1980 USAC Championship Car season

1980 USAC Championship Car season
Championship Racing League

Champion: Johnny Rutherford
Season
Races5
Start dateApril 13
End dateJuly 13
Awards
National champion Johnny Rutherford
Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford

The 1980 USAC Championship Car season consisted of five races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Lexington, Ohio on July 13. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford.

One year after the first open wheel "Split", USAC and CART came together under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). The entire season was supposed to be co-sanctioned by CART and USAC. However, USAC pulled out the CRL arrangement in July after only five races. USAC declared their 1980 season over, while CART finished out the remainder of their 1980 season on their own.

Johnny Rutherford, driving Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effects Chaparral 2K won three of the five races (including Indianapolis), and finished second in the other two. Rutherford won the USAC championship by a commanding point margin. Rutherford happened to score the most points under both USAC's five-race points distribution and CART's 12-race points championship, securing what could be considered "undisputed" or "unanimous" top driver honors for the calendar year of 1980.

Schedule and results

In January 1980, USAC initially released a ten-race schedule, with new venues Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta added to the schedule.[1] However, these three events were eventually scrapped when USAC entered into a joint sanctioning effort with CART.

Original schedule

Rnd Date Race name Length Track Location
1 April 26 Texas 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas
2 May 26 500 Mile International Sweepstakes 500 mi (800 km)  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana
3 June 8 Gould Rex Mays Classic 150 mi (240 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin
4 June 22 True Value 500 500 mi (800 km)  O  Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania
5 July 13 Red Roof Inns 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
6 July 27 Road Atlanta 200 150 mi (240 km)  R  Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia
7 August 10 Tony Bettenhausen 150 200 mi (320 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin
8 August 24 Alabama 200 500 mi (800 km)  O  Alabama International Motor Speedway Talladega, Alabama
9 September 14 Mosport 200 150 mi (240 km)  R  Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, Ontario
10 September 28 Charlotte 500 300 mi (480 km)  O  Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte, North Carolina
O Oval/Speedway
R Road Course

Revised schedule

In the spring of 1980, USAC and CART merged their schedules for the newly created CRL Championship. With Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta already scrapped, Texas World Speedway was cancelled too. That track would soon cease to hold any more professional races, and Indy cars never raced at Texas World again. Mosport, which had held races in the past, was also dropped. Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio, and Pocono, all were kept as part of the final merged schedule.

The co-sanctioning effort ended after only five races. USAC declared their involvement in the 1980 season over after Mid-Ohio. The remaining seven races were sanctioned solely by CART, and paid points to the CART championship only.

Rnd Date Race name Length Track Location Pole position Winning driver
1 April 13 Datsun Twin 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
2 May 26 500 Mile International Sweepstakes 500 mi (800 km)  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
3 June 8 Gould Rex Mays Classic 150 mi (240 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Gordon Johncock Bobby Unser
4 June 22 True Value 500 500 mi (800 km)  O  Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
5 July 13 Red Roof Inns 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio Al Unser Johnny Rutherford
Races sanctioned by CART only
NC July 20 Norton 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan Bobby Unser Johnny Rutherford
NC August 3 Kent Oil 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York Al Unser Bobby Unser
NC August 10 Tony Bettenhausen 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
NC August 31 California 500 500 mi (800 km)  O  Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
NC September 20 Gould Grand Prix 150 mi (240 km)  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan Mario Andretti Mario Andretti
NC October 26 I Copa México 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico Bobby Unser Rick Mears
NC November 8 Miller High Life 150 150 mi (240 km)  O  Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona Mario Andretti Tom Sneva
O Oval/Speedway
R Road Course/Street Circuit

Final points standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems
Pos Driver ONT
 INDY
 MIL
 POC
 MOH
 Pts
1 Johnny Rutherford 1* 1* 2 2 1 2740
2 Tom Sneva 2 2 6 3 11 1970
3 Bobby Unser 23 9 1 1* 15 1334
4 Gordon Johncock 3 4 3* DNQ 2 1330
5 Pancho Carter 18 6 4 6 7 1078
6 Bill Alsup 7 DNQ 9 4 3 990
7 Rick Mears 21 5 5 12 9* 766
8 Gary Bettenhausen 3 12 33 20 726
9 Sheldon Kinser 13 DNQ 11 7 24 345
10 Danny Ongais 7 24 18 21 330
11 Howdy Holmes DNQ 15 8 14 266
12 Tom Bigelow 8 250
13 Spike Gehlhausen 4 29 DNQ 245
14 Tom Bagley 5 28 23 29 DNS 220
15 Tim Richmond 9 DNQ DNQ 22 205
16 Larry Cannon 33 DNQ 9 DNQ 205
17 Roger Mears 9 DNQ 4 180
18 Gordon Smiley 6 25 170
19 Billy Engelhart 11 10 13 170
20 Vern Schuppan DNQ 5 5 150
21 Lee Kunzman DNQ 10 DNQ 150
22 Greg Leffler 10 DNQ 150
23 Tom Gloy 6 120
24 Jerry Sneva 17 8 14 120
25 Herm Johnson 14 DNQ 17 11 116
26 Dick Ferguson 8 31 DNQ 105
27 Roger Rager 23 26 8 100
28 Cliff Hucul 7 90
29 Bill Vukovich II 12 21 28 65
30 Jan Sneva 10 DNQ 60
31 Rick Muther 24 DNQ 18 10 57
32 Jerry Karl 21 14 15 18 54
33 Phil Caliva 15 DNQ 16 12 50
34 Al Unser 16 27 20 24 13 49
35 A. J. Foyt DNS 14 19 45
36 Ron Shuman 11 DNQ 40
37 Mario Andretti 20 17 40
38 Dick Simon 22 13 21 DNQ 38
39 Dennis Firestone 16 30 30
40 John Martin DNQ 20 16 28
41 Mike Mosley 19 32 23 28
42 John Wood 12 DNQ DNQ 23 25
43 Don Whittington 13 DNQ 25
44 George Snider 15 DNQ 25
45 Jim McElreath 24 27 25
46 Bill Tempero 17 DNQ 16 17 22
47 Joe Saldana 25 DNQ 22 DNQ 19
48 Phil Threshie DNQ 22 25 15
49 Johnny Parsons 26 DNQ 10
50 Billie Harvey 19 6
51 John Mahler DNQ DNQ 19 6
52 Bill Whittington 30 5
53 Al Loquasto DNQ 31 5
54 Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ DNQ 32 DNQ 5
- Hurley Haywood 18 0
- Pete Halsmer 20 DNQ 0
- Ross Davis 22 0
- Bob Frey DNQ DNQ 0
- Janet Guthrie DNQ DNQ 0
- Buddie Boys DNQ DNQ 0
- Rich Vogler DNQ DNQ 0
- Bob Harkey DNQ DNQ 0
- Dana Carter DNQ 0
- Larry Dickson DNQ 0
- Tom Frantz DNQ 0
- Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0
- Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 0
- Salt Walther DNQ 0
- Frank Weiss DNQ 0
- Bruce Hill DNQ 0
- Milt Harper DNQ 0
Pos Driver ONT
 INDY
 MIL
 POC
 MOH
 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
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

References

  • Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1980". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  • "1980 Championship Racing League". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  1. ^ Miller, Robin (December 27, 1979). "USAC Announces 1980 Schedule". The Indianapolis Star. p. 31. Retrieved June 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

See also

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