1980 USAC Championship Car season

1980 USAC Championship Car season
Champion: Johnny Rutherford
Championship Racing League
Season
Races	5
Start date	April 13
End date	July 13
Awards
National champion	Johnny Rutherford
Indianapolis 500 winner	Johnny Rutherford
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1979	1981-82

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. The season was planned to be 12 races, each co-sanctioned with CART, however USAC withdrew from the agreement after the fifth race.

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.

Schedule and results

CART and USAC united in 1980 under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). 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.

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Length	Track	Location	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	April 13	Datsun Twin 200	200 mi (320 km)	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford
2	May 26	Indianapolis 500-Mile Race	500 mi (800 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford
3	June 8	Gould Rex Mays Classic	150 mi (240 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Gordon Johncock	Bobby Unser
4	June 22	True Value 500	500 mi (800 km)	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser
5	July 13	Red Roof Inns 150	150 mi (240 km)	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Al Unser	Johnny Rutherford

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

The withdrawn races:
April 26 at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas
July 27 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia
August 10 at Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway in West Allis, Wisconsin
August 24 at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama
September 14 at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario
September 28 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Final points standings

Pos Driver ONT INDY MIL POC MDO 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, Jr. 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, Jr. 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, Jr. 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 MDO 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

See also

• 1980 Indianapolis 500
• 1980 CART PPG Indy Car World Series