1977 USAC Championship Car season

The 1977 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 6 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 29. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The schedule included a road course for the first time since 1970. Entrants (partial list)

TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds A.J. Foyt EnterprisesCoyoteFoyt A.J. Foyt 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12 AgajanianKingOffenhauser Gary Bettenhausen 4-9, 11-12, 14 All American RacersEagle (1-7 9-10, 12) Lightning (11)Offenhauser Pancho Carter 1-7, 9-12 Alex MoralesLightningOffenhauser Pancho Carter 14LightningOffenhauser Bobby Olivero 5-7, 10-14 Interscope RacingParnelliCosworth Danny Ongais 1-3, 5-14 Jerry O"Connell RacingEagle (1-4, 14) Lightning (5-7, 9, 12-13)Offenhauser Mike Mosley 1-7, 9, 12-14 Joe HuntEagle Offenhauser Gary Bettenhausen 1-2 Leader Card RacingEagleOffenhauser Tom Bigelow All Lindsey Hopkins RacingLightningOffenhauser Roger McCluskey 2-3, 5-13 McLarenMcLarenCosworth Johnny Rutherford All Patrick RacingWildcatDGS Gordon Johncock AllWildcatDGS Wally Dallenbach All Team PenskeMcLaren (1-8, 11, 14) Penske (9-10, 12-13)Cosworth (1-13) Offenhauser (14) Tom Sneva AllMcLaren (2, 4-5, 7, 12, 14) Penske (13)Cosworth (2, 5, 7, 12-14) Offenhauser (4) Mario Andretti 2, 4-5, 7, 12-14 Vel's Parnelli Jones RacingParnelliCosworth Al Unser 1-3, 5-14

Schedule and results

Rnd Date Race name Track Location Pole position Winning driver 1 March 6 Datsun Twin 200s Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California Johnny Rutherford A. J. Foyt 2 March 27 Jimmy Bryan 150 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford 3 April 2 Texas Grand Prix Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva 4 April 30 Trenton 200 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Johnny Rutherford Wally Dallenbach Sr. 5 May 29 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Tom Sneva A. J. Foyt 6 June 12 Rex Mays Classic 150 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Bobby Unser Johnny Rutherford 7 June 26 Schaefer 500 Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania A. J. Foyt Tom Sneva 8 July 3 Molson Diamond Indy Mosport Park Bowmanville, Ontario Al Unser A. J. Foyt 9 July 17 Norton 200 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan Tom Sneva Danny Ongais 10 July 31 American Parts 200 Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas Danny Ongais Johnny Rutherford 11 August 21 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Danny Ongais Johnny Rutherford 12 September 4 California 500 Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California Johnny Rutherford Al Unser 13 September 17 Michigan Grand Prix Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan Danny Ongais Gordon Johncock - September 24 Machinists Union 150 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Race postponed due to rain; eventually cancelled 14 October 29 Bobby Ball 150 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona Bobby Unser Gordon Johncock

The Machinist Union 150, scheduled for September 24, was first postponed due to rain, and was eventually cancelled on October 3.

Final points standings

Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2TRE2 PHX2 Pts 1 Tom Sneva 14 16 1 10 2 2 1 3 4 5 18 3 10 C 17 3965 2 Al Unser 2 9 2 3 3 25 17 16 21 15 1 4 C 2 3030 3 Johnny Rutherford 25 1 4 8 33 1 5 9 3 1 1 24 2 C 22 2840 4 A. J. Foyt 1 2 14 1 15 1 Wth 19 2 C 2840 5 Gordon Johncock 5 12 9 2 11 12 3 18 2 2 10 11 1 C 1 2830 6 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 18 10 3 1 4 15 4 16 8 17 3 20 3 C 6 2635 7 Mario Andretti DNQ 16 26 2 4 20 C 4 1580 8 Pancho Carter 3 20 11 9 15 5 20 10 3 2 14 3 1420 9 Tom Bigelow 4 4 12 15 6 7 29 8 11 10 4 28 15 C 19 1370 10 Mike Mosley 16 6 5 3 19 4 8 Wth 16 18 C DNQ 1030 11 Roger McCluskey 22 3 17 5 8 19 26 11 20 DNQ 20 22 7 C 5 940 12 Danny Ongais 7 5 13 20 17 23 15 1 13 21 8 17 C 12 935 13 Bobby Olivero 25 6 32 9 6 5 9 C 21 920 14 Gary Bettenhausen 10 11 11 16 20 7 2 17 8 17 C 14 850 15 Johnny Parsons DNQ DNP 5 DNQ 11 18 4 13 29 14 C 20 840 16 Larry Dickson 13 DNQ 18 DNQ 13 5 8 12 7 6 C 18 740 17 Lee Kunzman 7 DNP 6 DNQ 22 15 16 DNQ 700 18 Todd Gibson 11 13 6 6 DNQ 14 DNQ 4 15 DNQ DNQ 600 19 Rick Mears 24 DNQ 15 DNQ 30 6 7 5 26 8 C 555 20 Spike Gehlhausen 26 14 8 12 DNQ 9 DNQ 10 9 12 7 13 13 C 7 550 21 Jim McElreath 23 24 12 6 9 5 530 22 Vern Schuppan 8 8 16 17 DNQ 21 19 6 475 23 Salt Walther 23 18 4 DNQ 18 12 6 DNP 25 DNQ C 13 450 24 Dick Simon 6 7 31 13 16 19 14 9 33 C 11 360 25 Steve Krisiloff 21 9 DNP 22 14 7 DNQ 19 27 320 26 James McElreath DNQ 7 7 DNQ 31 DNQ DNQ 23 19 C 240 27 Bill Vukovich II 20 19 13 17 9 12 14 31 220 28 Joe Saldana DNQ 11 10 Wth 18 11 DNQ 22 C 220 29 Jerry Grant Wth 13 5 DNQ DNQ 16 200 30 Ed Crombie 10 7 DNQ 14 DNS 165 31 Jerry Sneva 10 DNP 18 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ C 150 32 John Martin DNQ 10 150 33 Larry Cannon DNP DNQ 12 12 C 9 125 34 Bill Simpson 9 22 Wth 80 35 Bobby Unser 15 17 DNP Wth 18 16 19 21 15 17 30 8 75 36 Clark Templeman 8 75 37 Al Loquasto 19 21 DNP Wth 28 28 11 19 11 C 16 70 38 Gary Irvin 10 14 DNQ 60 39 Bill Puterbaugh 12 50 40 George Snider 24 33 DNQ 20 32 21 C 10 45 41 Cliff Hucul 12 15 19 22 DNP DNQ 20 - Phil Threshie 13 16 DNQ 0 - Eldon Rasmussen 13 21 0 - John Mahler 14 14 DNQ 0 - Tom Gloy 15 0 - Lloyd Ruby 17 27 DNP 0 - Bubby Jones 21 DNQ C DNQ 0 - Bob Harkey DNQ 22 DNQ 0 - Chuck Gurney 27 DNQ 0 - Sheldon Kinser 32 0 - Alan Jones DNS 0 - Larry McCoy DNQ Wth 0 - Tommy Hunt DNS 0 - Ed Finley C DNQ 0 - Jerry Karl DNQ DNQ 0 - Bertil Roos DNQ C DNQ 0 - Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0 - Mel Kenyon DNQ 0 - Teddy Pilette DNQ 0 - Tom Frantz Wth 0 - Jack Owens C 0Ineligible for USAC championship points - Janet Guthrie DNQ 29 17 18 C 0 - Clay Regazzoni 30 0 Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2TRE2 PHX2 Pts Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish(Ret) Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

1977 USAC Championship Car season

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