1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series
Rd Date Race Name Track City
1 April 10 Checker 200 Phoenix International Raceway ( O ) Phoenix , Arizona
2 April 17 Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach Street Circuit ( S ) Long Beach , California
3 May 29 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway ( O ) Speedway , Indiana
4 June 5 Miller High Life 200 Milwaukee Mile ( O ) West Allis , Wisconsin
5 June 19 Budweiser/G.I.Joe 's 200 Portland International Raceway ( R ) Portland , Oregon
6 July 3 Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport ( S ) Cleveland , Ohio
7 July 17 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place ( S ) Toronto , Ontario
8 July 24 Marlboro Grand Prix Meadowlands Street Circuit ( S ) East Rutherford , New Jersey
9 August 7 Marlboro 500 Michigan International Speedway ( O ) Brooklyn , Michigan
10 August 21 Quaker State 500 Pocono International Raceway ( O ) Long Pond , Pennsylvania
11 September 4 Escort Radar Warning 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course ( R ) Lexington , Ohio
12 September 11 Briggs And Stratton 200 Road America ( R ) Elkhart Lake , Wisconsin
13 September 25 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth Speedway ( O ) Lehigh Valley , Pennsylvania
14 October 16 Champion Spark Plug 300k Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca ( R ) Monterey , California
NC November 5 Marlboro Challenge Tamiami Park ( S ) Miami , Florida
15 November 6 Nissan Indy Challenge Tamiami Park ( S ) Miami , Florida
Schedule
The 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 10th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races, and one non-points exhibition event. Danny Sullivan was the national champion, winning for Team Penske. The rookie of the year was John Jones. The 1988 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his third victory at Indy. The 1988 season was the breakout year for the Ilmor Chevrolet Indy V-8 engine. After being introduced in 1986, and earning its first victory in 1987, the Ilmor Chevy dominated the series in 1988, and established itself as the best powerplant on the circuit. Chevy won 14 of the 15 races, and all 15 pole positions. Along the way, the Ilmor Chevy earned its first victory at Indianapolis in 1988, with Rick Mears winning from the pole.