1981 CART Series

Race #1 - Kraco Car Stereo 150

The CART Series made their 1st stop of 1981 at the Phoenix International Raceway, in Avondale, Arizona, for the Kraco Car Stereo 150.

Bill Alsup led the field to the Green as Andretti quickly began to build up a lead as he would lead through the first caution before his team struggled during the pit stop, handing the lead over to Rick Mears, who built up a lead as well before his own problems on pit road trapped him one lap down. Gordon Johncock took over the lead and appeared on his way to a win when he too had bad luck happen as his Camshaft broke while leading, handing the lead over to Bobby Unser. Once in the lead and unlike the previous three leaders, Unser drove around at half speed to make sure nothing went wrong as he coasted to his 6th career CART Series win.

Other Noticeables:
Bobby Unser scored his 1st win of the year,
Unser led 1 time for 32 laps, which were the final 32 laps,
It was the 6th win of his career in the CART Series and his first since 1980 at Michigan; 3 races ago,
Bob Lazier(3rd), Jim Buick(8th), Josele Garza(11th), Scott Brayton(13th), Phil Krueger(16th) and Geoff Brabham(18th) made their CART Series debuts,
Bobby Unser, who finished 1st, is the points leader, has a 4 point lead over Tom Sneva

1.3-Bobby Unser (32 laps led)
2.2-Tom Sneva
3.35-Bob Lazier
4.38-Jerry Karl
5.15-Bill Tempero
6.22-Dick Simon
7.6-Rick Mears-1 lap (30 laps led)
8.26-Jim Buick-1 lap
9.96-Tom Frantz-1 lap
10.23-Jim McElreath-1 lap
11.55-Josele Garza-1 lap
12.8-Al Unser-2 laps
13.37-Scott Brayton-2 laps
14.95-Larry Cannon-2 laps
15.41-Bill Alsup-2 laps (44 laps led)
16.89-Phil Krueger-3 laps
17.20-Gordon Johncock-31 laps (Camshaft) (44 laps led)
18.54-Geoff Brabham-78 laps (Accident)
19.40-Mario Andretti-78 laps (Accident)
20.5-Pancho Carter-79 laps (Accident)
21.1-Johnny Rutherford-106 laps (Accident)
22.42-Bob Frey-108 laps (Header)

Bill Alsup-1-44
Rick Mears-45-74
Gordon Johncock-75-118
Bobby Unser-119-150

3 Lead Changes among 4 drivers

Caution Flags: 2 for 8 laps
Lap 43 (Cars #42 and 1 Accident Backstretch),
Lap 73 (Cars #40, 5 and 54 Accident Backstretch)

Margin of Victory: 16.699 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes and 22 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 2nd race of the season the Gould Rex Mays Classic at the Milwaukee Mile.

Al Unser won the pole, with a time of 35.539 seconds, beating Dick Simon by 0.020 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Al Unser won his 1st pole of the year,
Unser won his 5th career pole in the CART Series and his first since 1980 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez; 3 races ago,
Bobby Unser, who won this race one year ago, will be starting 18th,
Bobby Unser, who will start 18th, has a 4 point lead over Tom Sneva

1.8-Al Unser
2.22-Dick Simon
3.32-Kevin Cogan
4.40-Mario Andretti
5.35-Bob Lazier
6.20-Gordon Johncock
7.71-Bob Frey
8.67-Phil Threshie
9.2-Tom Sneva
10.54-Josele Garza
11.29-Billy Engelhart
12.56-Tom Bigelow
13.31-Larry Dickson
14.28-Herm Johnson
15.1-Johnny Rutherford
16.64-Steve Chassey
17.99-Larry Cannon
18.3-Bobby Unser
19.48-Mike Mosley
20.86-Jim Buick
21.37-Scott Brayton
22.16-Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
23.38-Jerry Karl
24.5-Pancho Carter
25.92-John Mahler
26.57-Cliff Hucul

Race #2 - Gould Rex Mays Classic

The CART Series made their 2nd stop of 1981 at the Milwaukee Mile, in West Allis, Wisconsin, for the Gould Rex Mays Classic.

Al Unser led a field of twenty six drivers to the green flag and would lead the first lap before Dick Simon got around him and would lead for twenty one laps before Al Unser took the lead back on Lap 23 and would lead for just over ten laps before Tom Bigelow took the lead on Lap 38 and from that point on Bigelow was unstoppable as he kept all challengers behind him as a caution free race allowed for drivers only one chance to make adjustments to their cars as Bigelow would keep his lead all the way till with ten laps to go when Mario Andretti made his move and passed Bigelow, as Andretti would hang on for his second career win and his first in 1981.

Other Noticeables:
Mario Andretti scored his 1st win of the year,
Andretti led 1 time for 10 laps, which were the final 10 laps,
It was the 2nd win of his career in the CART Series and his first since 1980 at Phoenix; 2 races ago,
Steve Chassey(16th) and Kevin Cogan(25th) made his CART Series debuts,
Tom Sneva, who finished 4th, is the new points leader, leading Mario Andretti by 7 points

1.40-Mario Andretti (10 laps led)
2.8-Al Unser (16 laps led)
3.56-Tom Bigelow (103 laps led)
4.2-Tom Sneva
5.48-Mike Mosley
6.22-Dick Simon (21 laps led)
7.1-Johnny Rutherford
8.71-Bob Frey-1 lap
9.31-Larry Dickson-1 lap
10.29-Billy Engelhart-1 lap
11.37-Scott Brayton-1 lap
12.16-Tony Bettenhausen Jr.-1 lap
13.35-Bob Lazier-2 laps
14.20-Gordon Johncock-2 laps
15.54-Josele Garza-2 laps
16.64-Steve Chassey-2 laps
17.28-Herm Johnson-2 laps
18.67-Phil Threshie-2 laps
19.99-Larry Cannon-2 laps
20.3-Bobby Unser-3 laps
21.86-Jim Buick-3 laps
22.38-Jerry Karl-4 laps
23.5-Pancho Carter-5 laps
24.92-John Mahler-6 laps
25.32-Kevin Cogan-128 laps (Tire)
26.57-Cliff Hucul-150 laps (Magneto)

Al Unser-1
Dick Simon-2-22
Al Unser-23-37
Tom Bigelow-38-140
Mario Andretti-141-150

4 Lead Changes among 4 drivers

Caution Flags: 0 for 0 laps

Margin of Victory: 0.850 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes and 27 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 3rd race of the season the Kraco Twin 125 #1 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kevin Cogan won the pole, with a time of 33.637 seconds, beating Jerry Karl by 0.111 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Kevin Cogan won his 1st pole of the year,
Cogan won his 1st career pole in the CART Series in his 2nd start,
Tom Sneva, who won this race in 1979, is not entered in this event,
Tom Sneva, who is not entered in this event, has a 7 point lead over Mario Andretti

1.32-Kevin Cogan
2.38-Jerry Karl
3.37-Scott Brayton
4.99-Larry Cannon
5.40-Mario Andretti
6.1-Johnny Rutherford
7.6-Rick Mears
8.20-Gordon Johncock
9.16-Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
10.47-Phil Caliva
11.8-Al Unser
12.86-Jim Buick
13.5-Pancho Carter
14.15-Bill Tempero
15.7-Bill Alsup
16.31-Larry Dickson
17.3-Bobby Unser
18.28-Herm Johnson
19.22-Spike Gehlhausen
20.55-Josele Garza
21.64-Steve Chassey
22.12-Dennis Firestone
23.35-Bob Lazier