The following
teams and
drivers competed for the 1991
Indy Car World Series. All entrants used
Goodyear tires.
Driver changes Preseason • On August 6, 1990,
Bettenhausen Motorsports confirmed its plans for a full 1991 campaign with driver/owner
Tony Bettenhausen Jr. in the No. 16 car. • On October 12, 1990,
King Motorsports announced the signing of
Jim Crawford for its partial schedule in the No. 26 car, including the
Indianapolis 500. However, he remained non-committal for the rest of 1991 regarding his future plans. • On December 14, 1990,
Scott Pruett received the mandatory medical approval to return to the No. 11
Truesports car for 1991. Pruett had been sidelined for the whole 1990 season due to severe leg injuries in a pre-season crash, with
Raul Boesel as the fill-in driver throughout the year. • On February 16, 1991,
A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that the team would skip the opening race of the season at
Surfers Paradise, and that
Bernard Jourdain would drive the No. 14 car at
Long Beach in place of the injured
A. J. Foyt, who aimed to return at
Phoenix. This marked Jourdain's own return since rupturing his spleen in a practice crash at Indianapolis in 1990. and the
Indianapolis News reported on April 23 that he had been demoted due to non-payments from his sponsors. •
Dale Coyne Racing entered
Buddy Lazier in the No. 90 car, with an older
Lola T88/00 chassis, and
Dennis Vitolo in the car serviced by
Nu-Tech Motorsports. • On April 2, 1991,
Hemelgarn Racing entered
Buddy Lazier in the No. 71 car for a second attempt at his first
Indianapolis 500, driving a newly rebuilt
Lola T90/00. • On April 24, 1991,
Walker Motorsports announced it would compete in the
Indianapolis 500 with
Willy T. Ribbs as the driver of the No. 17
Lola car, with a chance of running more races if sufficient funding was found. This signified Ribbs' return to Indianapolis after his aborted 1985 attempt, looking to become the first
African American driver to race at the Indy 500. • On May 1, 1991,
Thom Burns Racing entered two-time
Indianapolis 500 winner
Gordon Johncock as the driver of the No. 66 car for the Indy 500. • During the weeks of practice for the Indianapolis 500, the following driver assignments or changes occurred: • On May 10, 1991,
Mark Dismore suffered season-ending leg injuries in a massive practice crash. His
Penske PC-17, who collided with the attenuator at pit lane entry, was destroyed on impact. • On May 14, 1991,
Hemelgarn Racing announced that
Gordon Johncock would take over the third entry for the team, replacing
Davey Hamilton. • On May 15, 1991,
Patrick Racing announced that
Roberto Guerrero had rejoined the team as the driver of the No. 40 car for the
Indianapolis 500. Coyne remained entered at Detroit before being scratched, as the team already had
Buddy Lazier and
Dennis Vitolo in its shared entries with other teams. On June 27, the program was expanded to the races at
Cleveland and the
Meadowlands. • On July 3, 1991,
Arciero Racing announced that
John Jones had signed a three-race deal to drive the No. 12 car at
Cleveland,
the Meadowlands and
Toronto. Jones returned to Indy Car racing after a year in the
International Formula 3000, finishing 12th in his third stint in the series. Groff switched over from
Euromotorsports, which replaced him with
Roberto Guerrero for the Toronto race. • On August 1, 1991,
Leader Card Racing entered
Pancho Carter for the
Michigan 500, rekindling the failed
Indianapolis 500 association. • On July 21, 1990,
Chaparral founder and former driver
Jim Hall announced his return to team ownership in Indy Car with support from engine builders VDS Racing. This led to the formation of
Hall/VDS Racing, which would use
Lola chassis. • On August 6, 1990,
Chevrolet announced that it would expand its engine program to supply
Bettenhausen Motorsports,
Dick Simon Racing and
Hall/VDS Racing in 1991. • On September 15, 1990, former team manager Roy Winkleman announced the formation of a new team with
John Paul Jr. as a driver and a
Lola T91/00-
Cosworth combination, provided that enough sponsorship was procured. However, the effort did not materialize. • On September 18, 1990,
Porsche North America announced it would discontinue its involvement in Indy Car competition at the end of the 1990 season, in order to concentrate resources on its new
Formula 1 program with
Footwork Arrows. Team manager
Derrick Walker bought Porsche's Indy Car assets and race shop and, on November 27, 1990, announced the formation of
Walker Motorsport, using a
Lola chassis with
Kevin Cogan as the driver. However, just three days later, Walker put the program on hold due to the lack of promised funding from his partner Jim Gillespie. A subsequent search for funding eventually resulted in a partial schedule for 1991. The team used a
Cosworth engine, except at the
Indianapolis 500, where it changed to a
Buick during the first week of practice for cost reasons. • In October 1990,
Bettenhausen Motorsports secured the use of
Penske PC-19 chassis, having previously raced with
Lola chassis. • On January 10, 1991,
Vince Granatelli Racing and
Doug Shierson Racing, which had been bought out by Bob Tezak from team founder Doug Shierson, announced a merger for the 1991 season, with Tezak's team being integrated into the Granatelli organization. Resources and employees were transferred to Granatelli's headquarters in
Phoenix, Arizona, as well as the
Uno sponsorship and the
Lola-
Chevrolet package. Shierson's subsidiary entry, fielded by O'Donnell Racing, became an independent team under direct ownership from Tezak. It was renamed as
UNO Racing and moved from
Indianapolis, inheriting Shierson's former headquarters in
Adrian, Michigan. while Greenfield Engineering and Andale Racing did not continue after extensive damage to their limited equipment during 1990. Both driver/owners
Michael Greenfield and
Bernard Jourdain continued their careers elsewhere. • On March 4, 1991,
Genoa Racing announced it would enter the Indy Car World Series as a full-time, one-car effort starting at the
Long Beach Grand Prix, with a
Lola T90/00-
Cosworth combination and a potential second car at selected events. • On March 7, 1991, the
Raynor/
Cosby Racing Team closed its operations after five seasons in CART due to the lack of sponsorship. •
Dale Coyne Racing and
Nu-Tech Motorsports, owned by Gino Gagliano, entered into a partnership for the 1991 season, with Coyne entering a car serviced by the Nu-Tech crew on a part-time basis, either as the No. 39 or the No. 90 depending on the number of cars entered by the team. This was done in order for both teams to benefit from the purse earnings obtained by Coyne from using their second CART franchise. The next week, Granatelli severed ties with Tezak, who was blamed by Luyendyk of mismanagement and failure to pay his salary, and the team scrambled to find funding to compete on a race-by-race basis. • After the June 23, 1991, race at Portland,
Genoa Racing discontinued its short-lived Indy Car program. The team had suffered from economic woes due to the crash of
Guido Daccò at
Phoenix, the loss of major sponsorship during the Month of May and the subsequent withdrawal from the
Indianapolis 500, also skipping the following event at
Milwaukee. • In August 1991,
Euromotorsport skipped the
Michigan 500 entirely, due to an alleged engine testing session. The team had both their primary and spare cars damaged to various degrees during the previous Toronto event. • On August 27, 1991,
A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced they would skip the race at
Vancouver due to a lack of a spare car. One week earlier, the team had not been allowed to race at
Denver after
Mike Groff wrote off his primary car in a practice crash, as the spare car had not been entered. == Schedule ==