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1980 USAC Championship Car season

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Sports season

1980 USAC Championship Car season
Championship Racing League

Champion: Johnny Rutherford
Season
Races5
Start dateApril 13
End dateJuly 13
Awards
National championUnited States Johnny Rutherford
Indianapolis 500 winnerUnited States Johnny Rutherford
← 19791981–82 →

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.

USAC and CART united in early 1980 to form a co-sanctioning agreement under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). The entire season was supposed to run under this agreement, but only the first five races of the 1980 Indy/Championship Car season were run under CRL banner. Unhappy with the arrangement, USAC pulled out of the CRL after the Mid-Ohio race in July. USAC declared their 1980 season over after the five races, while CART finished out the remainder of the 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. 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 United States Johnny Rutherford United States Johnny Rutherford
2 May 26 500 Mile International Sweepstakes 500 mi (800 km)  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana United States Johnny Rutherford United States Johnny Rutherford
3 June 8 Gould Rex Mays Classic 150 mi (240 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin United States Gordon Johncock United States Bobby Unser
4 June 22 True Value 500 500 mi (800 km)  O  Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania United States Bobby Unser United States Bobby Unser
5 July 13 Red Roof Inns 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio United States Al Unser United States Johnny Rutherford
Races sanctioned by CART only
NC July 20 Norton 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan United States Bobby Unser United States Johnny Rutherford
NC August 3 Kent Oil 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York United States Al Unser United States Bobby Unser
NC August 10 Tony Bettenhausen 200 200 mi (320 km)  O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin United States Johnny Rutherford United States Johnny Rutherford
NC August 31 California 500 500 mi (800 km)  O  Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California United States Bobby Unser United States Bobby Unser
NC September 20 Gould Grand Prix 150 mi (240 km)  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan United States Mario Andretti United States Mario Andretti
NC October 26 I Copa México 150 150 mi (240 km)  R  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico United States Bobby Unser United States Rick Mears
NC November 8 Miller High Life 150 150 mi (240 km)  O  Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona United States Mario Andretti United States 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
United States
INDY
United States
MIL
United States
POC
United States
MDO
United States
Pts
1 United States Johnny Rutherford 1* 1* 2 2 1 2740
2 United States Tom Sneva 2 2 6 3 11 1970
3 United States Bobby Unser 23 9 1 1* 15 1334
4 United States Gordon Johncock 3 4 3* DNQ 2 1330
5 United States Pancho Carter 18 6 4 6 7 1078
6 United States Bill Alsup 7 DNQ 9 4 3 990
7 United States Rick Mears 21 5 5 12 9* 766
8 United States Gary Bettenhausen 3 12 33 20 726
9 United States Sheldon Kinser 13 DNQ 11 7 24 345
10 United States Danny Ongais 7 24 18 21 330
11 United States Howdy Holmes DNQ 15 8 14 266
12 United States Tom Bigelow 8 250
13 United States Spike Gehlhausen 4 29 DNQ 245
14 United States Tom Bagley 5 28 23 29 DNS 220
15 United States Tim Richmond 9 DNQ DNQ 22 205
16 United States Larry Cannon 33 DNQ 9 DNQ 205
17 United States Roger Mears 9 DNQ 4 180
18 United States Gordon Smiley 6 25 170
19 United States Billy Engelhart 11 10 13 170
20 Australia Vern Schuppan DNQ 5 5 150
21 United States Lee Kunzman DNQ 10 DNQ 150
22 United States Greg Leffler 10 DNQ 150
23 United States Tom Gloy 6 120
24 United States Jerry Sneva 17 8 14 120
25 United States Herm Johnson 14 DNQ 17 11 116
26 United States Dick Ferguson 8 31 DNQ 105
27 United States Roger Rager 23 26 8 100
28 Canada Cliff Hucul 7 90
29 United States Bill Vukovich II 12 21 28 65
30 United States Jan Sneva 10 DNQ 60
31 United States Rick Muther 24 DNQ 18 10 57
32 United States Jerry Karl 21 14 15 18 54
33 United States Phil Caliva 15 DNQ 16 12 50
34 United States Al Unser 16 27 20 24 13 49
35 United States A. J. Foyt DNS 14 19 45
36 United States Ron Shuman 11 DNQ 40
37 United States Mario Andretti 20 17 40
38 United States Dick Simon 22 13 21 DNQ 38
39 Australia Dennis Firestone 16 30 30
40 United States John Martin DNQ 20 16 28
41 United States Mike Mosley 19 32 23 28
42 United States John Wood 12 DNQ DNQ 23 25
43 United States Don Whittington 13 DNQ 25
44 United States George Snider 15 DNQ 25
45 United States Jim McElreath 24 27 25
46 United States Bill Tempero 17 DNQ 16 17 22
47 United States Joe Saldana 25 DNQ 22 DNQ 19
48 United States Phil Threshie DNQ 22 25 15
49 United States Johnny Parsons 26 DNQ 10
50 United States Billie Harvey 19 6
51 United States John Mahler DNQ DNQ 19 6
52 United States Bill Whittington 30 5
53 United States Al Loquasto DNQ 31 5
54 United States Tony Bettenhausen Jr. DNQ DNQ 32 DNQ 5
- United States Hurley Haywood 18 0
- United States Pete Halsmer 20 DNQ 0
- United States Ross Davis 22 0
- United States Bob Frey DNQ DNQ 0
- United States Janet Guthrie DNQ DNQ 0
- Canada Buddie Boys DNQ DNQ 0
- United States Rich Vogler DNQ DNQ 0
- United States Bob Harkey DNQ DNQ 0
- United States Dana Carter DNQ 0
- United States Larry Dickson DNQ 0
- United States Tom Frantz DNQ 0
- United States Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0
- United States Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 0
- United States Salt Walther DNQ 0
- Canada Frank Weiss DNQ 0
- United States Bruce Hill DNQ 0
- United States Milt Harper DNQ 0
Pos Driver ONT
United States
INDY
United States
MIL
United States
POC
United States
MDO
United States
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

  1. Miller, Robin (December 27, 1979). "USAC Announces 1980 Schedule". The Indianapolis Star. p. 31. Retrieved June 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon

See also

American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA
USAC
CART
CCWS
IRL
IndyCar
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.
USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)
Seasons
Indianapolis 500s
National Champions
Tracks
Categories: