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.
USAC and CART united in early 1980 to form a co-sanctioning agreement under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). The entire season was supposed to run under this agreement, but only the first five races of the 1980 Indy/Championship Car season were run under CRL banner. Unhappy with the arrangement, USAC pulled out of the CRL after the Mid-Ohio race in July. USAC declared their 1980 season over after the five races, while CART finished out the remainder of the 1980 season on their own.
Johnny Rutherford happened to score the most points under both USAC's 5-race points distribution and CART's 12-race points championship.
In January 1980, USAC initially released a ten-race schedule, with new venues Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta added to the schedule.[1] However, these three events were eventually scrapped when USAC entered into a joint sanctioning effort with CART.
Rnd | Date | Race Name | Length | Track | Location | |
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1 | April 26 | Texas 200 | 200miles | Texas World Speedway | College Station, Texas | |
2 | May 26 | 500 Mile International Sweepstakes | 500miles | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | |
3 | June 8 | Gould Rex Mays Classic | 150miles | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | |
4 | June 22 | True Value 500 | 500miles | Pocono International Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | |
5 | July 13 | Red Roof Inns 150 | 150miles | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | |
6 | July 27 | Road Atlanta 200 | 150miles | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | |
7 | August 10 | Tony Bettenhausen 150 | 200miles | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | |
8 | August 24 | Alabama 200 | 500miles | Alabama International Motor Speedway | Talladega, Alabama | |
9 | September 14 | Mosport 200 | 150miles | Mosport International Raceway | Bowmanville, Ontario | |
10 | September 28 | Charlotte 500 | 300miles | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Charlotte, North Carolina |
In the spring of 1980, USAC and CART merged their schedules for the newly created CRL Championship. With Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta already scrapped, Texas World Speedway was cancelled too. That track would soon cease to hold any more professional races, and Indy cars never raced at Texas World again. Mosport, which had held races in the past, was also dropped. Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio, and Pocono, all were kept as part of the final merged schedule.
The co-sanctioning effort ended after only five races. USAC declared their involvement in the 1980 season over after Mid-Ohio. The remaining seven races were sanctioned solely by CART, and paid points to the CART championship only.
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