The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and GT World Challenge America. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.

History

When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it termed championship auto racing, the highest level of USAC racing. For a while there was a separate series of specifications for championship cars designed to be run on dirt, rather than paved, tracks. Today, USAC sanction open-wheel racing series such as the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series, National Midget Series, and Quarter Midgets.

Triple crown The "triple crown" is earned in USAC racing when a driver claims all three national championships (Silver Crown, sprint car, and midget car). Only two drivers, Tony Stewart (1995) and J. J. Yeley (2003), have achieved the triple crown in a single season. Six other drivers, Pancho Carter (1972–78), Dave Darland (1997–2001), Jerry Coons Jr. (2006–08), Tracy Hines (2000, 2002, 2015), Chris Windom (2016, 2017, 2020), and Logan Seavey (2023–2024) have claimed each of the three championships at least once in their careers. In 2012 Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian became the only car owners to win the triple crown by winning all three championships in the same year.

National championship USAC awarded a national championship until A. J. Foyt won his seventh title in 1979. It resumed awarding a national championship in 2010. A driver's best 25 finishes are counted toward the championship and the 2010 winner received $40,000. Points are accumulated in the three national series: sprints, midgets, and Silver Crown. Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana claimed the inaugural championship, topping runner-up Levi Jones by 14 points.

As of 2013 it has been known as the Mike Curb "Super License" National Championship Award.

USAC national drivers champions 2010  – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana 2011  – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana 2012  – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana 2013  - Tracy Hines; New Castle, Indiana 2014  - Tracy Hines; New Castle, Indiana 2015  - Dave Darland; Kokomo, Indiana 2016  - Brady Bacon; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 2017  - Justin Grant; Ione, California 2018  - Tyler Courtney; Indianapolis, Indiana 2019  - Tyler Courtney; Indianapolis, Indiana 2020  - Chris Windom; Canton, Illinois 2021  - Justin Grant; Ione, California 2022  - Justin Grant; Ione, California 2023  - Justin Grant; Ione, California 2024  - Logan Seavey; Sutter, California

1978 plane crash On April 23, 1978, returning from a race at the Trenton Speedway in New Jersey, eight USAC officials, plus the pilot, were killed when their 10-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed during a thunderstorm 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

Killed were: Ray Marquette, USAC's vice-president of public affairs and a former sportswriter for The Indianapolis Star Frank Delroy, chairman of USAC technical committee Shim Malone, starter for USAC races and head of its midget racer division Judy Phillips, graphic artist and publication director of USAC's newsletter Stan Worley, chief registrar Ross Teeguarden, assistant technical chairman Don Peabody, head of the sprint division Dr. Bruce White, assistant staff doctor Don Mullendore, owner and pilot of the plane.

Arthur W Graham III, Director of Timing & Scoring, was scheduled to be on the flight, but decided last-minute to drive back with the timing equipment.

The incident closely followed the death of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman.

End of championship car sanctioning

The plane crash came at a time when Indy car owners and drivers were demanding changes from USAC. Aside from the Indianapolis 500, USAC events were not well attended, and the owners felt that USAC poorly negotiated television rights. The owners also wanted increases in payouts, especially at Indy.The battles wage on and off the tracks automedia.com. Though some think the plane crash was used as an opportunistic way to force change in the sport, it was merely an unfortunate coincidence. The seed of dissent had been growing for several years before the accident,The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 10, 2007 and claims the crash was an immediate cause for the 1979 CART/USAC "split" are considered for the most part unfounded.

Also unpopular were the attempts of USAC to keep the aging Offenhauser engine competitive with the newer, and much more expensive, Cosworth DFX engine using boost-limiting "pop off valves" and limiting the amount of fuel that could be used.The CART-USAC War: part 1 oreopolis.com. Originally published in NUVO Newsweekly – January 25, 1996.

Finally, most car owners banded together to form Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978, with the first race to be run in 1979. USAC tried unsuccessfully to ban all CART owners from the 1979 Indianapolis 500, finally losing in court before the race began. Both the USAC and CART ran multi-race schedules in 1979.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway president John Cooper was instrumental in forming a joint body of CART and USAC with the creation of the Championship Racing League (CRL) in March 1980. However, in mid-1980, Cooper forced USAC to renounce their agreement with the CRL if they wanted to keep officiating the Indy 500.The CART-USAC War: part 2 oreopolis.com. Originally published in NUVO Newsweekly – January 25, 1996. After USAC's attempt at a 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway – which was boycotted by the CART teams, forcing USAC to fill the field with Silver Crown cars – USAC and CART eventually settled into a relatively peaceful co-existence, with USAC continuing to sanction the Indianapolis 500 and no other Championship car races, and CART including the race in its schedule between other CART-sanctioned races. When the Indy Racing League (IRL) split with CART in 1996, USAC served as the sectioning body for IRL races, including the Indy 500, until terminated the sanctioning agreement following officiating errors at the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and 1997 True Value 500; subsequent Indy 500s have been sanctioned by IRL—renamed the IndyCar Series in 2003—itself.

Road racing expansion Since 2022, the United States Auto Club has sanctioned the USF Juniors, USF2000 Championship, and USF Pro 2000 Championship series, which serve as a ladder series to Indy NXT, along with the Radical Sportscars North American Championships, Skip Barber Racing School, as well as continued sanctioning of the GT World Challenge America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America under the newly formed Road Racing Division under the direction of Randy Hembrey.

Active series

USAC Silver Crown Series

Beginning in 1971, all dirt races were split from the National Championship. From 1971 to 1980, the series was named "National Dirt Car Championship", then renamed "Silver Crown Series" in 1981.

Champions

Season Car No. Driver TeamNational Dirt Car Championship 1971 4 George Snider Wilke 1972 3 A. J. Foyt Foyt 1973 2 Al Unser Miletich/Jones 1974 2 Mario Andretti Miletich/Jones 1975 55 Jimmy Caruthers Middleton 1976 29 Billy Cassella Seymour 1977 4 Larry Rice LeFevre 1978 21 Pancho Carter Capels 1979 30 Bobby Olivero Kurtz 1980 12 Gary Bettenhausen Delrose/HoltSilver Crown Series 1981 55 Larry Rice Knepper 1982 39 Ken Schrader Fortune 1983 9 Gary Bettenhausen Delrose/Holt 1984 58 Dave Blaney DePalma 1985 39 Rick Hood Fortune 1986 63 Jack Hewitt Hampshire 1987 63 Jack Hewitt Hampshire 1988 10 Steve Butler Jarrett 1989 30 Chuck Gurney Kurtz 1990 54 Jimmy Sills Consani 1991 35 Jeff Gordon Ede 1992 10 Steve Butler Jarrett 1993 69 Mike Bliss McClure 1994 75 Jimmy Sills Stanton 1995 25 Tony Stewart Boles 1996 75 Jimmy Sills Stanton 1997 56 Dave Darland Foxco 1998 9 Jason Leffler Goetz 1999 14 Ryan Newman Ede 2000 37 Tracy Hines Riggs 2001 10 Paul White Cook 2002 9 J. J. Yeley Stewart/East 2003 9 J. J. Yeley Stewart/East 2004 9 Dave Steele Stewart/East 2005 9 Dave Steele Stewart/East 2006 29 Bud Kaeding BK/Leffler 2007 29 Bud Kaeding BK 2008 27 Jerry Coons Jr RW 2009 29 Bud Kaeding BK 2010 10 Levi Jones Stewart/Curb-Agajanian 2011 10 Levi Jones Stewart/Curb-Agajanian 2012 22 Bobby East Stewart/Curb-Agajanian 2013 10 Bobby East Stewart/Curb-Agajanian 2014 63 Kody Swanson DePalma Motorsports 2015 63 Kody Swanson DePalma Motorsports 2016 98 Chris Windom Fred Gormly/RPM 2017 63 Kody Swanson DePalma Motorsports 2018 63 Kody Swanson DePalma Motorsports 2019 20 Kody Swanson Nolen Racing 2020 91 Justin Grant Hemelgarn Racing 2021 77, 21, 9 Kody Swanson Doran Racing, Mark Swanson Racing, Dyson Racing 2022 1 Kody Swanson Doran-Dyson Racing 2023 22 Logan Seavey Rice Motorsports/Abacus Racing 2024 77 Kody Swanson Doran Binks Racing 2025 91 Justin Grant Hemelgarn Racing

Race winners * As of the end of the 2022 season

Driver Wins Kody Swanson 37 Jack Hewitt 23 Brian Tyler 18 Dave Steele 16 J. J. Yeley 15 Dave Darland 14 Chuck Gurney 14 Jimmy Sills 12 Bobby East 11 Bobby Santos III 11 Gary Bettenhausen 10 Mike Bliss 10

USAC National Sprint Car Championship

From 1956 to 1960, USAC's National Sprint Car Championship was divided into two regional divisions in the Midwest and the East.

Champions