1980 USAC Championship Car season


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.
CART and USAC united in 1980 under the banner of the Championship Racing League. The first five races of the season were run under CRL banner and sanction by USAC. The union dissolved after the Mid-Ohio race and USAC ended their season.

Schedule and results

In January 1980, USAC initially released a 10-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. But the sanctioning effort ended after 5 races, so the following races did not count to USAC championship but the CART championship. College Station, Talladega, Charlotte, Braselton, and Mosport were removed from the schedule entirely.
RndDateRace NameLengthTrackLocationPole PositionWinning Driver
1April 13 Datsun Twin 200 Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, California Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
April 26Cancelled Texas World SpeedwayCollege Station, Texas
2May 26 500 Mile International Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
3June 8 Gould Rex Mays Classic Wisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, Wisconsin Gordon Johncock Bobby Unser
4June 22 True Value 500 Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, Pennsylvania Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
5July 13 Red Roof Inns 150 Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio Al Unser Johnny Rutherford
NCJuly 20 Norton 200 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan Bobby Unser Johnny Rutherford
July 27Cancelled Road AtlantaBraselton, Georgia
NCAugust 3 Kent Oil 150 Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New York Al Unser Bobby Unser
NCAugust 10 Tony Bettenhausen 200 Wisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, Wisconsin Johnny Rutherford Johnny Rutherford
August 24Cancelled Alabama International Motor SpeedwayTalladega, Alabama
NCAugust 31 California 500 Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, California Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
September 14Cancelled Mosport International RacewayBowmanville, Ontario
NCSeptember 20 Gould Grand Prix Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan Mario Andretti Mario Andretti
September 28Cancelled Charlotte Motor SpeedwayCharlotte, North Carolina
NCOctober 26 I Copa México 150 Autódromo Hermanos RodríguezMexico City, Mexico Bobby Unser Rick Mears
NCNovember 8 Miller High Life 150 Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona Mario Andretti Tom Sneva

Final points standings


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