting with the next event.

Top ten results

1. 5 - Arie Luyendyk
2. 1 - Billy Boat
3. 14 - Davey Hamilton
4. 6 - Scott Goodyear
5. 2 - Tony Stewart
6. 51 - Eddie Cheever, Jr.
7. 7 - Eliseo Salazar
8. 97 - Greg Ray
9. 8 - Vincenzo Sospiri
10. 10 - Johnny Unser

Round 7: Pikes Peak

This race took place June 29, 1997 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Scott Sharp won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 2 - Tony Stewart
2. 77 - Stephan Gregoire
3. 14 - Davey Hamilton
4. 51 - Eddie Cheever, Jr.
5. 12 - Buzz Calkins
6. 22 - Vincenzo Sospiri
7. 6 - Scott Goodyear
8. 91 - Buddy Lazier
9. 17 - Affonso Giaffone
10. 30 - Robbie Groff

The win represented Tony Stewart's first Indycar victory.

Round 8: Charlotte

This race took place July 26, 1997 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Tony Stewart won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 91 - Buddy Lazier
2. 1 - Billy Boat
3. 6 - Scott Goodyear
4. 17 - Affonso Giaffone
5. 4 - Kenny Brack
6. 51 - Eddie Cheever, Jr.
7. 2 - Tony Stewart
8. 77 - Stephan Gregoire
9. 70 - Marco Greco
10. 7 - Eliseo Salazar

Round 9: New Hampshire 2

This race took place August 17, 1997 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Marco Greco won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 3 - Robbie Buhl
2. 22 - Vincenzo Sospiri
3. 5 - Arie Luyendyk
4. 7 - Eliseo Salazar
5. 4 - Kenny Brack
6. 21 - Roberto Guerrero
7. 18 - John Paul, Jr.
8. 1 - Billy Boat
9. 51 - Eddie Cheever, Jr.
10. 30 - Robbie Groff

Round 10: Las Vegas 2

This race took place October 11, 1997 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Billy Boat won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 7 - Eliseo Salazar
2. 6 - Scott Goodyear
3. 3 - Robbie Buhl
4. 27 - Jim Guthrie
5. 28 - Mark Dismore
6. 33 - Jimmy Kite
7. 14 - Davey Hamilton
8. 19 - Stan Wattles
9. 77 - Stephan Gregoire
10. 70 - Marco Greco

Season Summary

Race results

Round	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most laps led	Race Winner		Report
					Driver	Team
1	New Hampshire 1	Richie Hearn	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Scott Sharp	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Report
2	Las Vegas 1	Arie Luyendyk	Richie Hearn	Richie Hearn	Richie Hearn	Della Penna Motorsports	Report
3	Walt Disney World	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	Report
4	Phoenix	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Jim Guthrie	Blueprint Racing	Report
5	Indianapolis	Arie Luyendyk	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	Report
6	Texas	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	Report
7	Pikes Peak	Scott Sharp	Jimmy Kite	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	Report
8	Charlotte	Tony Stewart	Billy Boat	Tony Stewart	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	Report
9	New Hampshire 2	Marco Greco	Vincenzo Sospiri	Eddie Cheever	Robbie Buhl	Team Menard	Report
10	Las Vegas 2	Billy Boat	Billy Boat	Eliseo Salazar	Eliseo Salazar	Team Scandia	Report

Final points standings

Pos Driver NH1 LV1 WDW PHX INDY TXS PIK CMS NH2 LV2 Pts 1 Tony Stewart 12* 21 10* 2* 5* 5* 1* 7* 14 11 278 2 Davey Hamilton 5 11 7 3 6 3 3 16 17 7 272 3 Eddie Cheever 15 25 1 12 23 6 4 6 9* 21 230 4 Marco Greco 7 9 8 4 16 26 13 9 20 10 230 5 Scott Goodyear 3 17 2 4 7 3 16 2 226 6 Arie Luyendyk 13 20 12 22 1 1 15 21 3 25 223 7 Roberto Guerrero 6 4 17 7 27 13 18 17 6 14 221 8 Buddy Lazier 19 24 5 21 4 17 8 1 12 31 209 9 Eliseo Salazar 9 7 24 7 12 10 4 1* 208 10 Buzz Calkins 2 6 11 8 11 19 5 21 28 204 11 Stéphane Grégoire 8 26 19 5 31 2 8 15 9 192 12 Jim Guthrie 23 13 6 1 26 21 DNQ 12 24 4 186 13 Robbie Buhl 22 8 18 8 16 1 3 170 14 Mike Groff 4 3 2 6 12 Wth 14 Wth 169 15 John Paul, Jr. 10 15 18 9 Wth 11 7 12 163 16 Affonso Giaffone 10 13 32 20 9 4 18 15 159 17 Mark Dismore 20 17 28 11 11 19 11 5 158 18 Billy Boat 7 2 19 2 8 23 151 19 Kenny Bräck 11 33 18 14 5 5 20 139 20 Robbie Groff 9 15 10 13 10 18 135 21 Vincenzo Sospiri 17 9 6 20 2 22 134 22 Scott Sharp 1 16 4 16 Wth 22 119 23 Dr. Jack Miller 15 20 20 24 16 23 19 29 114 24 Johnny Unser DNQ 22 18 10 21 13 19 107 25 Tyce Carlson 11 23 19 14 24 84 26 Fermín Vélez 9 14 10 25 82 27 Jimmy Kite 20 15 23 6 76 28 Sam Schmidt 10 34 23 18 22 27 76 29 Greg Ray 25 8 17 22 30 73 30 Jeff Ward 16 3 17 69 31 Stan Wattles 16 18 8 63 32 Michele Alboreto 3 5 62 33 Richie Hearn 14 1* 59 34 Billy Roe 15 22 13 55 35 Jeret Schroeder 14 19 37 36 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 2 33 37 Robby Gordon 14 29 27 38 Brad Murphey 18 27 25 39 Alessandro Zampedri 35 12 24 40 Johnny O'Connell 12 Wth 23 41 Paul Durant 21 26 23 42 Danny Ongais 13 22 43 Lyn St. James 13 22 44 Steve Kinser 14 21 45 Dennis Vitolo 15 20 46 Mike Shank 16 19 47 Dave Kudrave 17 18 48 Juan Carlos Carbonell 19 16 49 Joe Gosek 21 14 50 Allen May 22 13 51 Johnny Parsons 28 7 52 Claude Bourbonnais 30 5 - Scott Harrington DNQ 0 - David Steele DNQ 0 - Davy Jones Wth 0 Pos Driver NH1 LV1 WDW PHX INDY TXS PIK CMS NH2 LV2 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 (Ret) 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 (2 points) Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (1 point) DNS Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part. Rookie of the Year Rookie

• Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

See also

• 1997 Indianapolis 500
• 1997 Indy Lights season
• 1997 CART season
• 1997 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1996-97.htm
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 148-149)

Footnotes

References