List of USAC Championship Car seasons explained

From 1956 to 1978, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned Championship Car class featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, races included 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 the USAC to race under the auspices of Championship Auto Racing Teams (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 a 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.

Seasons

USAC Championship Trail

	Season	Races					National Champion	Indianapolis 500	Drivers		Ref
		Dirt Oval	Hill Climb	Paved Oval	Road	Total			Ranked	Fatalities
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	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	A. J. Foyt	43	2	^[12] ^[13]
7	1962	7	(1)	6	-	13 (1)	Rodger Ward	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	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	A. J. Foyt	62	-	^[24] ^[25]
13	1968	5	1	13	9	28	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	68	2	^[26] ^[27]
14	1969	5	1	10	8	24	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti	72	-	^[28] ^[29]
15	1970	5	(1)	10	3	18 (1)	Al Unser	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]

USAC Gold Crown Championship

	Season	Races			National Champion	Indianapolis 500	Drivers		Ref
		Dirt Oval	Paved Oval	Total			Ranked	Fatalities
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.

See also

• List of American Championship Car winners
• List of American Championship Car Rookie of the Year Winners
• Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
• List of Indianapolis 500 winners

Notes and References

1. News: Indy Racing League takes scoring, timing from USAC. Las Vegas Sun. June 17, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/20160301193240/http://lasvegassun.com/news/1997/jun/17/indy-racing-league-takes-scoring-timing-from-usac/. March 1, 2016 . live.
2. Web site: USAC National Championship 1956. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
3. Web site: 1956 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
4. Web site: USAC National Championship 1957. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
5. Web site: 1957 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
6. Web site: USAC National Championship 1958. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
7. Web site: 1958 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
8. Web site: USAC National Championship 1959. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
9. Web site: 1959 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
10. Web site: USAC National Championship 1960. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
11. Web site: 1960 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
12. Web site: USAC National Championship 1961. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
13. Web site: 1961 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
14. Web site: USAC National Championship 1962. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
15. Web site: 1962 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
16. Web site: USAC National Championship 1963. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
17. Web site: 1963 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
18. Web site: USAC National Championship 1964. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
19. Web site: 1964 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
20. Web site: USAC National Championship 1965. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
21. Web site: 1965 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
22. Web site: USAC National Championship 1966. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
23. Web site: 1966 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
24. Web site: USAC National Championship 1967. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
25. Web site: 1967 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
26. Web site: USAC National Championship 1968. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
27. Web site: 1968 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
28. Web site: USAC National Championship 1969. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
29. Web site: 1969 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
30. Web site: USAC National Championship 1970. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
31. Web site: 1970 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
32. Web site: USAC National Championship 1971. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
33. Web site: 1971 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
34. Web site: USAC National Championship 1972. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
35. Web site: 1972 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
36. Web site: USAC National Championship 1973. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
37. Web site: 1973 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
38. Web site: USAC National Championship 1974. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
39. Web site: 1974 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
40. Web site: USAC National Championship 1975. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
41. Web site: 1975 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
42. Web site: USAC National Championship 1976. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
43. Web site: 1976 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
44. Web site: USAC National Championship 1977. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
45. Web site: 1977 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
46. Web site: USAC National Championship 1978. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
47. Web site: 1978 USAC National Championship Citicorp Cup. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
48. Web site: USAC National Championship 1979. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
49. Web site: 1979 USAC National Championship Trail. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
50. Web site: USAC National Championship 1980. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
51. Web site: 1980 Championship Racing League. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
52. Web site: USAC National Championship 1982. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
53. Web site: 1981-82 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
54. Web site: USAC National Championship 1983. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
55. Web site: 1982-83 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
56. Web site: USAC National Championship 1984. Åberg, Andreas. Driver Database. 2009-05-25.
57. Web site: 1983-84 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
58. Web site: 1984-85 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
59. Web site: 1985-86 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
60. Web site: 1986-87 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
61. Web site: 1987-88 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
62. Web site: 1988-89 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
63. Web site: 1989-90 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
64. Web site: 1990-91 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
65. Web site: 1991-92 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
66. Web site: 1992-93 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
67. Web site: 1993-94 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.
68. Web site: 1994-95 Gold Crown Championship. ChampCarStats.com. 2009-05-25.