1979 USAC Championship Car season

1979 USAC Championship Car season
1979 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	7
Start date	March 25
End date	August 12
Awards
National champion	A. J. Foyt
Indianapolis 500 winner	Rick Mears
	← 1978 1980 →

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.^[1]^[2] However, the plan never materialized.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Rounds
Agajanian-King Racers	Kingfish 73	Chevrolet	97	Phil Threshie	3–5
			97	Jerry Miller	7
			98	Gary Bettenhausen	3–5
			98	George Snider	7
AMI Racing	Lola T500B	Cosworth	43^{[N 1]}	Tom Bigelow	All
			44	Roger McCluskey	4–7
			45	Janet Guthrie	1, 3, 5, 7
			45	George Snider	1–2
	Wildcat Mk. II	DGS	46	Gary Bettenhausen	1–2, 6–7
				Howdy Holmes	3, 5
				Greg Leffler	4
B/M Enterprises	Antares 72	Offenhauser	50	Frank Weiss	1, 3–5, 7
B/M Enterprises	Antares 72	Offenhauser	50	Eldon Rasmussen	3
Beaudoin Racing	Wildcat Mk. II	DGS	83	Billy Engelhart	3
Beith Racing	Eagle 72	Offenhauser	28	Billy Scott	3
Bruce Crower	Eagle 74	Chevrolet	57	Jerry Sneva	1–3, 5^{[N 2]}
Fiore Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	88	Ken Nichols	1
Gibson Racing	Eagle 74	DGS	75	Todd Gibson	1–3
Gilmore Racing	Parnelli VPJ6CT Coyote IV^{[N 3]}	Cosworth Foyt^{[N 3]}	14	A. J. Foyt	All
Hodgdon Racing	McLaren M24	Cosworth	72	Roger McCluskey	1, 3
	Spirit 78	AMC	73	Neil Bonnett	3
	Spirit 78	AMC	73	Jerry Sneva	3
Hucul Racing	McLaren M16E	Offenhauser	29	Cliff Hucul	All
Jim Hurtubise	Mallard 71	Offenhauser	56	Jim Hurtubise	3
Joe Hunt	Eagle 73	Offenhauser	99	Bob Harkey	1
Leader Card	Watson 77	Offenhauser	22	Bill Vukovich II	All
	Watson 78		24	Sheldon Kinser	All
	Watson 79		40	George Snider	3^{[N 4]}
Lindsey Hopkins	Lightning Mk1/79 Lightning X-15^{[N 5]}	Offenhauser	15	Johnny Parsons	1–5, 7
			51	Hurley Haywood	1, 3
			51	George Snider	5
Loquasto Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	86	Al Loquasto	5
McElreath Racing	Eagle 73/74 Penske PC-6/78^{[N 6]}	Chevrolet	26	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	2
		Offenhauser Cosworth^{[N 7]}	26	Jim McElreath	5–7
			23	Jim McElreath	1–3
			23	Phil Threshie	6
Medlin Racing	Cicada Mk.IV	Offenhauser	35	Bill Puterbaugh	3–4, 7
Mergard Racing	Eagle 72	Offenhauser	42	Herm Johnson	7
Polak Racing	Penske PC-5/77	Cosworth	80	Larry Dickson	3–7
Rager Racing	Eagle 68	Chevrolet	66	Roger Rager	3–4, 6–7
Rasmussen Racing	Rascar 72	Foyt Chevrolet^{[N 8]}	58	Eldon Rasmussen	1–3, 5^{[N 9]}
Raymond Reimer	March 73A	Chevrolet	93	Larry McCoy	3
				Dana Carter	6
				Jan Sneva	7
Rhoades Competition	McLaren M16E	Offenhauser	20	John Martin	3, 5
Robert LaWarre	Eagle 68	Chevrolet	60	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	4–5
Robert LaWarre	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	86	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.	6–7
Thunder Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	30	Larry Dickson	1–2
Thunder Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	30	Dana Carter	3–5
Vollstedt Racing	Vollstedt 77	Offenhauser	17	Dick Simon	1, 3–7
	Vollstedt 73	Offenhauser	27	John Martin	1
		AMC		George Snider	4
		AMC		Bob Harkey	5
Wayne Woodward	Eagle 72	Offenhauser	42	Dick Ferguson	1
	Eagle 74		81	Dana Carter	1
				Dick Ferguson^{[N 10]}	2–3
				Jerry Sneva	4–7
William R. Compton	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	38	Jerry Karl	All
CART entrants - ineligible to score points.
Alex Morales Co.	Lightning Mk1/77	Offenhauser	10	Pancho Carter	3
All American Racers	Eagle 78 MkII	Cosworth	36	Mike Mosley	3
Cannon Racing Team	Wildcat Mk. I	DGS	95	Larry Cannon	3
Chaparral Racing	Chaparral 2K	Cosworth	2	Al Unser	3
Conqueste Racing	Parnelli VPJ6CT	Cosworth	89	Lee Kunzman	3
Fletcher Racing	Lightning Mk1/77	Cosworth	7	Steve Krisiloff	3
Frantz Auto Body	Wildcat Mk. I	DGS	16	Tom Frantz	3
Gehlhausen-Reath Racing	Wildcat Mk. I^{[N 11]}	Cosworth	19^{[N 12]}	Spike Gehlhausen	3
	Eagle 74	Offenhauser		Bob Harkey	3
				Bill Alsup	3
			39	Al Loquasto	3
Hoffman Auto Racing	Lightning Mk1/77	Offenhauser	59	George Snider	3^{[N 13]}
Hoffman Auto Racing	Eagle 72	Offenhauser	69	Joe Saldana	3
Intercomp Racing	Eagle 72	Offenhauser	92	John Mahler	3
Interscope Racing	Parnelli VPJ6CT	Cosworth	25	Danny Ongais^{[N 14]}	3, 5
Jerry O'Connell Racing	McLaren M24	Cosworth	1	Tom Sneva	3
Longhorn Racing	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	11	Tom Bagley	3
Patrick Racing	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	3	Gordon Johncock	3
Patrick Racing	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	6	Wally Dallenbach	3
Penske Racing	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	9	Rick Mears	3
	Penske PC-7/79		12	Bobby Unser	3
	Penske PC-7/79		68	Bill Alsup	3^{[N 15]}
S&M Electric	Lightning Mk1/77	Offenhauser	31	Larry Rice	3
Team McLaren	McLaren M24B	Cosworth	4	Johnny Rutherford	3
Walmotor	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	77	Salt Walther	3
WASP Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	41	Bill Alsup	3^{[N 16]}
Wysard Motor Co.	Wildcat Mk. II	DGS	34	Vern Schuppan	3

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	200 mi (320 km)	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
2	April 8	Coors 200	200 mi (320 km)	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
3	May 27	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	500 mi (800 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Rick Mears^A	Rick Mears^A
4	June 10	Rex Mays Classic	150 mi (240 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
5	June 24	Music 500 at Pocono	500 mi (800 km)	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
6	August 5	Lubrilon Grand Prix	200 mi (320 km)	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
7	August 12	Tony Bettenhausen 200	200 mi (320 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Tom Bigelow	Roger McCluskey
	September 2^B	California 500	500 mi (800 km)	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	—	—

^A Non-USAC drivers
^B 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	TXS1	INDY	MIL1	POC	TXS2	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 RY			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. R		9		9	13	13	15	185
18	Dana Carter R	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 R							9	80
26	Roger Rager			DNQ	10		15	16	65
27	Dick Ferguson R	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 R							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	TXS1	INDY	MIL1	POC	TXS2	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 not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
RY Rookie of the Year
R Rookie

Footnotes

^ Raced as #44 at the Indianapolis 500.
^ Jerry Sneva switched to Hodgdon Racing for the second weekend of Indy 500 time trials, and to Wayne Woodward for the Pocono 500 qualifying.
^ ^a ^b Used at the first Texas World race.
^ Snider switched to Hoffman Auto Racing for a special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after the #40 was withdrawn due to a blown engine.
^ Used by Parsons at the 500 events and both Milwaukee races.
^ Used by McElreath at the Indy 500.
^ Used by McElreath at the Indy 500, and by Threshie.
^ Used at Pocono.
^ Rasmussen switched to B/M Enterprises after a crash during Indy 500 practice.
^ Jan Opperman took some laps for his refresher test at the Indy 500.
^ Car loaned by Patrick Racing at the Indy 500 for Gehlhausen.
^ Gehlhausen was bumped from the Indy 500 field and loaned the #90 car from Patrick Racing, which he qualified. Later, the #19 was allowed to requalify in a special session, but it also failed to qualify with other drivers. For race day, the #90 was renumbered as #19.
^ Eligible to score points at the Indy 500, as he had competed with USAC teams earlier in the year.
^ George Snider practiced with the car at Indianapolis as a standby for a possible qualifying attempt after Ongais suffered a concussion in a crash.
^ Alsup switched to Gehlhausen-Reath at the special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after his Penske ride was disqualified for a technical infringement.
^ Alsup switched to a Penske Racing back-up car for Bump Day at the Indy 500.

References

^ Miller, Robin (July 10, 1979). "September Race At Speedway?". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Miller, Robin (July 12, 1979). "Labor Day Show At IMS Just A Joke - Or Is It?". The Indianapolis Star. p. 34. Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1979". Driver Database. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
"1979 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 212-213)

[Bigelow-3] Raced as #44 at the Indianapolis 500.

[Sneva-4] Jerry Sneva switched to Hodgdon Racing for the second weekend of Indy 500 time trials, and to Wayne Woodward for the Pocono 500 qualifying.

[Foyt-5] Used at the first Texas World race.

[Snider-6] Snider switched to Hoffman Auto Racing for a special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after the #40 was withdrawn due to a blown engine.

[X15-7] Used by Parsons at the 500 events and both Milwaukee races.

[McElreathPC6-8] Used by McElreath at the Indy 500.

[McElreathCosworth-9] Used by McElreath at the Indy 500, and by Threshie.

[RasmussenChevy-10] Used at Pocono.

[Rasmussen500-11] Rasmussen switched to B/M Enterprises after a crash during Indy 500 practice.

[Opperman-12] Jan Opperman took some laps for his refresher test at the Indy 500.

[PatrickBackup-13] Car loaned by Patrick Racing at the Indy 500 for Gehlhausen.

[Gehlhausen-14] Gehlhausen was bumped from the Indy 500 field and loaned the #90 car from Patrick Racing, which he qualified. Later, the #19 was allowed to requalify in a special session, but it also failed to qualify with other drivers. For race day, the #90 was renumbered as #19.

[Elegible-15] Eligible to score points at the Indy 500, as he had competed with USAC teams earlier in the year.

[Ongais-16] George Snider practiced with the car at Indianapolis as a standby for a possible qualifying attempt after Ongais suffered a concussion in a crash.

[Penske-17] Alsup switched to Gehlhausen-Reath at the special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after his Penske ride was disqualified for a technical infringement.

[Wasp-18] Alsup switched to a Penske Racing back-up car for Bump Day at the Indy 500.

[Star07-10-1979pg1-1] Miller, Robin (July 10, 1979). "September Race At Speedway?". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

[Star07-12-1979pg34-2] Miller, Robin (July 12, 1979). "Labor Day Show At IMS Just A Joke - Or Is It?". The Indianapolis Star. p. 34. Retrieved July 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.

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v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

v t e USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)
Seasons	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Indianapolis 500s	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
National Champions	Emerson Fittipaldi (twice) A. J. Foyt (twice) Gordon Johncock Joe Leonard (twice) Arie Luyendyk Roger McCluskey Rick Mears (three times) Bobby Rahal Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva (three times) George Snider Danny Sullivan Al Unser Al Unser Jr. (twice) Bobby Unser Jacques Villeneuve
Tracks	Atlanta Brands Hatch DuQuoin State Fair Illinois State Fair Indianapolis Indiana State Fair Michigan Mid-Ohio Milwaukee Mosport Nazareth Ontario Phoenix Pocono Rafaela Silverstone Texas World Trenton