The use of the term "CART" was curtailed in the series and in the media in favor of IndyCar during this period.

Bobby Rahal, who was in his first season as an owner/driver, won four races and three poles en route to the title.

Rahal's three oval wins included a dominating wire-to-wire victory at Phoenix, where he led all 200 laps.

Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, and Jimmy Vasser all sat out the race at Detroit while they recovered from injuries.

In July, Mears dropped out of the Michigan 500 with nagging injuries, and ultimately sat out the rest of the season.