CART standings for 1981Click on the Driver to see 1981 race-level statistics for that driver. Previous year Next year |
| Driver | Races | Win | Podium | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | AvSt | AvFn | Raf | Miles | LLF | Points | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |  Bob Lazier | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1261 | 0 | 94,853 | 15.6 | 10.5 | 9 | 2,074.83 | 1 | 92 | 92 |
| 3 | Pancho Carter | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1210 | 91 | 166,275 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 7 | 1,913.62 | 3 | 166 | 166 |
| 1 | Rick Mears | 10 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1194 | 181 | 215,110 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 10 | 2,052.27 | 7 | 304 | |
| 2 | Bill Alsup | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1146 | 3 | 111,610 | 9.3 | 6.8 | 9 | 1,995.53 | 1 | 175 | -129 |
| 7 | Bobby Unser | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1132 | 181 | 93,550 | 4.7 | 10.1 | 7 | 1,779.48 | 4 | 99 | -205 |
| 4 | Gordon Johncock | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1079 | 34 | 118,925 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 8 | 1,674.26 | 6 | 142 | -162 |
| 6 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1035 | 5 | 97,736 | 15.4 | 10.4 | 8 | 1,654.92 | 1 | 107 | -197 |
| 10 | Al Unser | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 987 | 86 | 111,775 | 5.9 | 9.6 | 6 | 1,625.46 | 3 | 90 | -214 |
| 5 | Johnny Rutherford | 11 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 927 | 228 | 110,700 | 3.3 | 11.6 | 6 | 1,364.00 | 3 | 120 | -184 |
| 14 | Larry Dickson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 912 | 10 | 56,961 | 15.7 | 11.8 | 7 | 1,552.46 | 0 | 49 | -255 |
| 13 | Scott Brayton | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 895 | 0 | 56,183 | 15.5 | 14.8 | 6 | 1,502.23 | 0 | 57 | -247 |
| 8 | Tom Sneva | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 860 | 327 | 97,271 | 7.0 | 12.9 | 4 | 1,129.63 | 2 | 96 | -208 |
| 21 |  Josele Garza | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 844 | 0 | 63,249 | 13.2 | 15.9 | 5 | 1,247.11 | 0 | 30 | -274 |
| 11 | Mario Andretti | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 702 | 87 | 70,000 | 3.4 | 5.9 | 5 | 922.08 | 4 | 81 | -223 |
| 16 | Herm Johnson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 697 | 0 | 55,883 | 16.1 | 15.6 | 6 | 1,178.86 | 0 | 38 | -266 |
| 16 | Dick Simon | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 684 | 0 | 53,706 | 18.9 | 17.4 | 4 | 1,096.85 | 0 | 38 | -266 |
| 12 | Tom Bigelow | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 640 | 0 | 39,590 | 16.0 | 11.6 | 4 | 960.00 | 0 | 60 | -244 |
| 20 | Steve Chassey | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 526 | 0 | 39,938 | 20.8 | 17.0 | 3 | 961.37 | 0 | 31 | -273 |
| 32 | Bill Tempero | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 524 | 0 | 42,900 | 21.8 | 19.6 | 5 | 820.05 | 0 | 7 | -297 |
| 28 | Jerry Karl | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 466 | 0 | 47,357 | 17.3 | 19.1 | 1 | 812.69 | 0 | 13 | -291 |
| 30 | Larry Cannon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 439 | 0 | 28,609 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 2 | 681.72 | 0 | 10 | -294 |
| 25 | Steve Krisiloff | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 409 | 0 | 20,835 | 6.3 | 13.7 | 2 | 624.00 | 0 | 18 | -286 |
| 30 | Roger Rager | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 404 | 0 | 23,260 | 24.8 | 16.3 | 1 | 724.00 | 0 | 10 | -294 |
| 23 | Kevin Cogan | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 380 | 4 | 37,314 | 8.8 | 16.0 | 1 | 609.48 | 0 | 23 | -281 |
| 24 | Dick Ferguson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 375 | 0 | 36,428 | 16.4 | 14.2 | 3 | 672.10 | 1 | 20 | -284 |
| 15 | Gary Bettenhausen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 374 | 0 | 17,845 | 15.0 | 12.5 | 1 | 621.00 | 0 | 42 | -262 |
| 19 | Mike Mosley | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 363 | 79 | 51,700 | 15.0 | 15.2 | 2 | 594.00 | 1 | 32 | -272 |
| 29 | Billy Engelhart | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 353 | 0 | 15,845 | 18.7 | 17.3 | 2 | 371.00 | 0 | 11 | -293 |
| 33 | Phil Krueger | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 339 | 0 | 20,079 | 21.8 | 16.0 | 3 | 479.80 | 0 | 6 | -298 |
| 22 |  Phil Caliva | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 330 | 0 | 14,941 | 24.3 | 14.0 | 2 | 614.59 | 0 | 27 | -277 |
| 36 |  Vern Schuppan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 295 | 0 | 18,973 | 20.5 | 19.3 | 1 | 509.50 | 0 | 4 | -300 |
| 36 | Jim Buick | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 271 | 0 | 17,404 | 19.8 | 17.8 | 2 | 318.50 | 0 | 4 | -300 |
| 41 | Bob Frey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 270 | 0 | 6,911 | 21.5 | 15.0 | 2 | 270.00 | 0 | 2 | -302 |
| 33 | Billy Vukovich, Jr. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 250 | 0 | 15,545 | 24.3 | 18.7 | 1 | 502.00 | 0 | 6 | -298 |
| 27 | Geoff Brabham | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 231 | 17 | 20,279 | 4.3 | 12.3 | 2 | 385.50 | 0 | 14 | -290 |
| 18 | Michael Chandler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 224 | 0 | 29,810 | 10.3 | 15.7 | 1 | 595.70 | 0 | 37 | -267 |
| 44 | Chip Mead | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 212 | 0 | 13,120 | 18.5 | 21.5 | 1 | 282.00 | 0 | 1 | -303 |
| 35 | Gordon Smiley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 0 | 15,783 | 20.3 | 17.7 | 1 | 251.29 | 0 | 5 | -299 |
| 41 | Spike Gehlhausen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 0 | 8,566 | 16.5 | 13.5 | 2 | 240.48 | 0 | 2 | -302 |
| 36 | Jim McElreath | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 154 | 0 | 18,841 | 17.7 | 14.3 | 2 | 308.50 | 0 | 4 | -300 |
| 44 | Jerry Sneva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 0 | 1,875 | 24.0 | 12.0 | 1 | 143.00 | 0 | 1 | -303 |
| 36 | Ross Davis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 0 | 11,229 | 22.3 | 16.0 | 1 | 326.73 | 0 | 4 | -300 |
| 41 | John Mahler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 0 | 7,040 | 23.0 | 24.0 | 0 | 158.40 | 0 | 2 | -302 |
| 44 | Phil Threshie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 133 | 0 | 4,290 | 21.0 | 18.0 | 1 | 133.00 | 0 | 1 | -303 |
 Harry MacDonald | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 3,200 | 36.0 | 21.0 | 0 | 240.00 | 0 | |||
| 44 | Johnny Parsons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 5,665 | 19.0 | 18.0 | 0 | 116.00 | 0 | 1 | -303 |
| Cliff Hucul | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 0 | 9,730 | 28.0 | 24.3 | 0 | 216.00 | 0 | |||
| 40 | Hurley Haywood | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 0 | 16,370 | 15.0 | 18.3 | 2 | 309.30 | 0 | 3 | -301 |
| A.J. Foyt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 0 | 7,380 | 6.0 | 26.0 | 0 | 160.00 | 0 | |||
| 26 | Rocky Moran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | 21 | 10,665 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 0 | 185.74 | 0 | 16 | -288 |
| Salt Walther | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 6,780 | 28.0 | 32.0 | 0 | 106.00 | 0 | |||
| 44 | Dennis Firestone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 3,814 | 15.0 | 18.0 | 0 | 56.31 | 0 | 1 | -303 |
| Greg Leffler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 5,665 | 14.0 | 23.0 | 0 | 25.00 | 0 | |||
| Michel Jourdain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 2,000 | 26.0 | 24.0 | 0 | 45.00 | 0 | |||
| Ken Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1,250 | 26.0 | 23.0 | 0 | 46.20 | 0 | |||
 Teddy Pilette | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4,415 | 12.0 | 22.0 | 0 | 47.28 | 0 | |||
| Bill Whittington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8,180 | 8.0 | 37.0 | 0 | 8.00 | 0 | |||
| Tom Frantz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,386 | 22.0 | 22.0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |