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1978 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season

Sports season

1979 (CART) The 1978 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning at Phoenix on March 18 and concluding at the same location on October 28. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. This was the last year before the first USAC/CART "Split". By winning the Indianapolis 500, Pocono 500, and California 500, Al Unser swept the Indy car "Triple Crown", the only driver in history to do so.

The 1978 season is also statistically noteworthy. Danny Ongais won the most races (5), and Al Unser swept the triple crown races, but it was Tom Sneva (who did not win a single race) who won the championship title. Sneva had six 2nd place finishes, and twelve top 5s, and seven poles (including Indianapolis and Ontario), and experienced more consistent finishes. Sneva became the second driver to win the USAC championship without winning a race during the season, the last being Tony Bettenhausen in 1958. Sneva's "winless" championship was not without its critics, however, a statistician calculated points results using contemporary points tables from other major racing series, and concluded that Sneva would have still won the title in nearly every scenario.

The 1978 season was also a break-out year for future champion Rick Mears. Mario Andretti was running the full Formula One season (of which he would be World Champion). Andretti was running a partial Indy car schedule for Penske Racing, and Roger Penske hired the young Mears to fill in for Andretti the weekends he was overseas. Mears, who had spent two years in lesser-funded rides, jumped at the opportunity to drive for Penske, even though it was only a part-time ride. Mears won Co-Rookie of the Year at Indy, won three races, and despite running only 11 of 18 races, finished 9th in points.

Entrants

(partial list)

TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds
United States A.J. Foyt EnterprisesCoyote (1-11, 13, 16-17)
Parnelli (12, 14-15, 18)Foyt (1-11, 13, 16-17)
Cosworth (12, 14-15, 18)US A.J. FoytAll
United States All American RacersLightning (1-4)
Eagle (5-13, 16-18)CosworthUS Bobby Unser1-13, 16-18
United States Chapparal RacingChapparal (1-2, 6-18)
Lola (3, 5)CosworthUS Al Unser1-3, 5-18
United States Bob FletcherLightningOffenhauserUS Pancho Carter5-11, 13-15, 18
United States Interscope RacingParnelliCosworthUS Danny OngaisAll
United States Jerry O"Connell RacingMcLaren (1-14, 16-18)
Lightning (15)CosworthUS Wally Dallenbach1-7, 9, 12-14
United States Leader Card RacingEagle (1-4)
Watson (5-18)OffenhauserUS Tom BagleyAll
United States Lindsey Hopkins RacingLightningOffenhauserUS Johnny Parsons1-15, 18
United Kingdom McLarenMcLarenCosworthUS Johnny RutherfordAll
United States Patrick RacingWildcatDGSUS Gordon JohncockAll
WildcatDGS (1-13, 15, 18)
Offenhauser (14, 16-17)US Steve KrisiloffAll
United States Team PenskePenskeCosworthUS Tom SnevaAll
PenskeCosworthUS Mario Andretti1-4, 7, 13-15, 18
PenskeCosworthUS Rick Mears1, 5-7, 9-13, 16-17

Schedule and results

RndDateRace nameTrackLocationPole positionWinning driver123456789101112131415161718
March 18US Jimmy Bryan 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaUS Danny OngaisUS Gordon Johncock
March 26US Datsun Twin 200Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, CaliforniaUS Tom SnevaUS Danny Ongais
April 15US Coors 200Texas World SpeedwayCollege Station, TexasUS Danny OngaisUS Danny Ongais
April 23US Gabriel 200Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyUS Tom SnevaUS Gordon Johncock
May 28US [International 500 Mile Sweepstakes](1978-indianapolis-500)Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, IndianaUS Tom SnevaUS Al Unser
June 11Canada Molson Diamond IndyMosport ParkBowmanville, OntarioUS Danny OngaisUS Danny Ongais
June 18US Rex Mays ClassicWisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, WisconsinUS Danny OngaisUS Rick Mears
June 25US [Schaefer 500](1978-schaefer-500)Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, PennsylvaniaUS Danny OngaisUS Al Unser
July 16US Norton Twin 200Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganUS Tom SnevaUS Johnny Rutherford
July 23US Gould Twin DixieAtlanta International RacewayHampton, GeorgiaUS Tom SnevaUS Rick Mears
August 6US Texas Grand PrixTexas World SpeedwayCollege Station, TexasUS Tom SnevaUS A. J. Foyt
August 20US Tony Bettenhausen 200Wisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, WisconsinUS Danny OngaisUS Danny Ongais
September 3US [California 500](1978-california-500)Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, CaliforniaUS Tom SnevaUS Al Unser
September 16US Gould Grand PrixMichigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganUS Johnny RutherfordUS Danny Ongais
September 23US Machinist Union 150Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyUS A. J. FoytUS Mario Andretti
October 1United Kingdom Daily Express Indy SilverstoneSilverstone CircuitSilverstone, EnglandUS Danny OngaisUS A. J. Foyt
October 7United Kingdom Daily Mail Indy TrophyBrands Hatch (Indy Circuit)Fawkham, EnglandUS Al UnserUS Rick Mears
October 29US Miller High Life Bobby Ball Memorial 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaUS Danny OngaisUS Johnny Rutherford

Final points standings

Note: Janet Guthrie is not eligible for points.

PosDriverPHX1
USAONT1
USATWS1
USATRE1
USA[INDY](1978-indianapolis-500)
USAMOS
CANMIL1
USAPOC
USAMIS1
USAATL
USATWS2
USAMIL2
USAONT2
USAMIS2
USATRE2
USASIL
GBRBRH
GBRPHX2
USAPts141532403133548430675302462966728748266292171101206111188121122131121149781576616764176811867019573205622151922513234952448325400263602732128314292943018831184321803310434623561364537343826392640204115421543104410456-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0PosDriverPHX1
USAONT1
USATWS1
USATRE1
USA[INDY](1978-indianapolis-500)
USAMOS
CANMIL1
USAPOC
USAMIS1
USAATL
USATWS2
USAMIL2
USAONT2
USAMIS2
USATRE2
USASIL
GBRBRH
GBRPHX2
USAPts
USA Tom Sneva22**2**2**3****2**4153**2****8****5**15**23**233216
USA Al Unser103Wth112811714175117410**15**5
USA Gordon Johncock119313DNQ22141977333144113
USA Johnny Rutherford1613191013822122811**13**11531
USA A. J. Foyt3417271619816414285**19**142
USA Wally Dallenbach Sr.149411511343947101161456
USA Steve Krisiloff21485434321453671556DNQ8
USA Danny Ongais**12**1**1**418**1****16****19**621DNS**1**12115**15**9**4**
USA Rick Mears5232122192921
USA Pancho Carter24152110DNQ111121879
USA Tom Bagley8171012271772612616DNS4612131414
USA Bobby Unser181613206191720538201381311
USA Larry Dickson175142255511
USA Johnny ParsonsDNS18111710992242018191572DNQ
USA George Snider8615DNS2711820
USA Tom Bigelow1571282114615810418
USA Mario Andretti155131223DNS2017
USA Dick Simon4619183013186211412722
USA Jim McElreath6720257131212209DNQ12
USA Salt Walther13117152871113182976DNQ
CAN Cliff Hucul7331017DNQ219813
USA Lee KunzmanDNQ33DNQ185
USA Sheldon Kinser6815143212DNQ1719111781019
USA Mike Mosley17DNQ147DNQ13DNQ16810
USA Roger Mears6DNQ
USA Bobby Olivero91096Wth
USA Al LoquastoDNQ1312910191319
USA Joe Saldana152191010DNQ10DNQ1610
USA Gary Bettenhausen211219166DNQ2922921
USA Spike Gehlhausen2023161829DNQ13312022141621161791217
USA Larry CannonDNQ1011DNQ15172219DNQDNQ
USA Larry RiceDNQ911DNQDNQ
USA Jerry Karl112121221418DNS20
USA Jerry Sneva3116DNQ16251418DNQ
USA Roger McCluskey19202021252413
USA Phil Threshie3018202421DNQ30
USA Todd Gibson15141615
AUS Vern Schuppan181620
USA Bob Harkey22DNQ18
USA Bill Vukovich IIDNQ2826
CAN Eldon RasmussenDNQDNQ12DNQ
USA Roger RagerDNQDNQDNQDNQ12
USA John Mahler26
USA Bubby JonesWth27
USA Chuck GurneyDNQ24
USA Janet Guthrie9
USA Ed FinleyDNQ
USA Tom GloyDNQDNQ
USA Jim HurtubiseDNQ
USA Gary IrvinDNQ
USA Bill PuterbaughDNQ
USA John MartinDNQ
NZL Graham McRaeDNQ
CAN Frank WeissDNQ
USA Mike HissQL
ColorResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
Green4th & 5th place
Light Blue6th-10th place
Dark BlueFinished
(Outside Top 10)
PurpleDid not finish
(Ret)
RedDid not qualify
(DNQ)
BrownWithdrawn
(Wth)
BlackDisqualified
(DSQ)
WhiteDid not start
(DNS)
BlankDid not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing

|- |

Rookie

|} |}

References

  • http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 214-216)
  • https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1978.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
  • https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1978/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
  • https://www.racingyears.com/results/1978/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025

References

  1. {{cite episode
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