In 1989, Lazier attempted to qualify for his first CART Indy Car World Series race, the Indianapolis 500. Lazier drove the No. 35 Lazier Racing March 87C-Cosworth DFX. Lazier crashed in practice and failed to qualify for the race. Lazier later drove for Gary Trout Motorsports in the No. 23 March 87C-Cosworth DFX at the season-ending Champion Spark Plug 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway. Lazier again failed to qualify for the race. In 1990, Lazier first competed at the Indianapolis 500. Lazier drove for Hemelgarn Racing in the No. 91 &lt;a href="Lola%20Cars"&gt;Lola T88/00&lt;/a&gt;-Buick. Lazier crashed his primary car in practice but was able to provisionally qualify for the race in his back-up car. At the beginning of Bump Day, Lazier was the slowest car in the field. John Paul Jr. bumped Lazier from the field and Lazier ultimately failed to qualify. Lazier drove a partial season for Hemelgarn, moving to the team's No. 71 car. Lazier qualified for his first 500-mile race at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway in the No. 24 Penske PC17-Buick for Arciero Racing. Lazier started and finished in 26th, retiring from the race early on due to a gearbox problem. Lazier achieved a best finish of 12th place at the Molson Indy Vancouver at Concord Pacific Place, scoring his only championship point of 1990 – a result which scored him 29th place in the final standings.