Champions
| Season | Driver | Team | Chassis/Engine Cup | Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCCA/CART Indy Car Series | ||||
| 1979 | Rick Mears | Penske Racing | Penske/Cosworth–Ford | Bill Alsup |
| PPG Indy Car World Series – sanctioned by CART (except for Indianapolis 500) | ||||
| 1980 | Johnny Rutherford | Chaparral Racing | Chaparral/Cosworth–Ford | Dennis Firestone |
| 1981 | Rick Mears | Penske Racing | Penske/Cosworth–Ford | Bob Lazier |
| 1982 | Rick Mears | Penske Racing | Penske/Cosworth–Ford | Bobby Rahal |
| 1983 | Al Unser | Penske Racing | Penske/Cosworth–Ford | Teo Fabi |
| 1984 | Mario Andretti | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Roberto Guerrero |
| 1985 | Al Unser | Penske Racing | March/Cosworth–Ford | Arie Luyendyk |
| 1986 | Bobby Rahal | Truesports | March/Cosworth–Ford | Dominic Dobson |
| 1987 | Bobby Rahal | Truesports | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Fabrizio Barbazza |
| 1988 | Danny Sullivan | Penske Racing | Penske/Chevrolet | John Jones |
| 1989 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Patrick Racing | Penske/Chevrolet | Bernard Jourdain |
| 1990 | Al Unser, Jr. | Galles-Kraco Racing | Lola/Chevrolet | Eddie Cheever |
| 1991 | Michael Andretti | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Chevrolet | Jeff Andretti |
| 1992 | Bobby Rahal | Rahal/Hogan Racing | Lola/Chevrolet | Stefan Johansson |
| 1993 | Nigel Mansell | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Nigel Mansell |
| 1994 | Al Unser, Jr. | Penske Racing | Penske/Ilmor | Jacques Villeneuve |
| 1995 | Jacques Villeneuve | Team Green Racing | Reynard/Cosworth–Ford | Gil de Ferran |
| 1996 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | Alex Zanardi |
| PPG CART World Series – sanctioned by CART | ||||
| 1997 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | Patrick Carpentier |
| FedEx Championship Series – sanctioned by CART | ||||
| 1998 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | Tony Kanaan |
| 1999 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| 2000 | Gil de Ferran | Penske Racing | Reynard/Honda | Kenny Bräck |
| 2001 | Gil de Ferran | Penske Racing | Reynard/Honda | Scott Dixon |
| 2002 | Cristiano da Matta | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Toyota | Mario Dominguez |
| Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford – sanctioned by CART | ||||
| 2003 | Paul Tracy | Player's/Forsythe Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Sébastien Bourdais |
| Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford – sanctioned by OWRS | ||||
| 2004 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | A. J. Allmendinger |
| 2005 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Timo Glock |
| 2006 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Cosworth–Ford | Will Power |
| Champ Car World Series – sanctioned by OWRS | ||||
| 2007 | Sébastien Bourdais | Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | Panoz/Cosworth | Robert Doornbos |
| 2008 | After "unification", Champ Car sanctioned a race at Long Beach where drivers scored points towards IndyCar title | |||
Read more about this topic: Champ Car
Famous quotes containing the word champions:
“Did all the lets and bars appear
To every just or larger end,
Whence should come the trust and cheer?
Youth must its ignorant impulse lend—
Age finds place in the rear.
All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys,
The champions and enthusiasts of the state:”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“While the Governor, and the Mayor, and countless officers of the Commonwealth are at large, the champions of liberty are imprisoned.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men’s reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of “the rat race” is not yet final.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)