| Country: | United States |
| Race: | Phoenix 1 |
| Date: | March 11 |
| Year: | 1979 |
| Official Name: | Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 |
| Race No: | 1 |
| Season No: | 14 |
| Series: | IndyCar |
| Location: | Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona, United States |
| Course: | Tri-Oval |
| Course Mi: | 1.000 |
| Course Km: | 1.610 |
| Distance Laps: | 150 |
| Distance Mi: | 150.000 |
| Distance Km: | 241.500 |
| Weather: | Temperatures reaching up to 80.1F; wind speeds reaching up to 12.7mph[1] |
| Pole Driver: | Bobby Unser |
| Pole Team: | Roger Penske |
| Pole Time: | 24.714 |
| Pole Country: | United States |
| First Driver: | Gordon Johncock |
| First Team: | Pat Patrick |
| First Country: | United States |
| Second Driver: | Rick Mears |
| Second Team: | Roger Penske |
| Second Country: | United States |
| Third Driver: | Johnny Rutherford |
| Third Team: | Bruce McLaren |
| Third Country: | United States |
The 1979 Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 was the first round of the 1979 IndyCar season, held on March 11, at Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona. It marked the debut of the new Championship Automobile Racing Teams, or CART, era of IndyCar racing.
In the inaugural race for the new series, Bobby Unser won the pole with Tom Sneva starting in second. Johnny Rutherford started third, Danny Ongais started fourth, and Rick Mears rounded out the top five starters.
From his pole position, Bobby Unser led almost all of the first 86 laps, only giving up the lead for pit stops. The first caution of the day flew on lap 2, after Vern Schuppan broke a joint and went off track in the first turn.[2] The second caution flew due to a stalled car at lap 15, and the third due to debris picked up when Gordon Johncock left the pits on lap 69. After Unser was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop due to tire problems, Danny Ongais took the lead on lap 87, and held it for the next 33 laps, but soon after giving up the lead to Johncock retired with a blown engine, bringing out the final caution of the day.[3] Johncock went on to win the race, with Rick Mears finishing second, Johnny Rutherford third, Al Unser fourth, and Bobby Unser rounding out the top five.
There was some confusion in the final few laps, with Al Unser listed as running higher than he actually was.[4]
| Pos | Sta | Driver | Owner | Laps | Time/Retired | Led | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 20 |  Gordon Johncock | Pat Patrick | 150 | 1:15:23.016 | 33 | 300 | |
| 2 | 5 | 9 | Rick Mears | Roger Penske | 150 | - | 0 | 240 | |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Johnny Rutherford | Bruce McLaren | 150 | - | 0 | 210 | |
| 4 | 10 | 2 | Al Unser | Chaparral Cars | 150 | - | 0 | 180 | |
| 5 | 1 | 12 | Bobby Unser | Roger Penske | 149 | + 1 Lap | 84 | 150 | |
| 6 | 7 | 36 | Mike Mosley | Dan Gurney | 148 | + 2 Laps | 0 | 120 | |
| 7 | 6 | 40 | Wally Dallenbach | Pat Patrick | 147 | + 3 Laps | 0 | 90 | |
| 8 | 9 | 11 | Tom Bagley | Bobby Hillin | 145 | + 5 Laps | 0 | 75 | |
| 9 | 17 | 21 | Lee Kunzman | Conqueste Racing Team | 143 | + 7 Laps | 0 | 60 | |
| 10 | 19 | 35 | Larry Rice | Private | 143 | + 7 Laps | 0 | 45 | |
| 11 | 21 | 41 | Bill Alsup | Bill Alsup | 141 | + 9 Laps | 0 | 30 | |
| 12 | 15 | 77 | Salt Walther | Walmotors | 139 | + 11 Laps | 0 | 15 | |
| 13 | 13 | 69 | Joe Saldana | Hoffman Racing | 139b | + 11 Laps | 0 | 8 | |
| 14 | 18 | 28 | Tom Frantz | Tom Frantz | 139 | + 11 Laps | 0 | 8 | |
| 15 | 4 | 25 | Danny Ongais | Ted Field | 128 | Engine | 33 | 8 | |
| 16 | 11 | 7 | Steve Krisiloff | Fletcher Racing | 63 | Gearbox | 0 | 8 | |
| 17 | 2 | 1 | Tom Sneva | Jerry O'Connell Racing | 43 | Engine | 0 | 6 | |
| 18 | 14 | 19 | Spike Gehlhausen | Carl Gehlhausen | 12 | Water Line | 0 | 6 | |
| 19 | 16 | 92 | John Mahler | Intercomp | 12 | Piston | 0 | 6 | |
| 20 | 12 | 10 | Pancho Carter | Alex Morales | 7 | Gearbox | 0 | 6 | |
| 21 | 20 | 34 |  Vern Schuppan | Herb Wysard | 2 | U-Joint | 0 | 5 |
| Condition | From Lap | To Lap |
| Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Yellow | 3 | 6 | 4 | Vern Schuppan off at turn 1 | |
| Green | 7 | 14 | 8 | ||
| Yellow | 15 | 16 | 2 | stalled car | |
| Green | 17 | 68 | 52 | ||
| Yellow | 69 | 76 | 8 | debris | |
| Green | 77 | 128 | 52 | ||
| Yellow | 129 | 139 | 11 | Danny Ongais oil on track | |
| Green | 140 | 150 | 11 |
16.7% of race run under caution.
| Leader | From Lap | To Lap |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Unser | 1 | 64 | 64 | |
| Gordon Johncock | 65 | 66 | 2 | |
| Bobby Unser | 67 | 86 | 20 | |
| Danny Ongais | 87 | 119 | 33 | |
| Gordon Johncock | 120 | 150 | 31 |
Note: Only the top ten positions are listed.
| Rank | Driver | Points | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gordon Johncock | 300 | ||
| 2 | Rick Mears | 240 | -60 | |
| 3 | Johnny Rutherford | 210 | -90 | |
| 4 | Al Unser | 180 | -120 | |
| 5 | Bobby Unser | 150 | -150 | |
| 6 | Mike Mosley | 120 | -180 | |
| 7 | Wally Dallenbach | 90 | -210 | |
| 8 | Tom Bagley | 75 | -225 | |
| 9 | Lee Kunzman | 60 | -240 | |
| 10 | Larry Rice | 45 | -255 |