1968 USAC Championship Car season

The 1968 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 28 races, beginning in Hanford, California on March 17 and concluding in Riverside, California on December 7. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Bobby Unser. Mike Spence died in an accident while practicing for the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Ronnie Duman died of burns suffered during the Rex Mays Classic.

Schedule and results

Rnd Date Race name Track Location Type Pole position Winning driver 1 March 17 California 200 Hanford Motor Speedway Hanford, California Paved Bobby Unser Gordon Johncock 2 March 31 Stardust 150 Stardust International Raceway Las Vegas, Nevada Road Dan Gurney Bobby Unser 3 April 7 Jimmy Bryan Memorial Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona Paved Bobby Unser Bobby Unser 4 April 21 Trenton 150 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Paved Mario Andretti Bobby Unser 5 May 30 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Paved Joe Leonard Bobby Unser 6 June 8 Rex Mays Classic Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin Paved Roger McCluskey Lloyd Ruby 7 June 15 Telegram Trophy 200 Mosport Park Bowmanville, Ontario Road Dan Gurney Dan Gurney 8 Dan Gurney Dan Gurney 9 June 23 Langhorne 150 Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, Pennsylvania Paved Gordon Johncock Gordon Johncock 10 June 29 Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Pikes Peak Highway Pikes Peak, Colorado Hill Bobby Unser Bobby Unser 11 July 7 Rocky Mountain 150 Continental Divide Raceways Castle Rock, Colorado Road Ronnie Bucknum A. J. Foyt 12 July 13 Nazareth 100 Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania Dirt Bill Vukovich II Al Unser 13 July 21 Indy 200 Indianapolis Raceway Park Clermont, Indiana Road Mario Andretti Al Unser 14 Al Unser Al Unser 15 July 28 Langhorne Twin 100 Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, Pennsylvania Paved Gordon Johncock Al Unser 16 Al Unser Al Unser 17 August 4 Saint-Jovite 200 Circuit Mont-Tremblant Saint-Jovite, Quebec Road Mario Andretti Mario Andretti 18 Mario Andretti Mario Andretti 19 August 17 Tony Bettenhausen 100 Illinois State Fairgrounds Springfield, Illinois Dirt Al Unser Roger McCluskey 20 August 18 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin Paved Art Pollard Lloyd Ruby 21 September 2 Ted Horn Memorial DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Du Quoin, Illinois Dirt Al Unser Mario Andretti 22 September 7 Hoosier Hundred Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, Indiana Dirt Mario Andretti A. J. Foyt 23 September 22 Trenton 200 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Paved Al Unser Mario Andretti 24 September 29 Golden State 100 California State Fairgrounds Sacramento, California Dirt Mario Andretti A. J. Foyt 25 October 13 Michigan Inaugural 250 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan Paved Mario Andretti Ronnie Bucknum 26 November 3 Hanford 250 Hanford Motor Speedway Hanford, California Paved Joe Leonard A. J. Foyt 27 November 17 Bobby Ball 150 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona Paved Mario Andretti Gary Bettenhausen 28 December 7 Rex Mays 300 Riverside International Raceway Riverside, California Road Dan Gurney Dan Gurney

Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers) each. No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb. Run in two heats of 100 miles (161 kilometers) each.

Final points standings

Pos Driver HAN1 STR PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1MOS LHS1 PIK CDR NAZIRPLHS2CMT SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 CSF MIS HAN2 PHX2 RIV Pts 1 Bobby Unser 5 1 1 1 1 21 17 2 1 11 7 3 21 2 16 2 11 DNQ 4 18 16 7 DNQ 17 2 19 2 4330 2 Mario Andretti 23 2 15 2 33 2 2 2 17 4 15 2 2 2 23 1 1 18 2 1 2 1 4 2 3 24 18 4319 3 Al Unser 2 14 16 17 26 3 4 5 12 22 4 1 1 1 1 1 9 15 12 3 7 15 22 3 18 15 15 26 2895 4 Lloyd Ruby 3 4 2 12 5 1 15 12 21 2 17 23 15 10 6 19 14 DNQ 1 DNQ DNQ 16 15 18 2 3 2799 5 Bill Vukovich II 26 6 19 5 7 13 9 7 14 9 3 13 6 6 4 4 7 3 5 6 16 19 6 4 7 2410 6 A. J. Foyt 4 13 23 21 20 14 1 4 3 18 17 24 2 1 24 1 14 1 23 20 1860 7 Dan Gurney 16 2 1 1 1 1800 8 Gary Bettenhausen 10 10 13 24 DNS 10 13 3 7 4 21 12 13 12 13 13 13 5 4 4 12 2 21 21 1 19 1595 9 Mel Kenyon 8 3 10 3 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ 4 24 13 DNP 1355 10 Jim Malloy DNQ 9 11 22 10 8 8 20 3 17 10 5 3 4 3 5 8 15 14 11 18 24 11 22 24 1265 11 Sam Sessions 9 11 16 12 22 19 4 11 6 4 7 8 5 25 1260 12 Gordon Johncock 1 7 18 4 27 12 13 DNS 1 25 5 16 21 15 15 19 DNQ DNQ 7 11 1257 13 Roger McCluskey 6 12 14 16 29 20 3 14 9 17 19 7 22 1 23 5 12 2 12 25 10 11 12 1228 14 Bud Tingelstad 18 7 DNS 16 9 DNQ 19 13 13 16 5 15 2 8 18 DNQ DNQ 3 8 9 7 10 1016 15 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 7 4 3 17 7 15 DNQ 11 3 5 20 7 20 DNQ 13 18 9 22 23 25 29 960 16 George Snider 9 5 6 6 31 8 8 3 10 3 DNQ 13 3 DNP 919 17 Larry Dickson 12 28 6 11 5 DNQ 6 2 DNQ 7 DNQ 7 8 26 8 890 18 Johnny Rutherford 20 11 17 18 4 20 24 20 25 5 5 11 5 16 25 17 6 890 19 Mike Mosley 8 19 16 9 4 14 9 17 DNS 3 13 9 14 860 20 Joe Leonard 22 3 22 8 12 18 7 6 8 14DNS 16 4 17 850 21 Jim McElreath 14 DNQ 22 10 11 7 17 7 10 9 15 DNQ 5 6 28 771 22 Ronnie Bucknum 21 5 3 19 6 4 3 4 1 20 14 13 760 23 Art Pollard 16 8 5 13 13 16 14 18 5 7 9 26 DNQ 14 14 10 10 10 6 DNQ 20 16 696 24 Sonny Ates 15 DNQ 22 DNQ 6 8 13 26 5 9 16 520 25 Rick Muther DNQ 7 DNQ 6 DNQ 21 5 510 26 Ronnie Duman DNP 6 22 400 27 Bruce Walkup 13 20 DNQ 5 11 12 18 18 9 7 15 13 DNQ DNQ 5 390 28 Max Dudley 17 DNQ 9 15 DNQ 7 18 16 10 11 7 12 21 26 12 285 29 Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 17 8 9 12 9 6 11 265 30 George Follmer 11 15 24 DNQ 11 10 DNS 8 240 31 Arnie Knepper 24 DNQ DNP 25 DNS 24 15 11 22 18 11 10 16 6 14 20 12 15 206 32 George Benson 25 9 8 6 22 170 33 Carl Williams 15 5 17 8 DNS 13 13 15 19 150 34 Bobby Grim 10 DNQ 150 35 Jerry Daniels 10 8 9 DNQ 120 36 Wib Spalding 8 100 37 Bob Veith 11 100 38 Chuck Booth DNQ DNQ 10 18 11 18 14 DNQ 11 DNQ 85 39 Tom Bigelow 6 DNQ 14 80 40 Keith Rachwitz 12 9 DNQ 17 DNQ DNQ 80 41 Rollie Beale 15 DNQ 19 DNQ DNQ 9 DNQ DNQ 80 42 Chuck Hulse 21 DNQ 8 DNQ 75 43 Jigger Sirois 16 21 DNQ 25 10 75 44 Bob Harkey DNQ DNQ 13 20 17 12 8 DNQ 23 13 60 45 Denny Zimmerman 20 11 DNS 50 46 Bob Hurt DNQ DNQ 10 DNQ 45 47 Ralph Liguori DNQ 16 20 9 17 18 40 48 Roger West 10 19 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 49 Bruce Jacobi 19 21 19 DNQ 22 DNQ 15 13 DNQ 19 12 DNQ DNQ 11 16 18 30 50 Dempsey Wilson 14 17 11 DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 51 Al Smith DNQ 12 25 52 Ted Foltz 2 24 53 Wes Vandervoort 3 21 54 Paul Kleinschmidt 5 15 55 Malcolm Brazier 6 12 56 Bob Herring 7 9 57 Grier Manning 8 8 58 Ralph Bruning 9 6 59 Charles Louderman 10 5 - John Cannon 10 8 8 6 2 9 0 - Mark Donohue 6 4 21 0 - Denny Hulme 4 0 - Skip Scott 4 0 - Lothar Motschenbacher 17 6 0 - Bud Morley 16 8 DNQ 0 - Jack Eiteljorg 23 10 9 0 - Peter Revson 10 0 - Bob Daly 11 0 - George Fejer 12 15 DNS 14 12 0 - Lou Sell 21 12 14 16 30 0 - Thurel Novotny 12 0 - Dick Heikes 13 0 - Gene Willbanks 14 0 - Greg Weld DNQ 14 24 DNQ DNQ 17 14 DNQ 0 - Gig Stephens DNQ 23 14 14 DNQ 0 - Bay Darnell 14 23 DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Thomas DNQ 15 0 - Butch Earley 15 0 - Clark Yowell 16 0 - Henry Pens DNQ 17 0 - Jerry Colton 17 0 - Don Meacham 17 0 - Gene Bergin DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 0 - Tom Dillon 18 0 - Graham Hill 19 DNQ 0 - LaVerne Ravenstein 19 0 - Chuck Arnold 20 0 - Walter Miller 20 0 - Gene Pacheco 21 0 - Jerry Titus DNQ 22 0 - Jerry Grant 23 DNS 23 0 - Orville Nance 23 0 - Mickey Shaw 23 0 - Jack Brabham 23 0 - Norm Brown 24 0 - Larry Overholser 24 0 - Bill Simpson 27 0 - Jim Hurtubise 30 0 - Jochen Rindt 32 0 - Dusty Smith DNQ DNS 0 - Billy Wilkerson DNS 0 - Jim Reynard DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Les Scott DNQ DNQ DNQ DNP DNQ 0 - Karl Busson DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Danny Ongais DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Dee Jones DNQ DNQ 0 - Ernie Koch DNQ DNQ 0 - Al Miller DNQ DNQ 0 - Norm Ellefson DNQ DNQ 0 - Hamilton Vose DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Schisler DNQ DNQ 0 - Otto Becker DNQ DNP 0 - Bill Cheesbourg DNQ 0 - Masten Gregory DNQ 0 - Bobby Johns DNQ 0 - Bruce McLaren DNQ 0 - Mike Spence DNQ 0 - Chuck Stevenson DNQ 0 - LeeRoy Yarbrough DNQ 0 - Scott Brazier DNQ 0 - Bob Tattersall DNQ 0 - Earl Smith DNQ 0 - Don Brown DNQ 0 - Earl Dykes DNQ 0 - Ludwig Heimrath Jr. DNQ 0 - Jackie Stewart Wth 0 - Jim Clark DNP 0 - Bob Herst DNP 0 - Stew McMillan DNP 0 Pos Driver HAN1 STR PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 MOS1 MOS2 LHS1 PIK CDR NAZ IRP1 IRP2 LHS2 LHS3 CMT1 CMT2 SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 CSF MIS HAN2 PHX2 RIV Pts

Note 1: John Cannon, George Fejer, Lou Sell, Mark Donohue, Jack Eiteljorg, Bud Morley, Lothar Motschenbacher, Jochen Rindt, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Denis Hulme, Skip Scott and Peter Revson are not eligible for points. Note 2: Ronnie Bucknum did not compete with a USAC license until after the events at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Color Gold Silver Bronze Green Light Blue Dark Blue Purple Red Brown Black White Blank Results Winner 2nd place 3rd place 4th & 5th place 6th-10th place Finished(Outside Top 10) Did not finish(Ret) Did not qualify(DNQ) Withdrawn(Wth) Disqualified(DSQ) Did not start(DNS) Did notparticipate(DNP)Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie

References

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 244–249)

See also 1968 Indianapolis 500