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

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
				Jerry Miller	7
			98	Gary Bettenhausen	3–5
				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
				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
				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
				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
				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]		Jim McElreath	5–7
			23		1–3
				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
	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	86		6–7
Thunder Racing	McLaren M16C/D	Offenhauser	30	Larry Dickson	1–2
				Dana Carter	3–5
Vollstedt Racing	Vollstedt 77	Offenhauser	17	Dick Simon	1, 3–7
	Vollstedt 73		27	John Martin	1
		AMC		George Snider	4
				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]
	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
			6	Wally Dallenbach	3
Penske Racing	Penske PC-6/78	Cosworth	9	Rick Mears	3
	Penske PC-7/79		12	Bobby Unser	3
			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.

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

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) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

See also

• 1979 Indianapolis 500
• 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series

Footnotes

1. Raced as #44 at the Indianapolis 500.
2. Jerry Sneva switched to Hodgdon Racing for the second weekend of Indy 500 time trials, and to Wayne Woodward for the Pocono 500 qualifying.
3. Used at the first Texas World race.
4. 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.
5. Used by Parsons at the 500 events and both Milwaukee races.
6. Used by McElreath at the Indy 500.
7. Used by McElreath at the Indy 500, and by Threshie.
8. Used at Pocono.
9. Rasmussen switched to B/M Enterprises after a crash during Indy 500 practice.
10. Jan Opperman took some laps for his refresher test at the Indy 500.
11. Car loaned by Patrick Racing at the Indy 500 for Gehlhausen.
12. 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.
13. Eligible to score points at the Indy 500, as he had competed with USAC teams earlier in the year.
14. George Snider practiced with the car at Indianapolis as a standby for a possible qualifying attempt after Ongais suffered a concussion in a crash.
15. 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.
16. Alsup switched to a Penske Racing back-up car for Bump Day at the Indy 500.

References

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

• 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)