1979 USAC Championship Car season

The 1979 USAC Championship Car season consisted of seven races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 25 and concluding in West Allis, Wisconsin on August 12. The USAC National Champion was A. J. Foyt and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. With the exception of the Indianapolis 500, most top drivers instead competed in races sanctioned by CART.

During the summer of 1979, after the California 500 switched alliances mid-season to become a CART series race, USAC proposed a Labor Day weekend race meet that would consist of a USAC Stock Car/Championship Car doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A 250-mile stock car race on Saturday would be followed by a 250-mile Indy car race on Sunday. However, the plan never materialized.

Confirmed entries

TeamChassisEngineNoDriversRoundsAgajanian-King RacersKingfish 73Chevrolet 97 Phil Threshie 3–5 Jerry Miller 7 98 Gary Bettenhausen 3–5 George Snider7 AMI RacingLola T500BCosworth 43 Tom BigelowAll44 Roger McCluskey4–745 Janet Guthrie1, 3, 5, 7 George Snider1–2Wildcat Mk. IIDGS46 Gary Bettenhausen1–2, 6–7 Howdy Holmes3, 5 Greg Leffler4B/M EnterprisesAntares 72Offenhauser50 Frank Weiss1, 3–5, 7 Eldon Rasmussen3 Beaudoin Racing Wildcat Mk. II DGS83 Billy Engelhart3 Beith RacingEagle 72 Offenhauser28 Billy Scott3 Bruce CrowerEagle 74Chevrolet57 Jerry Sneva1–3, 5 Fiore Racing McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser88 Ken Nichols1Gibson RacingEagle 74DGS75 Todd Gibson1–3 Gilmore Racing Parnelli VPJ6CTCoyote IVCosworthFoyt 14 A. J. FoytAllHodgdon Racing McLaren M24Cosworth72 Roger McCluskey1, 3Spirit 78AMC73 Neil Bonnett3 Jerry Sneva3Hucul RacingMcLaren M16EOffenhauser29 Cliff HuculAllJim HurtubiseMallard 71Offenhauser56 Jim Hurtubise3 Joe HuntEagle 73Offenhauser99 Bob Harkey1Leader Card Watson 77Offenhauser 22 Bill Vukovich II All Watson 78 24 Sheldon Kinser All Watson 79 40 George Snider 3Lindsey HopkinsLightning Mk1/79Lightning X-15Offenhauser15 Johnny Parsons1–5, 751 Hurley Haywood1, 3 George Snider5 Loquasto Racing McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser 86 Al Loquasto 5 McElreath Racing Eagle 73/74Penske PC-6/78 Chevrolet26 Tony Bettenhausen Jr.2OffenhauserCosworth Jim McElreath5–7231–3 Phil Threshie6Medlin RacingCicada Mk.IVOffenhauser35 Bill Puterbaugh3–4, 7Menard Racing Eagle 72 Offenhauser 42 Herm Johnson7 Polak Racing Penske PC-5/77 Cosworth 80 Larry Dickson3–7 Rager Racing Eagle 68 Chevrolet 66 Roger Rager3–4, 6–7 Rasmussen Racing Rascar 72 FoytChevrolet 58 Eldon Rasmussen1–3, 5Raymond ReimerMarch 73AChevrolet93 Larry McCoy3 Dana Carter6 Jan Sneva7Rhoades CompetitionMcLaren M16EOffenhauser20 John Martin3, 5 Robert LaWarre Eagle 68 Chevrolet 60 Tony Bettenhausen Jr.4–5 McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser 866–7Thunder RacingMcLaren M16C/DOffenhauser 30 Larry Dickson1–2 Dana Carter3–5Vollstedt Racing Vollstedt 77Offenhauser 17 Dick Simon1, 3–7Vollstedt 7327 John Martin1AMC George Snider4 Bob Harkey5Wayne Woodward Eagle 72Offenhauser 42 Dick Ferguson1Eagle 7481 Dana Carter1 Dick Ferguson2–3 Jerry Sneva4–7William R. ComptonMcLaren M16C/DOffenhauser38 Jerry KarlAllCART entrants - ineligible to score points.Alex Morales Co.Lightning Mk1/77Offenhauser10 Pancho Carter3All American RacersEagle 78 MkIICosworth36 Mike Mosley3Cannon Racing Team Wildcat Mk. I DGS95 Larry Cannon3Chaparral RacingChaparral 2KCosworth2 Al Unser3Conqueste RacingParnelli VPJ6CTCosworth89 Lee Kunzman3Fletcher RacingLightning Mk1/77Cosworth7 Steve Krisiloff3Frantz Auto Body Wildcat Mk. I DGS16 Tom Frantz3 Gehlhausen-Reath Racing Wildcat Mk. I Cosworth 19 Spike Gehlhausen3 Eagle 74 Offenhauser Bob Harkey3 Bill Alsup3 39 Al Loquasto3Hoffman Auto RacingLightning Mk1/77Offenhauser 59 George Snider3 Eagle 72 Offenhauser 69 Joe Saldana3Intercomp Racing Eagle 72 Offenhauser92 John Mahler3Interscope RacingParnelli VPJ6CTCosworth25 Danny Ongais3, 5Jerry O'Connell RacingMcLaren M24Cosworth1 Tom Sneva3Longhorn RacingPenske PC-6/78Cosworth11 Tom Bagley3Patrick RacingPenske PC-6/78Cosworth3 Gordon Johncock36 Wally Dallenbach3Penske Racing Penske PC-6/78Cosworth9 Rick Mears3Penske PC-7/7912 Bobby Unser368 Bill Alsup3S&M ElectricLightning Mk1/77Offenhauser31 Larry Rice3Team McLarenMcLaren M24BCosworth4 Johnny Rutherford3WalmotorPenske PC-6/78Cosworth77 Salt Walther3WASP Racing McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser41 Bill Alsup3Wysard Motor Co. Wildcat Mk. II DGS34 Vern Schuppan3

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd Date Race name Length Track Location Pole position Winning driver 1 March 25 Datsun Twin 200 Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt 2 April 8 Coors 200 Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt 3 May 27 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Rick Mears Rick Mears 4 June 10 Rex Mays Classic Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt 5 June 24 Music 500 at Pocono Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt 6 July 29 Lubrilon Grand Prix Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt 7 August 12 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Tom Bigelow Roger McCluskey September 2 California 500 Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California — —

Non-USAC drivers Originally scheduled as a USAC race, but was switched mid-season to a CART series race.

Final points standings

The CART drivers were not eligible for points.

Pos Driver ONT TWS1 INDY MIL1 POC TWS2 MIL2 Pts 1 A. J. Foyt 1* 1* 2 1* 1* 1* 12* 3320 2 Bill Vukovich II 3 6 8 2 6 6 3 1770 3 Tom Bigelow 6 12 14 3 8 2 2 1305 4 Larry Dickson 16 3 24 4 3 11 Wth 1225 5 Gary Bettenhausen 18 2 DNQ 6 9 5 6 1008 6 Jim McElreath 9 14 35 2 9 Wth 975 7 Jerry Sneva 21 13 31 5 4 12 10 851 8 Dick Simon 7 26 13 5 7 17 766 9 Roger McCluskey 12 13 17 14 4 1 716 10 Sheldon Kinser 4 8 28 15 15 3 14 673 11 Cliff Hucul 5 4 29 7 11 16 19 653 12 Howdy Holmes 7 7 600 13 Johnny Parsons 2 16 32 14 21 4 598 14 George Snider 8 5 33 18 25 11 361 15 Janet Guthrie Wth 34 19 5 225 16 Frank Weiss 20 Wth 8 23 7 218 17 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. 9 9 13 13 15 185 18 Dana Carter 10 DNQ 11 22 10 165 19 Phil Threshie 17 16 16 8 153 20 Al Loquasto DNQ 10 150 21 Todd Gibson 14 7 DNQ 130 22 Jerry Karl DNS 10 DNQ 12 17 14 18 113 23 Herm Johnson 8 100 24 Eldon Rasmussen 11 15 23 20 85 25 Jerry Miller 9 80 26 Roger Rager DNQ 10 15 16 65 27 Dick Ferguson 17 11 DNQ 48 28 John Martin 15 DNQ 18 30 29 Bob Harkey 19 Wth 24 23 30 Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 19 13 10 31 Ken Nichols 13 10 32 Jan Sneva 20 8 - Rick Mears 1 0 - Mike Mosley 3 0 - Danny Ongais 4 12 0 - Bobby Unser 5* 0 - Gordon Johncock 6 0 - Tom Bagley 9 0 - Spike Gehlhausen 10 0 - Steve Krisiloff 11 0 - Salt Walther 12 0 - Tom Sneva 15 0 - Joe Saldana 16 0 - Johnny Rutherford 18 0 - Larry Rice 19 0 - Pancho Carter 20 0 - Vern Schuppan 21 0 - Al Unser 22 0 - John Mahler 25 0 - Wally Dallenbach Sr. 27 0 - Lee Kunzman 30 0 - Larry McCoy DNQ 0 - Bill Alsup DNQ 0 - Larry Cannon DNQ 0 - Billy Engelhart DNQ 0 - Tom Frantz DNQ 0 - Hurley Haywood DNQ 0 - Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0 - Billy Scott DNQ 0 - Neil Bonnett Wth 0 - Greg Leffler Wth 0 Pos Driver ONT TWS1 INDY MIL1 POC TWS2 MIL2 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

See also 1979 Indianapolis 500 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series

Footnotes

References

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 212-213)