page_title: Roberto Guerrero
section_title: CART Indycar World Series
hierarchical_section_title: Roberto Guerrero / Open wheel racing / CART Indycar World Series
caption_attribution_description: Crashed 1984 IndyCar for w:Roberto Guerrero at Pocono. Photo by Ted Van Pelt with Creative Commons License.
context_page_description: Roberto José Guerrero Isaza is a Colombian-American former racing driver. He participated in 29 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 23 January 1982, becoming the first Colombian to start a Formula One Grand Prix.
  With no championship points in Formula One and no prospects to drive for a competitive team, Guerrero left at the end of the 1983 season to race in the United States. He had an auspicious beginning to his Indycar racing career, winning both CART and Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year honors in 1984. His initial promise was never completely fulfilled, winning only two CART races, both in 1987. Later the same year he had a massive accident which left him in a coma for 17 days.
  Of special note were Guerrero's participations in the Indianapolis 500. He came very close to winning outright on two occasions, but bad luck always kept the victory out of his grasp. In 1992 he spun off on the pace lap after having qualified on the pole position. Guerrero finished runner up twice, in the top-five five times, and held the qualifying speed record from 1992 through 1996. Guerrero was also selected to participate in the 1988 International Race of Champions.
context_section_description: Guerrero made his Indy car debut in 1984 for Bignotti-Carter Racing in the No. 9 Master Mechanic March 84C-Cosworth DFX with legendary chief mechanic George Bignotti serving as Guerrero's chief mechanic. The high point of Guerrero's season was a 2nd-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 where he also shared the race's rookie of the year award with Michael Andretti. Guerrero's best finishes outside of Indianapolis were a pair of 5th-place finishes at the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport and the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway. Guerrero finished out the season 11th in points with 52 points, only one point out of the top ten. Guerrero won the series' rookie of the year award.
  In 1985 Bignotti went into retirement and the team was reorganized as Team Cotter with Guerrero driving their No. 9 Master Mechanic/True Value March 85C-Cosworth DFX. Compared to the previous season 1985 was a disappointment highlighted by a 3rd-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 and a 4th at the Stroh's 300K at Laguna Seca Raceway. The season also saw Guerrero retire out of a race twice while leading, first at the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway (due to gearbox issues) and then at the Molson Indy 300 at Sanair Super Speedway (due to Guerrero crashing). Guerrero finished the season 17th in points with 34 points.
  Guerrero returned with Team Cotter in 1986 to drive their No. 2 True Value/Emerson Electronics March 86C-Cosworth DFX (numbered 5 at Indianapolis only). Guerrero continued his streak of impressive finishes with a 4th place in the race. Guerrero also scored a pair of 2nd-place finishes, first at the Escort Radar Warnings 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the Miami Indy Challenge 200 at Tamiami Park. In the latter Guerrero qualified on pole position and led every lap, except the final lap due to running out of fuel and handing the win to Al Unser, Jr. Guerrero finished the season 9th in points with 87 points.
  In 1987 Cotter sold the team to Vince Granatelli (son of former Indy car owner Andy Granatelli) to form Vince Granatelli Racing with Guerrero driving the No. 4 True Value/STP March 87C-Cosworth DFX. Guerrero scored his first Indy car win at the Checker 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. In the race Guerrero originally qualified 3rd, but the car was declared illegal and Guerrero started 22nd (last) to charge his way up through the field to win. At the Indianapolis 500 Guerrero and Granatelli were one of the few teams to have no issues with March 87C as several teams decided to use year-old 86C models instead. In the race Guerrero qualified 5th and was viewed as among the favorites, along with pole sitter Mario Andretti and defending winner Bobby Rahal. In the race Rahal retired after 57 laps due to ignition problems and Guerrero was in 2nd place to Andretti for much of the race. On the 130th lap a wheel came off of Tony Bettenhausen's car and it hit the nose of Guerrero's car and went flying into the grandstand and where it killed spectator Lyle Kurtenbach. On lap 177 Andretti started to have electrical troubles and Guerrero took the lead. On lap 182 Guerrero came in for his final pit stop and as he exited his pit stall the engine stalled. Third gear had been damaged earlier in the race by the Bettenhausen incident and the car began to get moving, only to stop just outside the pit lane. This caused Al Unser, Sr. to take the lead and get a lap on Guerrero. Guerrero finally got going and unlapped himself on lap 191 and there was a caution on lap 192 for Andretti stopping on the track. On lap 196 the restart came out with six cars between Unser and Guerrero. Guerrero was unable to get by Unser and ended up finishing 2nd to one of the year-old March 86Cs to be pressed into race service.
caption: Guerrero's wrecked car at the 1984 Domino's Pizza 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
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