1985 Beatrice Indy Challenge
| Race details | |||||
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15th round of the 1985 CART season
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 Layout of the Tamiami Park circuit | |||||
| Date | November 9, 1985 | ||||
| Official name | Beatrice Indy Challenge | ||||
| Location | Streets of Tamiami Park, Tamiami Park, Florida | ||||
| Course | Temporary street circuit 1.784 mi / 2.871 km | ||||
| Distance | 112 laps 199.808 mi / 321.560 km | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |  Bobby Rahal (Truesports) | ||||
| Time | 56.408 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Danny Sullivan (Team Penske) | ||||
| Second | Bobby Rahal (Truesports) | ||||
| Third | Al Unser Jr. (Doug Shierson Racing) | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 1985 Beatrice Indy Challenge was the fifteenth and final round of the 1985 CART season. The race was held on November 9, 1985, in Tamiami Park, Florida at the streets of Tamiami Park. The race was contested of 112 laps. Danny Sullivan won the race. Bobby Rahal finished 2nd, and Al Unser Jr. finished 3rd. Al Unser and Roberto Moreno rounded out the top five, and Danny Ongais, Arie Luyendyk, Bill Whittington, Josele Garza, and Rupert Keegan rounded out the top ten.
In one of the most dramatic championship finales in Indy car racing history, Al Unser wound up winning his third and final Indy car championship over his son, Al Unser Jr., by just 1 point, and earned the $300,000 championship prize.[1] Unser became the oldest driver in Indy car history to win a championship, at 46 years, 5 months and 12 days old.[2]
Report
Background
In December 1984, CART announced that the 1985 season finale would be held on the streets of Tamiami Park in Miami, Florida on October 27.[3] It would be the first Indy car race held in the Miami area since 1926, when Pete DePaolo won a 300-mile race at Fulford–Miami Speedway.[4] The race was later rescheduled to November 9.
Championship standings before the race
Al Unser had a slim three-point gap over his son, Al Unser Jr., following Unser Sr.'s dominant win in the Dana 150 at Phoenix.[5] Since Mario Andretti, who was third in the points standings, was 23 points behind Unser Sr., he and everyone else beneath him in the standings were ineligible to win the title, as the maximum amount of points that could be earned from a CART race at the time was 22 points (20 points for winning, 1 point for winning the pole, and 1 point for leading the most laps). This meant that the 1985 championship would go down to the Unser father-son duo.[6]
Practice
On Thursday, November 7, a pair of hour-long practice sessions were held in the afternoon. Danny Sullivan, the 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner, would set the fastest laps of both sessions. He averaged a speed of 109.121 mph (175.613 km/h) in the sessions.[7][8] Little Al set the eighth fastest speed, while Big Al set the thirteenth fastest speed.[7]
Qualifying
The qualifying session was held on Friday, November 8. The session was divided into two timed groups, with the fastest overall driver from both groups winning the pole.[7]
Bobby Rahal, driving for Truesports, would score the pole for the race, with a time of 56.408, and a speed of 113.856 mph.[9]
Four drivers failed to qualify: Dale Coyne, Darin Brassfield, Scott Brayton, and Steve Chassey.
Qualifying classification
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Race
Race report
Start
With an estimated 50,000 people in attendance, the 28 drivers fired off, two-by-two, in a rolling start.[2] However, heading into the narrow turn 1, Mario Andretti locked up his brakes and hit Emerson Fittipaldi, which sent both Fittipaldi and Roberto Guerrero into the concrete wall. All three drivers were uninjured and walked out, though they all retired from the race.
The destruction only continued as the first lap was completed. Exiting turn 7, Raul Boesel looped his car around. As his turbocharger caught on fire, Kevin Cogan swerved to the right of the track to avoid Boesel, only for them to collide anyway. Michael Andretti, Cogan's teammate, also T-boned Boesel. The drivers were uninjured, but their cars were too destroyed to continue.[2] Meanwhile, Big Al was running in 9th, only two positions behind Little Al.
First half
The race was finally restarted ten laps later, and pole sitter Bobby Rahal quickly ran off with the lead. A lap after the restart, Geoff Brabham, running 2nd, drove into the pits for an unscheduled pit stop. Brabham would eventually retire from the race, citing ignition issues as the reason. Bruno Giacomelli and Jan Lammers battled for 2nd as Rahal continued leading. On lap 37, Rahal gave up the lead for the first time all race and eventually pitted, which kicked off the first round of green-flag pit stops.[11] Little Al pitted a few laps before Big Al did. Giacomelli led his first few laps of the race before he pitted on lap 40, giving the lead back to Rahal.
On lap 50, British drivers Jim Crawford and Ian Ashley collided in turn 1, ending both of their races and bringing the second caution of the race.[2] As things stood, Little Al was 1 point ahead of his father.
Second half
When the race restarted on lap 62, Bobby Rahal had clinched the bonus point for most laps led. Little Al was continuing his steady pace in 5th as Big Al tried to pass other cars to gain points. On lap 69, Giacomelli, who was on pace to earning his first ever podium finish in CART, was sidelined after he crashed in turn 1. He was uninjured, though he never raced in CART again.
As this was happening, Big Al finally began closing in on Little Al, who was still running 5th. Big Al was battling with rookie Arie Luyendyk for 6th. Rahal gave up the lead for the second time when he pitted for a routine stop on lap 74. During this round of green-flag pit stops, Big Al decided to shake up his strategy and pit before his son did. Little Al's pit stop was nearly 2 seconds slower than Big Al's pit stop, though Little Al retained 4th while Big Al was in 6th.
On the racetrack, Jan Lammers and Danny Sullivan battled hard for the lead, to the point where Lammers nearly went off-track in the esses. Both drivers decided to pit for the final time on lap 78. Sullivan, who had the closest pit stall to the exit of pit road, fired off before Lammers did, which gave Sullivan the lead for the first time in the race. Rahal would never lead another lap in the race, as he battled chassis issues.[12]
On lap 81, as Lammers continued chasing down Sullivan for the race lead, he spun in the esses and was beached in the sand trap. Lammers' car never refired and he did not finish the race. With Lammers' retirement, Little Al ran in 3rd, while Big Al ran in 5th. Little Ai still held the hypothetical points lead by 1 point over his father.
On lap 95, Dominic Dobson, who was running inside the top 15 after qualifying 27th, blew an engine in turn 1. Dobson was forced to retire, ultimately finishing 11th.
Big Al, who still needed 2 points to take the championship lead, came to life on lap 103 as Roberto Moreno maneuvered around lapped traffic.[12] On lap 108, Big Al finally passed Moreno for fourth position in turn 2, and for the first time all race, the elder Unser had the championship lead over his son by one point.[12]
Unfortunately for Little Al, the closest car ahead of him (Bobby Rahal) was about 15 seconds ahead of him, which was an insurmountable gap for the final four laps. As Danny Sullivan won the race, the fifth win of his CART career and his first since his Indy 500 win earlier that year, his Penske teammate Al Unser Sr. held onto 4th place and won the 1985 CART championship by one point over his son Al Unser Jr., who finished 3rd.
Race classification
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
- ^ Harris, Mike (November 11, 1985). "Elder Unser Edges Out Son for Driving Title". Schenectady Gazette. p. 22. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Unser, Sr., Upstages Victory By Sullivan". Toledo Blade. November 10, 1985. p. 4. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "CART schedule". Gainesville Sun. December 28, 1984. p. 50. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "Cart Announces Schedule". Times-Union. December 28, 1984. p. 13. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "Only an Unser Can Win CART". The Argus-Press. October 14, 1985. p. 12. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "Indy-Series Championship Between The Unser Family". Portsmouth Daily Times. November 7, 1985. p. 12. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Unsers contend for title". Rome News-Tribune. November 8, 1985. p. 8. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "CART". Gadsden Times. November 8, 1985. p. 13. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ "Unsers to duel for point title". Star-News. November 9, 1985. p. 47. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
- ^ a b "1985 Miami Champ Cars". MotorsportMagazine.com. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ "Al Unser edges out his son to take CART drivers' title". The Montreal Gazette. November 11, 1985. p. 63. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ^ a b c Harris, Mike (November 10, 1985). "Slick move gives older Unser series crown". Daily News. p. 12. Retrieved July 16, 2025.