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.
| 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 |
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
edit
Schedule and results
editAll 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 MearsA
|
Rick MearsA
|
| 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 2B | 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
editThe CART drivers were not eligible for points.
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See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ 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
edit- ^ 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)