1980 USAC Championship Car season

1980 USAC Championship Car season
Championship Racing League
Season
Races	5
Start date	April 13
End date	July 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. The season was planned to be 12 races, each co-sanctioned with CART, however the 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
NC	April 26	—	—	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	align="center"| —
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
NC	July 27	—	—	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	align="center"| —
NC	August 10	Tony Bettenhausen 200	200 mi (320 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford
NC	August 24	—	—	Alabama International Motor Speedway	Talladega, Alabama	align="center"| —
NC	September 14	—	—	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	align="center"| —
NC	September 28	—	—	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Charlotte, North Carolina	align="center"| —

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

  Non-championship race

Tony Bettenhausen 200 was a CART race.

Leading National Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Team/Car Owner	Wins	Poles	Points
1	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	3	2	2740
2	Tom Sneva	Jerry O'Connel Racing	0	0	1970
3	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	2	1	1334
4	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	0	1	1330
5	Pancho Carter	Morales Motorsports	0	0	1078
6	Bill Alsup	Alsup Racing	0	0	990
7	Rick Mears	Team Penske	0	0	766
8	Gary Bettenhausen	AMI Racing	0	0	726
9	Vern Schuppan	Wysard Racing	0	0	650
10	Sheldon Kinser	Leader Card Racing	0	0	673
11	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	0	0	345
12	Howdy Holmes	AMI Racing	0	0	266

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1980". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "1980 Championship Racing League". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

See also

• 1980 Indianapolis 500
• 1980 IndyCar season