The 1958 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the inaugural season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. The series was contested for sports cars at three rounds (Lime Rock, Marlboro, and Riverside), and Formula Libre at one round (Watkins Glen). It began September 7, 1958, and ended October 12, 1958, after four races. Dan Gurney won the season championship.
| Rnd | Race | Length | Circuit | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lime Rock International Open | 140 mi (230 km) | Lime Rock Park | Lakeville, Connecticut | September 7 |
| 2 | Marlboro Grand Prix | 76 mi (122 km) | Marlboro Motor Raceway | Upper Marlboro, Maryland | September 21 |
| 3 | International Formula Libre Grand Prix | 300 km (190 mi) | Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York | September 28 |
| 4 | United States Grand Prix for Sports Cars | 200 mi (320 km) | Riverside International Raceway | Riverside, California | October 12 |
| Rnd | Circuit | Winning Team | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Driver | |||
| 1 | Lime Rock | #49 Elisha Walker | Results |
 George Constantine | |||
| 2 | Marlboro | #49 Elisha Walker | Results |
| George Constantine | |||
| 3 | Watkins Glen | #11 Jo Bonnier | Results |
 Jo Bonnier | |||
| 4 | Riverside | #5 Reventhrow Automobile Incorporated | Results |
| Chuck Daigh |
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won several major sports car racing events. He holds the USAC career wins record with 159 victories, and the American championship racing career wins record with 67.
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Indianapolis. It includes a 0.686-mile (1.104 km) oval track, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) road course, and a 4,400-foot (1,300 m) drag strip which is among the premier drag racing venues in the world. The complex receives about 500,000 visitors annually.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.
The 1958 Formula One season was the 12th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on 19 January 1958, and ended on 19 October after eleven races. This was the first Formula One season in which a manufacturers title was awarded, the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers being contested concurrently with the World Championship of Drivers with the exception of the Indianapolis 500 which did not count towards the Cup. Englishman Mike Hawthorn won the Drivers' title after a close battle with compatriot Stirling Moss and Vanwall won the inaugural Manufacturers award from Ferrari. Hawthorn retired from racing at the end of the season, only to die three months later after a road car accident. It was the first of only two occasions in Formula One history where a driver won the championship having won only one race in the season, the other being Keke Rosberg in 1982.
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi Jr. is an American businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scene for over 30 years. He is owner and CEO of Chip Ganassi Racing which operates teams in the IndyCar Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and Extreme E. He is the only team owner in history to have won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and most recently the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) was created by the Sports Car Club of America in 1962. It was the first SCCA series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series to recover races that had been taken by rival USAC Road Racing Championship, a championship that folded after the 1962 season. For its first three seasons, the series featured both open-topped sports cars and GT cars. Ford and Porsche dominated the Over- and Under-2 Liter classes, respectively. The USRRC ran from 1963 until 1968 when it was abandoned in favor of the more successful Can-Am series, which was also run by the SCCA.
The 1971 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Rafaela, Argentina on February 28 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 23. The USAC National Champion was Joe Leonard and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. For 1971 it was decided that there should be three separate points championships, for paved ovals, dirt ovals, and road courses.
The 1978 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning at Phoenix on March 18 and concluding at the same location on October 28. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. This was the last year before the first USAC/CART "Split". By winning the Indianapolis 500, Pocono 500, and California 500, Al Unser swept the Indy car "Triple Crown", the only driver in history to do so.
ESPN SpeedWorld is the name of a former television series broadcast on ESPN from 1979–2006. The program that was based primarily based around NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Formula One, NHRA, and IHRA. The theme music is based on the piano interlude from "18th Avenue " by Cat Stevens.
The USAC Road Racing Championship was a sports car racing series in the United States held from 1958 until 1962. The series was organized by the United States Auto Club as a fully professional alternative to the Sports Car Club of America's SCCA National Sports Car Championship.
The 1959 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the second season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. It began March 8, 1959, and ended October 18, 1959, after eleven races. The series was contested for sports cars at eight rounds, and Formula Libre at three rounds. Augie Pabst won the season championship.
The 1960 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the third season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. It began April 3rd, 1960, and ended October 23rd, 1960, after five races. Carroll Shelby won the season championship.
The 1961 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the fourth season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. It began June 25, 1961, and ended October 22, 1961, after four races. Ken Miles won the season championship.
The 1962 USAC Road Racing Championship season was the fifth and final season of the USAC Road Racing Championship. It began April 1, 1962, and ended October 21, 1962, after five races. The series was contested for Formula Libre at the first two rounds, and sports cars at the final three rounds. Roger Penske won the season championship.
SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.
The Zerex Special was a sports racing car. Originally a Cooper T53 built for the 1961 United States Grand Prix, it was rebuilt for usage in American sports car racing, and featured open-top bodywork. Initially using a 2.75-litre version of the Coventry Climax FPF straight-four engine, it later used a Traco-Oldsmobile 3.5-litre V8. The car won numerous races throughout its four-year career, being driven by drivers such as McLaren and Roger Penske.
The Ferrari 412 S was a unique sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1958. The 412 S combined Ferrari's most powerful V12 engine to date with a one-off experimental racing chassis. It was also incorrectly called as the 412 MI due to being built around an engine from the 500 Miles of Monza racer. The car was created specifically for John von Neumann to take on the American racing cars Scarabs in SCCA racing. Its famed drivers included Phil Hill and Richie Ginther.
August Uihlein Pabst is an American sports car driver from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In ten years of racing, he won two national championships - the 1959 USAC and 1960 SSCA road racing championships. Pabst made one NASCAR start at Riverside International Raceway. He is a former member of the board of directors for Road America.