DETROIT (Nov. 4, 1996) – Target/Chip Ganassi Racing became the eighth different team in the past decade to win the PPG Cup as Jimmy Vasser reigned in the closest top-10 points battle in PPG Indy Car World Series history.

Vasser (Target Reynard Honda) edged Michael Andretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Lola Ford) by 22 points for his first PPG Cup in a season where a mere 72 points separated the first and 10th positions. The previous tightest top-10 races occurred in 1986 and again in ’95 when 92 points was the margin. The top five were separated by 44 points, which was the closest margin since a 43-point spread in ’86.

The intense competition was buoyed by the ability of nearly two-thirds of the full-time drivers to record at least one podium finish. Seventeen different drivers made podium visits, and every driver among the top 12 in points either won or finished runnerup at least once during the 16-race season. That feat among the top 12 is unprecedented in PPG Indy Car World Series history.

Among the other highlights:

· Of the six race champions this season, four were multiple winners. Andretti won a series-high five races (Nazareth, Milwaukee, Detroit, Road America, Vancouver), Vasser four (Miami, Australia, Long Beach, U.S. 500), rookie Alex Zanardi three (Portland, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca) and Andre Ribeiro two (Rio, Michigan). Single-race winners were Gil de Ferran (Cleveland) and Adrian Fernandez (Toronto).

· The season featured three first-time IndyCar race winners and polesitters. Vasser won his first IndyCar race at Miami, Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda) at Portland and Fernandez (Tecate Beer/Quaker State Lola Honda) at Toronto. Zanardi won his first pole at Rio, Vasser at Australia and Scott Pruett (Firestone Patrick Racing Lola Ford) at Detroit.

· Fernandez became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race since Hector Rebaque won at Road America in 1982; Zanardi became the first Italian to win since Teo Fabi was victorious at Mid-Ohio in 1989.

· Six out of the top 11 finishers in the PPG Cup points have competed in the series for three or fewer full seasons. Zanardi (3rd in points) and Greg Moore (9th, Player’s/Indeck Reynard Mercedes) were rookies, Christian Fittipaldi (5th, Kmart/Budweiser Lola Ford), de Ferran (6th, Pennzoil Special Reynard Honda) and Ribeiro (11th, LCI International Lola Honda) were in their second year, and Bryan Herta (8th, Shell Reynard Mercedes) was in his third full season and fourth overall.

· Zanardi set the single-season IndyCar rookie record for most lap led with 610, which also ranks in a tie for seventh overall. He topped the mark of 603 set by Nigel Mansell in 1993. Zanardi also tied an IndyCar record for most consecutive front-row starts held by Bobby Unser (1979-80) and Bobby Rahal (’85). He sat on the front row in the final eight races of the season and can take sole possession of the record with another front-row start at the 1997 season opener.

· Zanardi finished third and Moore ninth in the PPG Cup points, marking the first time since 1983 that a pair of rookies were among the top 10. In 1983, Fabi finished second to Al Unser in the championship and John Paul Jr. was eighth. Zanardi and Moore also finished second and third, respectively, at Cleveland to become the first rookies on the same podium since ’83 when Fabi and Paul Jr. accomplished it at Riverside, Calif.

· Several track records changed hands, but the two most notable were by Paul Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes) and Vasser. Tracy’s qualifying lap of 190.737 miles per hour at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix marked the first time in Indy Car history that a driver broke the 190-mile-per-hour barrier on a 1-mile oval. Vasser recorded the fastest qualifying lap of the season for the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. His lap of 234.665 miles per hour broke the mark of 234.275 mph in 1993.

· Michel Jourdain Jr. (Herdez/Perry Ellis/ALTA Natural Spring Water Lola Ford) and Moore became two of the three youngest drivers ever to start a PPG Indy Car World Series race. Jourdain became the youngest in series history when he started at Long Beach at 19 years, 6 months and 12 days old. He moved ahead of Al Unser Jr., who was formerly the youngest at 20 years, 4 months and 10 days. Moore was 20 years, 10 months and 19 days when he competed in the season opener at Miami. He ranked second at the time, but moved to third when Jourdain made his debut.

· The Inaugural U.S. 500 made its debut May 26 at Michigan International Speedway, setting an IndyCar track attendance record with a crowd of 110,879. Vasser won the Memorial Day weekend event from the pole to capture a $1 million prize and a recreation of the Vanderbilt Cup. The Inaugural U.S. 500 was broadcast to 198 countries and territories.

· The PPG Indy Car World Series debuted at two new tracks. The season opener moved south from the streets of Miami to the state-of-the-art Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex in Homestead, Fla. The inaugural event at the 1.527-mile oval was won by Vasser before a capacity crowd of 63,000. Indy car racing also made its first oval appearance outside North America since running in Argentina in 1971 with the inaugural Rio 400 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ribeiro, a Brazilian native, won the first IndyCar race on the 1.864-mile oval before a crowd of 75,000 on March 17.

· The season also debuted a new engine and chassis manufacturer in Toyota and Eagle, respectively. Toyota powered both entries for Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers as well as the single-car entrant of Arciero-Wells Racing. Gurney’s teams also used the Eagle chassis. PJ Jones of All-American Racers gave Toyota and Eagle its first manufacturer’s and constructor’s points with a ninth-place finish at Detroit. Juan Manuel Fangio II of All-American Racers had the best season finish for both with an eighth-place showing at Road America.

· Firestone had 10 victories to Goodyear’s six, but the tire competition was more intense overall. Goodyear had 26 podium appearances, including sweeps at Milwaukee, Detroit and Vancouver, while Firestone had 22 podium visits, including a sweep at Australia. Firestone, however, was the more dominant in qualifying as 12 pole winners used its tires. Had the two tire manufacturers earned points for each race like those competing for the Manufacturer’s and Constructor’s championships (points for top finisher), it would have made for the tightest battle of them all. Firestone headed into the season finale with a one-point edge, but it took the dramatic final-lap pass by Zanardi (Firestone) of Bryan Herta (Goodyear) to avoid losing the mythical title and win by five points.