The 1999 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-first in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 20 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 21 and concluding in Fontana, California on October 31. The season was marred by the fatal accidents of Gonzalo Rodríguez during practice for the Laguna Seca round and Greg Moore at the final round, in addition to various injuries that took several drivers out of championship contention.

1999 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races20
Start dateMarch 21
End dateOctober 31
Awards
Drivers' championColombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Constructors' CupUnited Kingdom Reynard
Manufacturers' CupJapan Honda
Nations' CupBrazil Brazil
Rookie of the YearColombia Juan Pablo Montoya
← 1998
2000 →

Juan Pablo Montoya, in his first CART season after two successful seasons in International Formula 3000, won the championship and the Rookie of the Year honors, the second and final driver to win both awards in the same season, after Nigel Mansell in 1993. The season ended in a tie, with Montoya and Dario Franchitti both having 212 championship points, though Montoya broke the tie-breaker due to having seven wins, over Franchitti's three.

With Al Unser Jr. running his final season in the series, 1999 was the last year in which the Al Unser name was on the CART grid. Also, this was the first season without Bobby Rahal on the grid. Mercedes-Benz scored their final pole and victory with Greg Moore at the season opener before they ended their participation in American open-wheel racing at the end of 2000.

Constructors

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The following teams and drivers competed in the 1999 CART Championship Series season.[1][2][3]

Team Chassis Engine Tyre No Drivers Races Primary Sponsors
  Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-27B Mercedes IC 108E3 G 2   Al Unser Jr. 1, 4–5, 12, 18–20 Marlboro
Lola B99/00 6–11, 13–17
Penske PC-27B   Tarso Marques 2–3
3 5–6, 8
Lola B99/00 9
  Gonzalo Rodríguez 13, 17
Penske PC-27B   Alex Barron 12, 20
  Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 99i Honda HRS F 4   Juan Pablo Montoya All Target
12   Jimmy Vasser All
  Walker Racing Reynard 99i Honda HRS G 5   Gil de Ferran All Valvoline
15   Naoki Hattori 1, 13–14, 16–20 Alpine
  Memo Gidley 8–11
  Newman/Haas Racing Swift 010.c Ford-Cosworth XD F 6   Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline
11   Christian Fittipaldi 1–12, 18–20 Big Kmart
  Roberto Moreno 13–17
  Team Rahal Reynard 99i Ford-Cosworth XD F 7   Max Papis All Miller Lite
8   Bryan Herta All Shell
  Hogan Racing Lola B99/00 Mercedes IC 108E3 F 9   Hélio Castroneves All Hogan Motor Leasing
21   Luiz Garcia Jr. 14, 16–17 Tang
  Della Penna Motorsports Swift 010.c Toyota RV8D F 10   Richie Hearn 1–5 Budweiser
Reynard 99i 6–20
  Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 99i Mercedes IC 108E3 F 16   Shigeaki Hattori 2–3, 6–8, 11, 15, 17 Epson
  Gualter Salles 5, 19
  PacWest Racing Reynard 99i Mercedes IC 108E3 F 17   Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes
18   Mark Blundell 1–4, 13–20 Motorola
  Roberto Moreno 5–12
  Payton/Coyne Racing Lola B99/00 Ford-Cosworth XD F 19   Michel Jourdain Jr. All Herdez
Reynard 99i 34   Dennis Vitolo 1, 6–7, 12, 15, 20 NicoDerm
  Gualter Salles 3 Refrigicent
71   Luiz Garcia Jr. 1–3, 5, 8–10 Tang
  Dennis Vitolo 11
  Memo Gidley 13–14, 16–19 Herdez
  Patrick Racing Reynard 99i Ford-Cosworth XD F 40   Adrian Fernández 1–12, 17–20 Tecate Beer
  P. J. Jones 14–16
20 1–2 Visteon
Swift 010.c 3–12, 20
  Jan Magnussen 13
Reynard 99i 14–19
  Team Gordon Swift 010.c Toyota RV8D F 22   Robby Gordon 1–14, 19 Johns Manville
Eagle 997 15–18, 20
  Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 99i Toyota RV8D F 24   Scott Pruett All Pioneer
25   Cristiano da Matta All MCI WorldCom
  Team KOOL Green Reynard 99i Honda HRS F 26   Raul Boesel 1 KOOL
  Paul Tracy 2–20
27   Dario Franchitti All
  Forsythe Racing Reynard 99i Mercedes IC 108E3 F 33   Patrick Carpentier All Player's
99   Greg Moore All
  Forsythe Championship Racing Honda HRS F 44   Tony Kanaan All McDonald's
  All American Racing Eagle 997 Toyota RV8D G 36   Alex Barron 1–7 Castrol
  Gualter Salles 8–14
  Raul Boesel 15, 20
  Andrea Montermini 16–19

Season summary

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Schedule

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Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location
1 March 21   Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota  O  Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Florida
2 April 10   Firestone Firehawk 500K  O  Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan
3 April 18   Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  R  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California
4 May 2   Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5 May 15   Telemar Rio 200  O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 May 29   Motorola 300  O  Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois
7 June 6   Miller Lite 225 Presented by Kmart  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
8 June 20   Texaco/Havoline Presents the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
9 June 27   Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar  R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
10 July 11   The Chicago Tribune Presents the Texaco/Havoline 200  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
11 July 18   Molson Indy Toronto  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
12 July 25   U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota  O  Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
13 August 8   Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit  R  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
14 August 15   Miller Lite 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
15 August 22   Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer  O  Chicago Motor Speedway Cicero, Illinois
16 September 5   Molson Indy Vancouver  R  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia
17 September 12   Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California
18 September 26   Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston  R  George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas
19 October 17   Honda Indy 300  R  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia
20 October 31   Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota  O  California Speedway Fontana, California

– Cleveland was scheduled for 211 miles, but was shortened due to the 2-hour time limit.
– Detroit was scheduled for 176 miles, but was shortened due to the 2-hour time limit.
– Vancouver was scheduled for 160 miles, but was shortened due to the 2-hour time limit.
 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

Race results

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Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Race Winner Race Time Report
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1   Homestead   Greg Moore   Dario Franchitti   Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes 1:38:54 Report
2   Motegi   Gil de Ferran   Hélio Castroneves   Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford 1:46:01 Report
3   Long Beach   Tony Kanaan   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:45:48 Report
4   Nazareth   Juan Pablo Montoya   Hélio Castroneves   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:46:13 Report
5   Rio   Christian Fittipaldi   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:36:32 Report
6   Gateway   Juan Pablo Montoya   Hélio Castroneves   Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Swift 010.c Ford 2:25:35 Report
7   Milwaukee   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:48:49 Report
8   Portland   Juan Pablo Montoya   Michael Andretti   Gil de Ferran Walker Racing Reynard Honda 1:47:44 Report
9   Cleveland   Juan Pablo Montoya   Gil de Ferran   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 2:01:04 Report
10   Road America   Michael Andretti   Hélio Castroneves   Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing Swift 010.c Ford 1:37:00 Report
11   Toronto   Gil de Ferran   Dario Franchitti   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:56:27 Report
12   U.S. 500   Jimmy Vasser   Jimmy Vasser   Tony Kanaan Forsythe Racing Reynard Honda 2:41:42 Report
13   Belle Isle   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 2:02:24 Report
14   Mid-Ohio   Dario Franchitti   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:42:08 Report
15   Chicago   Max Papis   Roberto Moreno   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:53:38 Report
16   Vancouver   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 2:01:08 Report
17   Laguna Seca   Bryan Herta   Tony Kanaan   Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard Ford 1:49:20 Report
18   Houston   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya   Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:55:31 Report
19   Surfers Paradise   Dario Franchitti   Max Papis   Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda 1:58:40 Report
20   Fontana   Scott Pruett   Christian Fittipaldi   Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford 2:57:17 Report
NC   Hawaiian Super Prix Event cancelled
  Non-championship race

Final driver standings

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Pos Driver MIA   MOT   LBH   NAZ   RIO   GAT   MIL   POR   CLE   ROA   TOR   MCH   DET   MDO   CHI   VAN   LAG   HOU   SUR   FON   Pts
1   Juan Pablo Montoya  RY  10 13 1 1* 1* 11 10* 2 1* 13* 22 2 17* 1 1* 1* 8 25 16 4 212
2   Dario Franchitti 3 22 2 8 2 3 7 3 25 18 1* 5 1 3* 2 10 25 2 1* 10 212
3   Paul Tracy 11 21 3 15 19 1 5 4 11 2 3 2 2 23 18 4 1* 7 18 161
4   Michael Andretti 2 5 7 6 26 1* 15 10 3 2 26 4 4 8 22 14 10 3 5 21 151
5   Max Papis 5 16 9 13 4 5 13 8 16 5 5 7* 26 5 4 23 3 4 2 2* 150
6   Adrián Fernández 20 1* 4 5 20 21 5 4 19 3 6 6 Wth 5 12 3 1 140
7   Christian Fittipaldi 9 3 5 7 3 9 6 14 12 1 3 8 7 25 3 121
8   Gil de Ferran 6 2 6 15 10 25 3 1* 2 14 19 24 22 6 13 26 6 17 27 9 108
9   Jimmy Vasser 4 12 10 11 27 10 4 12 23 23 8 9 5 4 3 3 18 20 18 5 104
10   Greg Moore 1* 4 8 12 8 6 2 13 18 4 20 23 3 11 26 20 23 16 17 262 97
11   Tony Kanaan 21 6 22* 23 5 7 18 15 22 6 17 1 6 23 11 9 21 9 6 8 85
12   Bryan Herta 12 23 3 22 13 23 25 6 6 15 15 20 9 21 8 24 1* 5 4 14 84
13   Patrick Carpentier 7 26 17 14 6 22 9 9 7 22 11 10 23 6 2 9 19 24 25 61
14   Roberto Moreno 11 4 12 7 8 19 4 19 14 16 9 15 2 58
15   Hélio Castroneves 17 9 19 21 25 2 26 26 26 16 27 25 7 7 5 8 26 26 21 20 48
16   Maurício Gugelmin 11 7 14 18 22 18 8 25 21 12 14 22 24 20 19 4 11 6 26 6 44
17   P. J. Jones 13 15 12 2 7 8 20 21 15 17 10 16 15 7 21 12 38
18   Cristiano da Matta  R  14 25 20 4 21 17 11 11 20 21 24 17 19 9 14 5 22 11 13 23 32
19   Scott Pruett 22 21 15 10 24 14 17 24 17 25 7 14 8 17 20 13 7 10 9 22 28
20   Robby Gordon 19 8 16 19 14 27 24 17 9 8 13 26 25 10 10 22 19 21 8 11 27
21   Al Unser Jr. 26 24 12 12 19 16 5 9 9 13 15 25 25 25 DNS 15 22 7 26
22   Richie Hearn 23 10 11 20 19 13 21 22 10 10 16 12 13 12 16 6 16 8 23 27 26
23   Mark Blundell 8 24 13 17 10 13 21 19 12 24 19 16 9
24   Jan Magnussen 18 14 24 7 17 13 11 8
25   Michel Jourdain Jr. 18 18 18 16 16 20 16 20 27 7 21 21 21 26 18 17 20 18 12 13 7
26   Gualter Salles 27 17 27 13 20 25 15 11 18 10 5
27   Alex Barron 15 17 23 9 23 16 14 18 24 4
28   Tarso Marques  R  14 25 9 26 18 24 4
29   Memo Gidley  R  19 11 26 12 20 22 12 13 14 14 4
30   Dennis Vitolo 16 DNS 24 22 18 11 15 15 2
31   Andrea Montermini 11 24 23 15 2
32   Raul Boesel 27 12 17 1
33   Gonzalo Rodríguez R  12 DNS1 1
34   Luiz Garcia Jr.  R  24 19 24 18 23 14 24 24 DNS 16 15 0
35   Naoki Hattori  R  25 16 19 27 14 22 20 19 0
36   Shigeaki Hattori  R  Wth 20 26 Wth 15 23 28 23 17 DNS 0
Pos Driver MIA   MOT   LBH   NAZ   RIO   GAT   MIL   POR   CLE   ROA   TOR   MIC   DET   MDO   CHI   VAN   LAG   HOU   SUR   FON   Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th–6th place
Light Blue 7th–12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
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

Note:

  • 1 Gonzalo Rodríguez died in qualifying at Laguna Seca Raceway after his car crashed into a barrier and flipped while trying to navigate the track's corkscrew turn, suffering a fatal basilar skull fracture. He was 28 years old.
  • 2 Greg Moore died in the season finale at California Speedway after a crash in the early laps. His car lost control coming off Turn 2, flipped over, impacted the inside wall, and flipped several more times. Greg suffered fatal head and internal injuries from the violent accident. He was 24 years old.

Nations' Cup

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  • Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Pos Country MIA   MOT   LBH   NAZ   RIO   GAT   MIL   POR   CLE   ROA   TOR   MIC   DET   MDO   CHI   VAN   LAG   HOU   SUR   FON   Pts
1   Brazil 6 2 5 4 3 2 3 1 2 1 3 1 6 6 5 4 2 6 6 3 264
2   United States 2 5 3 2 7 1 4 6 3 2 7 4 4 4 3 3 1 3 4 5 258
3   Canada 1 4 8 3 6 6 1 5 4 4 2 3 2 2 6 2 4 1 7 18 245
4   Scotland 3 22 2 8 2 3 7 3 25 18 1 5 1 3 2 10 25 2 1 10 207
5   Colombia 10 13 1 1 1 11 10 2 1 13 22 2 17 1 1 1 8 25 16 4 197
6   Italy 5 16 9 13 4 5 13 8 16 5 5 7 26 5 4 11 3 4 2 2 149
7   Mexico 18 1 4 5 16 20 5 4 19 3 6 6 21 26 18 17 5 12 3 1 139
8   England 8 24 13 17 10 13 21 19 12 24 19 16 9
9   Denmark 18 14 24 7 17 13 11 8
10   Uruguay 12 Wth 1
11   Japan 25 20 26 Wth 15 23 28 23 16 19 17 27 14 22 20 19 0
Pos Country MIA   MOT   LBH   NAZ   RIO   GAT   MIL   POR   CLE   ROA   TOR   MIC   DET   MDO   CHI   VAN   LAG   HOU   SUR   FON   Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

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Pos Chassis Pts Wins
1   Reynard 99I/98I 424 18
2   Swift 010.c 241 2
3   Lola T9900 69 0
4   Eagle 997 13 0
5   Penske PC-27B-99 10 0

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

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Pos Engine Pts Wins
1   Honda 383 14
2   Ford XB 301 5
3   Mercedes 193 1
4   Toyota 80 0

Driver Breakdown

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Pos Driver Team Entries Wins Podiums Top 5s Top 10s Poles Points
1   Montoya   Chip Ganassi Racing 20 7 9 10 13 7 212
2   Franchitti   Team KOOL Green 20 3 11 12 16 2 212
3   Tracy   Team KOOL Green 20 2 7 10 11 0 161
4   Andretti   Newman-Haas Racing 20 1 5 9 14 1 151
5   Papis   Team Rahal 20 0 3 11 14 1 150
6   Fernandez   Patrick Racing 16 2 4 9 11 0 140
7   Fittipaldi   Newman-Haas Racing 15 1 5 6 12 0 121
8   de Ferran   Walker Racing 20 1 4 4 10 2 108
9   Vasser   Chip Ganassi Racing 20 0 2 7 11 1 104
10   Moore   Forsythe Racing 20 1 3 5 8 1 97
11   Kanaan   Forsythe Racing
  Team Rahal
20 1 1 2 10 1 85
12   Herta   Team Rahal 20 1 2 4 8 1 84
13   Carpentier   Forsythe Racing 19 0 1 1 9 0 61
14   Moreno   Newman-Haas Racing
  Patrick Racing
  PacWest Racing
13 0 1 3 6 0 58
15   Castroneves   Bettenhausen Racing 20 0 1 2 6 1 48
16   Gugelmin   PacWest Racing 20 0 0 1 5 0 44
17   Jones   All American Racing
  Patrick Racing
16 0 1 4 5 0 38
18   da Matta   Newman-Haas Racing
  Arciero-Wells Racing
  PPI Motorsports
20 0 0 2 3 0 32
19   Pruett   Arciero-Wells Racing
  PPI Motorsports
20 0 0 0 6 1 28
20   Gordon   Team Gordon 20 0 0 0 6 0 27
21   Hearn   Della Penna Motorsports 20 0 0 0 5 0 26
21   Unser Jr.   Marlboro Team Penske 17 0 0 1 4 0 26
23   Blundell   PacWest Racing 12 0 0 0 2 0 9
24   Magnussen   Patrick Racing 7 0 0 0 1 0 8
25   Jourdain Jr.   Dale Coyne Racing 20 0 0 0 1 0 7
26   Salles   All American Racing
  Bettenhausen Racing
10 0 0 0 1 0 5
27   Barron   All American Racing
  Marlboro Team Penske
9 0 0 0 1 0 4
27   Marques   Marlboro Team Penske 6 0 0 0 1 0 4
27   Gidley   Dale Coyne Racing
  Bettenhausen Racing
  Walker Racing
10 0 0 0 0 0 4
30   Vitolo   Dale Coyne Racing 7 0 0 0 0 0 2
30   Montermini   All American Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 2
32   Boesel   All American Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
32   Rodríguez   Marlboro Team Penske 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
34   Garcia Jr.   Dale Coyne Racing
  Hogan Racing
9 0 0 0 0 0 0
34   N. Hattori   Walker Racing 8 0 0 0 0 0 0
34   S. Hattori   Bettenhausen Racing 7 0 0 0 0 0 0

Media

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In the United States, CART continued its coverage on ESPN, but the broadcast booth changed voices. Paul Page handled lap-by-lap commentary, taking over for Bob Varsha, who had departed for Speed Channel. Newly-retired racer Parker Johnstone joined him with color commentary. During his suspension from the first race of the season, Paul Tracy joined Page and Johnstone in the booth. Jon Beekhuis and Gary Gerould were pit reporters.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Honda Championship Auto Racing Highlights". April 2002.
  2. ^ "CHAMPCAR/CART: Mercedes-Benz to Run IC108E 'Phase III' Engine".
  3. ^ "CHAMPCAR/CART: Mercedes-Benz Engines Submerged for Success".