List of USAC Championship Car seasons
From 1956 to 1978, USAC Championship Car seasons featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, the Championship contained road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. Thereafter, the schedule consisted mainly of paved ovals. In 1979, the majority of car owners left USAC to race in the Indy Car World Series, sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and CART. This led to a decline in the number of events in the schedule, and by the 1984-85 season, the Championship comprised only one race, the Indianapolis 500. The era of USAC Championship Cars concluded with the formation of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1995, which was sanctioned by USAC until June 1997 when the IRL assumed officiating duties after the controversial finish of the 81st Indianapolis 500 and the scoring mistake that marred the following event.[1] The most successful driver in USAC Championship Car history was A. J. Foyt with seven National Championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories. Foyt competed in every season from 1957 to 1992-93.
Contents
Seasons
# | Year | Races | National Champion | Indianapolis 500 | Drivers | Notes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dirt Oval | Hill Climb | Paved Oval | Road | Total | Ranked | Fatalities | |||||
USAC National Championship Trail | |||||||||||
1 | 1956 | 8 (1) | (1) | 4 (1) | - | 12 (3) | Jimmy Bryan | Pat Flaherty | 36 | - | [2][3] |
2 | 1957 | 9 (1) | (1) | 4 (3) | - | 13 (5) | Jimmy Bryan | Sam Hanks | 41 | 1 | [4][5] |
3 | 1958 | 8 (1) | (1) | 5 (3) | - | 13 (5) | Tony Bettenhausen | Jimmy Bryan | 38 | 3 | [6][7] |
4 | 1959 | 7 (1) | (1) | 6 (1) | - | 13 (3) | Rodger Ward | 50 | 7 | [8][9] | |
5 | 1960 | 7 (1) | (1) | 5 | - | 12 (2) | A. J. Foyt | Jim Rathmann | 45 | 1 | [10][11] |
6 | 1961 | 7 | (1) | 5 | - | 12 (1) | A. J. Foyt | 43 | 2 | [12][13] | |
7 | 1962 | 7 | (1) | 6 | - | 13 (1) | Rodger Ward | 39 | 1 | [14][15] | |
8 | 1963 | 6 | (1) | 6 | - | 12 (1) | A. J. Foyt | Parnelli Jones | 36 | - | [16][17] |
9 | 1964 | 5 | (1) | 8 | - | 13 (1) | A. J. Foyt | 46 | 4 | [18][19] | |
10 | 1965 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 18 | Mario Andretti | Jim Clark | 57 | - | [20][21] |
11 | 1966 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 1 (1) | 16 (1) | Mario Andretti | Graham Hill | 57 | 1 | [22][23] |
12 | 1967 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 21 | A. J. Foyt | 62 | - | [24][25] | |
13 | 1968 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 28 | Bobby Unser | 68 | 2 | [26][27] | |
14 | 1969 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 24 | Mario Andretti | 72 | - | [28][29] | |
15 | 1970 | 5 | (1) | 10 | 3 | 18 (1) | Al Unser | 55 | - | [30][31] | |
16 | 1971 | - | - | 12 | - | 12 | Joe Leonard | Al Unser | 44 | - | [32][33] |
17 | 1972 | - | - | 10 | - | 10 | Joe Leonard | Mark Donohue | 42 | 1 | [34][35] |
18 | 1973 | - | - | 16 | - | 16 | Roger McCluskey | Gordon Johncock | 36 | 3 | [36][37] |
19 | 1974 | - | - | 14 | - | 14 | Bobby Unser | Johnny Rutherford | 37 | - | [38][39] |
20 | 1975 | - | - | 13 | - | 13 | A. J. Foyt | Bobby Unser | 38 | - | [40][41] |
21 | 1976 | - | - | 13 | - | 13 | Gordon Johncock | Johnny Rutherford | 39 | - | [42][43] |
22 | 1977 | - | - | 13 | 1 | 14 | Tom Sneva | A. J. Foyt | 41 | - | [44][45] |
23 | 1978 | - | - | 15 | 3 | 18 | Tom Sneva | Al Unser | 45 | - | [46][47] |
24 | 1979 | - | - | 7 | - | 7 | A. J. Foyt | Rick Mears | 32 | - | [48][49] |
Championship Racing League | |||||||||||
25 | 1980 | - | - | 4 | 1 | 5 | Johnny Rutherford | 57 | - | [50][51] | |
USAC Gold Crown Championship | |||||||||||
26 | 1981-82 | 3 | - | 3 | - | 6 | George Snider | Bobby Unser* | 51 | 1 | [52][53] |
Gordon Johncock* | |||||||||||
27 | 1982-83 | 3 | - | 1 | - | 4 | Tom Sneva | 39 | - | [54][55] | |
28 | 1983-84 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | Rick Mears | 39 | - | [56][57] | |
29 | 1984-85 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Danny Sullivan | 32 | - | [58] | |
30 | 1985-86 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Bobby Rahal | 33 | - | [59] | |
31 | 1986-87 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Al Unser | 33 | - | [60] | |
32 | 1987-88 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Rick Mears | 33 | - | [61] | |
33 | 1988-89 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 33 | - | [62] | |
34 | 1989-90 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Arie Luyendyk | 33 | - | [63] | |
35 | 1990-91 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Rick Mears | 33 | - | [64] | |
36 | 1991-92 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Al Unser, Jr. | 33 | 1 | [65] | |
37 | 1992-93 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi | 33 | - | [66] | |
38 | 1993-94 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Al Unser, Jr. | 33 | - | [67] | |
39 | 1994-95 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Jacques Villeneuve | 33 | - | [68] |
* The 1981-82 season included both the 65th and 66th Indianapolis 500 races.
( ) Figures in parentheses denote the number of non-championship races in that season.
References
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