1999 Indy Racing League

1999 Indy Racing League season
1999 Indy Racing League season
Pep Boys Indy Racing League
	1999 Indy Racing League
Season
Races	11
Start date	January 24
End date	October 17
Awards
Drivers' champion	Greg Ray
Manufacturers' Cup	Oldsmobile
Rookie of the Year	Scott Harrington
Indianapolis 500 winner	Kenny Bräck

Greg Ray won his first and only Drivers' Championship while Kenny Bräck (pictured) finished second in the championship.

The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins and the series championship. This was the last year before CART teams began to break ranks and jump to the IRL.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No.	Drivers	Round(s)
Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	2	Greg Ray	All
Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	32	Robby Gordon	4
Brant Motorsports	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	G	3	Andy Michner	1–3
Brant Motorsports	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	G	3	Raul Boesel	4–7
Panther Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	4	Scott Goodyear	All
Panther Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	43	Dave Steele	4
Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	5	Jason Leffler R	1
				5	Arie Luyendyk	4
				99	Sam Schmidt	All
Nienhouse Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F/G	6	Eliseo Salazar	All
Dick Simon Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	7	Stéphan Grégoire	All
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	8	Scott Sharp	All
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	28	Mark Dismore	All
Galles Racing	G-Force Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	9	Davey Hamilton	1, 4–11
Byrd-Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	10	John Paul Jr.	1–3
Byrd-Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	10	Andy Michner	4
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	11	Billy Boat	All
				14	Kenny Bräck	All
				41	Marco Greco	4
				84	Robbie Buhl	4
Bradley Motorsports	Dallara G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	12	Buzz Calkins	All
DR/Lazier Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	G	15	Jaques Lazier R	2, 4
Phoenix Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	16	Marco Greco	2
Tri-Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	17	Dr. Jack Miller	4, 7
				17	Ronnie Johncox R	10–11
				22	Ronnie Johncox R	5, 7–9
					Gualter Salles	1
					Tony Stewart	4
					Robbie Buhl	10–11
PDM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	18	Steve Knapp	1
PDM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	18	Mike Borkowski R	3–4
Metro Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	19	Stan Wattles	1, 3–5
Blueprint-Immke Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	20	Tyce Carlson	All
Blueprint-Immke Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	27	Niclas Jönsson	10–11
Pagan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	21	Jeff Ward	2–11
Barnhart Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	25	Davey Hamilton	2–3
Truscelli Team Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	26	Bobby Regester R	9
				33	Brian Tyler	1
					Roberto Moreno	2–4
					Jaques Lazier R	5–11
McCormack Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	30	Raul Boesel	1–3
					Jimmy Kite	4–9
					Willy T. Ribbs	10
					John Paul Jr.	11
				31	Nick Firestone	4
Coulson Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	34	Jim Guthrie	4
ISM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	G	35	Jeff Ward	1
				35	Steve Knapp	2–7
				36	Brian Tyler	4
Team Xtreme	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F/G	42	John Hollansworth Jr. R	All
Team Xtreme	Dallara	Infiniti	F/G	46	Mike Groff	4
Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	43	Doug Didero	11
Sinden Racing	Dallara	Infiniti	F	44	Robbie Buhl	1–3
Team Pelfrey	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	48	Sarah Fisher R	11
				81	Robby Unser	All
				90	Lyn St. James	4
Cobb Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	F	50	Roberto Guerrero	1–2, 4–5
Cobb Racing	G-Force	Infiniti	F	96	Jeret Schroeder	4
Team Cheever	Dallara	Oldsmobile Infiniti	G	51	Eddie Cheever	All
Team Cheever	Dallara	Oldsmobile Infiniti	G	52	Wim Eyckmans R	4
Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	54	Hideshi Matsuda	4
Conti Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	F	55	Robby McGehee R	3–11
Harrington Motorsports	Dallara	Infiniti Oldsmobile	F	66	Scott Harrington R	All
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	91	Buddy Lazier	All
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	G	92	Johnny Unser	3–7, 10–11
Cahill Racing	Dallara G-Force	Oldsmobile	F	98	Donnie Beechler	All

Season Summary

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	January 24	TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200	Walt Disney World Speedway	Bay Lake, Florida
2	March 28	MCI WorldCom 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona
3	May 1	VisionAire 500K	Lowe's Motor Speedway	Concord, North Carolina
4	May 30	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
5	June 12	Longhorn 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
6	June 27	Radisson 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado
7	July 17	Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia
8	August 1	MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200	Dover International Speedway	Dover, Delaware
9	August 29	Colorado Indy 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado
10	September 26	Vegas.com 500	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Las Vegas, Nevada
11	October 17	Mall.com 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
Sources:^[1]^[2]

Race results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rd	Race	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Most Laps Led	Race Winner
Rd	Race	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Most Laps Led	Driver	Team
1	Walt Disney World	Scott Sharp	Scott Sharp	Scott Sharp	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever
2	Phoenix	Greg Ray	Scott Goodyear	Scott Goodyear	Scott Goodyear	Pennzoil Panther Racing
3	Charlotte	Greg Ray	Race cancelled after 79 laps due to the deaths of three spectators
4	Indianapolis	Arie Luyendyk	Greg Ray	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
5	Texas 1	Mark Dismore	Sam Schmidt	Greg Ray	Scott Goodyear	Pennzoil Panther Racing
6	Pikes Peak 1	Greg Ray	Mark Dismore	Greg Ray	Greg Ray	Team Menard
7	Atlanta	Billy Boat	Jaques Lazier	Scott Goodyear	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing
8	Dover	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Greg Ray	Team Menard
9	Pikes Peak 2	Greg Ray	Buddy Lazier	Greg Ray	Greg Ray	Team Menard
10	Las Vegas	Sam Schmidt	Tyce Carlson	Kenny Bräck	Sam Schmidt	Treadway Racing
11	Texas 2	Greg Ray	Scott Goodyear	Scott Goodyear	Mark Dismore	Kelley Racing

Race summaries

TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200

The TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200 was held on January 24 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Scott Sharp qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on ABC.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 6-Eliseo Salazar

MCI WorldCom 200

The MCI WorldCom 200 was held on March 28 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox Sports Net.

Top ten results

Goodyear's first IndyCar win since the 1994 Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway and his first in IRL competition.
Prior to this race, Ward left ISM Racing to drive for Pagan Racing.

VisionAire 500K

The VisionAire 500K was on held May 1 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Greg Ray qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Speedvision.

Top 10 on lap 79:

Failed to qualify: 35-Steve Knapp
On lap 62, Stan Wattles crashed after suffering a suspension failure. John Paul Jr. made contact with, sending Wattles' right rear wheel and tire assembly into the seating area. Scott Harrington also spun in the incident.^[3]
The race continued under caution with Lazier initially leading until he had to make a pit stop to replace a punctured tire, giving Ray the lead. On lap 79, the race was stopped so medical helicopters could land.
The race was stopped permanently by track general manager Humpy Wheeler when it was announced that three spectators were killed. As a result, fans and participants were offered refunds.
The race was scratched from the record books due to the fact it did not reach the official race distance of 105 laps (the halfway point plus one lap, unlike the FIA Code, which is simply making it to the start of the fourth lap).
Due to this race and a similar incident (where three people were killed) at the CART 1998 U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway, wheel tethers were added to open wheel cars.
This would be the final IndyCar race at Charlotte.

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 was held on May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arie Luyendyk qualified on the pole position.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 7-Stéphan Grégoire, 10-John Paul Jr., 10-Andy Michner, 15-Jaques Lazier, 15-Troy Reiger, 18-Mike Borkowski, 18-Ronnie Johncox, 19-Stan Wattles, 31, 34-Nick Firestone, 34-Jim Guthrie, 36-Brian Tyler, 36-Vincenzo Sospiri, 43-Dave Steele, 46-Mike Groff, 66-Scott Harrington and 90-Lyn St. James
Until 2006, this race had the latest pass for the lead in Indianapolis 500 history when Gordon pitted on lap 199 and Bräck took the lead in turn 4.
Combined, Arie Luyendyk and Greg Ray led 95 laps. Luyendyk crashed while attempting to lap Tyce Carlson on lap 118 and during the ensuing caution, Ray was hit by Mark Dismore while exiting his pit stall.
The day before the race, the Motorola 300 at Gateway International Raceway for the FedEx CART Championship Series was held. Gordon and Roberto Moreno competed in the race (Gordon competed full-time in CART and did Indianapolis as a one-off for Team Menard, due Menards being his sponsor in the series, and Moreno was hired as an injury replacement at PacWest Racing for Mark Blundell while concurrently driving for Truscelli Racing in the IRL). Moreno finished 4th and Gordon 27th due to a crash.
Stewart, who moved to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, did Double Duty by competing at Indianapolis and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He finished 9th at Indianapolis, four laps down, and 4th at Charlotte on the lead lap, despite being moved to the rear of the field due to missing a drivers’ meeting.
Rookie of the Year McGehee had an incident during a pit stop where a pit crew member hit the ground, but survived.
This race was planned on being Luyendyk's final race. However, he returned to race part-time from 2001 to 2003.
Four drivers named either Robby or Robbie finished in the top 10.

Longhorn 500

The Longhorn 500 was held on June 12 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Dismore qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox Sports Net.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 19-Stan Wattles and 50-Roberto Guerrero
Ray entered the race 20th in points and left 8th.

Radisson 200

The Radisson 200 was held on June 27 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox Sports Net.

Top 10 results

Ray's first IndyCar win.
Ray led 109 of 200 laps on his way to victory. Schmidt led the other 91 laps.

Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500

The Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500 was held on July 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Billy Boat qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox Sports Net.

Top 10 results

Unser's best IndyCar finish.

MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200

The MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200 was held on August 1 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Mark Dismore qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox.

Top 10 results

Colorado Indy 200

The Colorado Indy 200 was held on August 29 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on Fox Sports Net.

Top 10 results

This would be the final race aired on Fox. After this race, ESPN/ABC purchased the rights for the remaining two races.

Vegas.com 500

The Vegas.com 500 was held on September 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sam Schmidt qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on ESPN.

Top 10 results

Entering the season-finale, Greg Ray led Bräck by 15 points, Schmidt by 30 points, Sharp by 46 points and Scott Goodyear by 48 points.
Schmidt's only IndyCar win.

Mall.com 500

The Mall.com 500 was held on October 17 at Texas Motor Speedway. Greg Ray qualified on the pole position. The race was broadcast on ABC.

Top 10 results

Failed to qualify: 27-Niclas Jönsson and 92-Johnny Unser
Points leader Ray was the only championship eligible driver to finish in the top 5 and top 10, finishing 3rd. Scott Goodyear finished 23rd due to a crash. Scott Sharp finished 19th due to engine failure. Sam Schmidt finished 22nd due to a separate crash. Kenny Bräck finished 16th, 22 laps down.
There were several changes in the top 10 in points following this race due to 3rd being separated from 10th by 31 points. Race winner Dismore moved up from 11th to 3rd, Jeff Ward (at one time the points leader) dropped from 7th to 11th, Sharp dropped from 4th to 8th, Goodyear dropped from 5th to 9th and Hamilton moved up from 7th to 4th.
Dismore's only IndyCar win.
Schmidt's final IndyCar race. His career would end due to a testing crash at Walt Disney World Speedway in January 2000 that left him paralyzed.
Sarah Fisher made her IndyCar debut in this race, becoming the first woman since Lyn St. James at the 1997 Indianapolis 500 to start an IndyCar race. She started 17th, but finished 25th due to a broken timing chain.

Final points standings

Pos	Driver	WDW	PHX	CLT	INDY	TXS	PIK	ATL	DOV	PIK	LSV	TXS	Pts
1	Greg Ray	21	21	C¹	21	2*	1*	23	1	1*	21	3	293
2	Kenny Bräck	22	24	C¹	1*	13	7	3	3	10	2*	16	256
3	Mark Dismore	6	7	C¹	16	8	21	17	15*	3	20	1	240
4	Davey Hamilton	8	27	C¹	11	7	3	7	23	2	13	2	237
5	Sam Schmidt	27	9	C¹	30	3	2	22	5	5	1	22	233
6	Buddy Lazier	10	18	C¹	7	14	5	21	2	4	11	10	224
7	Eddie Cheever	1	17	C¹	18	16	4	6	21	11	17	4	222
8	Scott Sharp	4*	8	C¹	28	10	8	1	22	22	4	19	220
9	Scott Goodyear	2	1*	C¹	27	1	12	16*	17	21	25	23*	217
10	Robby Unser	15	26	C¹	8	6	6	2	12	9	16	14	209
11	Jeff Ward	3	2	C¹	2	18	9	26	13	23	10	21	206
12	Billy Boat	9	4	C¹	3	24	24	10	4	13	22	9	204
13	Buzz Calkins	17	14	C¹	19	9	14	5	8	15	5	8	201
14	Scott Harrington RY	25	5	C¹	DNQ	DNS	19	15	6	6	14	6	165
15	Stéphan Grégoire	16	10	C¹	DNQ	4	11	24	14	14	8	15	162
16	Robby McGehee R			C¹	5	19	Wth	14	9	7	6	12	156
17	John Hollansworth Jr. R	19	15	C¹	13	20	16	19	19	16	19	5	146
18	Jaques Lazier R		DNS		DNQ	22	10	12	7	12	7	7	144
19	Tyce Carlson	12	23	C¹	14	21	23	20	11	17	9	13	139
20	Eliseo Salazar	DNQ	20	C¹	33	5	20	4	18	19	12	17	137
21	Donnie Beechler	26	11	C¹	29	17	22	8	10	20	18	11	130
22	Robbie Buhl	20	3	C¹	6						3	24	114
23	Raul Boesel	5	19	C¹	12	23	18	11					98
24	Jimmy Kite				24	25	15	9	16	8			86
25	Steve Knapp	7	25		26	12	17	27					69
26	Ronnie Johncox R					11		25	20	24	15	26	59
27	Johnny Unser			C¹	32	15	13	13			23		57
28	John Paul Jr.	11	22	C¹	Wth							18	39
29	Roberto Moreno		6	C¹	20								38
30	Roberto Guerrero	13	16		25								36
31	Robby Gordon				4								32
32	Andy Michner	18	13	C¹	DNQ								29
33	Tony Stewart				9								22
34	Hideshi Matsuda				10								20
35	Stan Wattles	24		C¹	17								19
36	Marco Greco		12		DNQ								18
37	Brian Tyler	14			DNQ								16
38	Jeret Schroeder R				15								15
39	Dr. Jack Miller				31			18					13
40	Bobby Regester R									18			12
41	Arie Luyendyk				22								11
42	Doug Didero R											20	10
43	Niclas Jönsson R										24	DNS	9
44	Gualter Salles	23											7
45	Wim Eyckmans R				23								7
46	Sarah Fisher R											25	5
47	Willy T. Ribbs										26		4
48	Jason Leffler R	28											2
–	Mike Borkowski			C¹	DNQ								0
–	Nick Firestone				DNQ								0
–	Mike Groff				DNQ								0
–	Jim Guthrie				DNQ								0
–	Lyn St. James				DNQ								0
–	Dave Steele				Wth								0
Pos	Driver	WDW	PHX	CLT	INDY	TXS	PIK	ATL	DOV	PIK	LSV	TXS	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)
Blank	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.
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

¹ The 1999 VisionAire 500K at Charlotte was cancelled after 79 laps due to spectator fatalities.

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.

Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (3 points), the second best qualifier (2 points), the third best qualifier (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (2 point).

References

↑ "NTT IndyCar Series Calendar 1999". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
↑ "Schedule". Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on October 11, 1999. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
↑ Preliminary Charlotte Crash Details Outlined, The Auto Channel, May 15, 1999

American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
INDYCAR	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

Confirmed entries

Season Summary

Schedule

Race results

Race summaries

TransWorld Diversified Services Indy 200

MCI WorldCom 200

VisionAire 500K

Indianapolis 500

Longhorn 500

Radisson 200

Kobalt Mechanics Tools 500

MBNA Mid-Atlantic 200

Colorado Indy 200

Vegas.com 500

Mall.com 500

Final points standings

References

See also