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1979 USAC Championship Car season

Sports 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

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

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd	Date	Race name	Length	Track	Location	Pole position
March 25	USA Datsun Twin 200	200 mi	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	USA A. J. Foyt	USA A. J. Foyt
April 8	USA Coors 200	200 mi	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	USA A. J. Foyt	USA A. J. Foyt
May 27	USA [International 500 Mile Sweepstakes](1979-indianapolis-500)	500 mi	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	USA Rick Mears	USA Rick Mears
June 10	USA Rex Mays Classic	150 mi	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	USA A. J. Foyt	USA A. J. Foyt
June 24	USA [Music 500 at Pocono](1979-music-500-at-pocono)	500 mi	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	USA A. J. Foyt	USA A. J. Foyt
July 29	USA Lubrilon Grand Prix	200 mi	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	USA A. J. Foyt	USA A. J. Foyt
August 12	USA Tony Bettenhausen 200	200 mi	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	USA Tom Bigelow	USA Roger McCluskey
September 2	California 500	500 mi	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
USA	TWS1
USA	[INDY](1979-indianapolis-500)
USA	MIL1
USA	POC
USA	TWS2
USA	MIL2
USA	Pts	1	3320	2	1770	3	1305	4	1225	5	1008	6	975	7	851	8	766	9	716	10	673	11	653	12	600	13	598	14	361	15	225	16	218	17	185	18	165	19	153	20	150	21	130	22	113	23	100	24	85	25	80	26	65	27	48	28	30	29	23	30	10	31	10	32	8	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	Pos	Driver	ONT
USA	TWS1
USA	[INDY](1979-indianapolis-500)
USA	MIL1
USA	POC
USA	TWS2
USA	MIL2
USA	Pts
USA A. J. Foyt	1*	1*	2	1*	1*	1*	12*
USA Bill Vukovich II	3	6	8	2	6	6	3
USA Tom Bigelow	6	12	14	3	8	2	2
USA Larry Dickson	16	3	24	4	3	11	Wth
USA Gary Bettenhausen	18	2	DNQ	6	9	5	6
USA Jim McElreath	9	14	35		2	9	Wth
USA Jerry Sneva	21	13	31	5	4	12	10
USA Dick Simon	7		26	13	5	7	17
USA Roger McCluskey	12		13	17	14	4	1
USA Sheldon Kinser	4	8	28	15	15	3	14
CAN Cliff Hucul	5	4	29	7	11	16	19
USA Howdy Holmes			7		7
USA Johnny Parsons	2	16	32	14	21		4
USA George Snider	8	5	33	18	25		11
USA Janet Guthrie	Wth		34		19		5
CAN Frank Weiss	20		Wth	8	23		7
USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr.		9		9	13	13	15
USA Dana Carter	10		DNQ	11	22	10
USA Phil Threshie			17	16	16	8
USA Al Loquasto			DNQ		10
USA Todd Gibson	14	7	DNQ
USA Jerry Karl	DNS	10	DNQ	12	17	14	18
USA Herm Johnson							8
CAN Eldon Rasmussen	11	15	23		20
USA Jerry Miller							9
USA Roger Rager			DNQ	10		15	16
USA Dick Ferguson	17	11	DNQ
USA John Martin	15		DNQ		18
USA Bob Harkey	19		Wth		24
USA Bill Puterbaugh			DNQ	19			13
USA Ken Nichols	13
USA Jan Sneva							20
USA Rick Mears			1
USA Mike Mosley			3
USA Danny Ongais			4		12
USA Bobby Unser			5*
USA Gordon Johncock			6
USA Tom Bagley			9
USA Spike Gehlhausen			10
USA Steve Krisiloff			11
USA Salt Walther			12
USA Tom Sneva			15
USA Joe Saldana			16
USA Johnny Rutherford			18
USA Larry Rice			19
USA Pancho Carter			20
AUS Vern Schuppan			21
USA Al Unser			22
USA John Mahler			25
USA Wally Dallenbach Sr.			27
USA Lee Kunzman			30
USA Larry McCoy			DNQ
USA Bill Alsup			DNQ
USA Larry Cannon			DNQ
USA Billy Engelhart			DNQ
USA Tom Frantz			DNQ
USA Hurley Haywood			DNQ
USA Jim Hurtubise			DNQ
USA Billy Scott			DNQ
USA Neil Bonnett			Wth
USA Greg Leffler				Wth

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)
Not competing

|- |

Rookie

|} |}

Footnotes

References

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

References

Miller, Robin. (July 10, 1979). "September Race At Speedway?". The Indianapolis Star.
Miller, Robin. (July 12, 1979). "Labor Day Show At IMS Just A Joke - Or Is It?". The Indianapolis Star.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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