It consisted of 17 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 2 and concluding in Fontana, California on September 28.

The PPG CART World Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi.

After a settlement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, CART relinquished its license of the "IndyCar" trademark for 1997 and beyond.

The revival of the historic term (and curtailing the use of the mostly generic term "Indy cars") helped to differentiate the machines from those of the rival Indy Racing League, and was part of a concerted and necessary effort to distance the series from the Indianapolis 500, to which it no longer had any link.

– The Australian Indy Grand Prix was supposed to run 182 miles, but was shortened due to time constraints.