Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART, Champ Car, and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enthusiast and semi-professional racer Paul Newman and long-time auto racing owner/driver Carl Haas. The duo were competitors in sports car racing during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1983, they joined forces to enter the ranks of Indy car racing. Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in Indy car racing during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The team won 105 CART/Champ Car races and eight season championships, followed by two race wins in the IRL/IndyCar Series.
During the 1980s and for the better part of the 1990s, the team was closely aligned with the Andretti family. In 1983, Mario Andretti signed as the primary driver, an arrangement that would carry him through the remainder of his career, until his retirement in 1994. Michael Andretti drove for the team in 1989–1992 and again in 1995–2000. Both Mario and Michael won a CART championship driving for the team. Newman/Haas was also the team for which Nigel Mansell competed in CART, winning the 1993 title.
Despite their many years of success in Indy car racing, and their status as an elite team in the sport, the team never achieved a victory of any sort at the Indianapolis 500. Their best finishes were second places by Mario Andretti (1985) and by Michael Andretti in (1991). Mansell managed a third in his rookie year (1993).
From 2007 to 2010, Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company and the team became known during that time as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. After the 2011 season, Carl Haas announced that the team would not run in the IndyCar Series in 2012 due to the economic climate. Lanigan became a part-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team closed its doors and sold off its equipment. Both of the team's original owners have since died; Newman in 2008 and Haas in 2016.
CART / Champ Car
Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in the history of CART, its drivers winning eight championships and over 100 individual races. The team's drivers over the years included Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Sébastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, and Graham Rahal.
1983–1988
At its inception, the team was a single-car outfit with championship veteran Mario Andretti, the Formula One World Champion, hired as lead driver. Team co-owner Carl Haas brought in Lola as chassis manufacturer for the team, re-introducing the constructor to the sport. Haas spearheaded Lola's first full-time, full-scale assault on the Indy car market and the car was quickly picked up by other teams. By the end of the decade, Lola would be one of dominating chassis manufacturers in the paddock displacing March.
Andretti won two races in 1983 and finished a strong third in points for the first-year team. In 1984, Andretti won six races, nine poles and scored a total of 10 top-ten finishes to win Newman/Haas's first CART season championship.
In 1985, Andretti started off with three wins and a second place in the first four races of the season. He became mired in a mid-season slump and later suffered a broken collarbone, dropping him to fifth in points at the end of the season. While Andretti recovered from injury, F1 World Champion Alan Jones drove one race in substitution finishing 3rd at Road America. Andretti's second place at the 1985 Indianapolis 500 would tie for the team's best result in that event but was widely overshadowed as a highly disappointing defeat. Andretti lost the race to Danny Sullivan.
In 1986, Andretti suffered a crash during practice at Indianapolis, forcing him to start in a back-up car. He dropped out and finished 32nd. Andretti went on to win two races and finished 5th in points. For 1987, the team switched to the Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8 powerplant. Andretti won the season opener at Long Beach, the powerplant's first Indy car victory. Andretti won one other race but suffered more disappointment than success, including another loss at Indy.
1989–1992
Newman/Haas expanded to a two-car team starting in 1989, adding Michael Andretti. The father and son duo of Mario and Michael Andretti excelled as one of the top teams on the Indy car circuit over the next few years. In their first season as teammates, father and son finished 6th and 3rd in points, respectively. Michael Andretti won the 1991 CART championship and finished second in points in 1990 and 1992.
Starting in 1992, the team switched to the new Ford Cosworth XB engine.