1977 USAC Championship Car season

1977 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	14
Start date	March 6
End date	October 29
Awards
National champion	Tom Sneva
Indianapolis 500 winner	A. J. Foyt
←  1976 1978  →

The 1977 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 6 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 29. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The schedule included a road course for the first time since 1970.

Entrants

(partial list)

Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Rounds
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt	1-3, 5, 7-10, 12
Agajanian	King	Offenhauser	Gary Bettenhausen	4-9, 11-12, 14
All American Racers	Eagle (1-7 9-10, 12) Lightning (11)	Offenhauser	Pancho Carter	1-7, 9-12
Alex Morales	Lightning	Offenhauser	Pancho Carter	14
	Lightning	Offenhauser	Bobby Olivero	5-7, 10-14
Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	Danny Ongais	1-3, 5-14
Jerry O"Connell Racing	Eagle (1-4, 14) Lightning (5-7, 9, 12-13)	Offenhauser	Mike Mosley	1-7, 9, 12-14
Joe Hunt	Eagle	Offenhauser	Gary Bettenhausen	1-2
Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Tom Bigelow	All
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser	Roger McCluskey	2-3, 5-13
McLaren	McLaren	Cosworth	Johnny Rutherford	All
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	DGS	Gordon Johncock	All
	Wildcat	DGS	Wally Dallenbach	All
Team Penske	McLaren (1-8, 11, 14) Penske (9-10, 12-13)	Cosworth (1-13) Offenhauser (14)	Tom Sneva	All
	McLaren (2, 4-5, 7, 12, 14) Penske (13)	Cosworth (2, 5, 7, 12-14) Offenhauser (4)	Mario Andretti	2, 4-5, 7, 12-14
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	Al Unser	1-3, 5-14

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race name	Track	Location	Pole position	Winning driver
1	March 6	Datsun Twin 200s	O  Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Johnny Rutherford	A. J. Foyt
2	March 27	Jimmy Bryan 150	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford
3	April 2	Texas Grand Prix	O  Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	Johnny Rutherford	Tom Sneva
4	April 30	Trenton 200	O  Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Johnny Rutherford	Wally Dallenbach Sr.
5	May 29	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Tom Sneva	A. J. Foyt
6	June 12	Rex Mays Classic 150	O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford
7	June 26	Schaefer 500	O  Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	A. J. Foyt	Tom Sneva
8	July 3	Molson Diamond Indy	R  Mosport Park	Bowmanville, Ontario	Al Unser	A. J. Foyt
9	July 17	Norton 200	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Tom Sneva	Danny Ongais
10	July 31	American Parts 200	O  Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	Danny Ongais	Johnny Rutherford
11	August 21	Tony Bettenhausen 200	O  Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Danny Ongais	Johnny Rutherford
12	September 4	California 500	O  Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Johnny Rutherford	Al Unser
13	September 17	Michigan Grand Prix	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Danny Ongais	Gordon Johncock
-	September 24	Machinists Union 150	O  Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Race postponed due to rain; eventually cancelled
14	October 29	Bobby Ball 150	O  Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Gordon Johncock

O Oval/Speedway

R Road Course

• The Machinist Union 150, scheduled for September 24, was first postponed due to rain, and was eventually cancelled on October 3. ^{[1] [2]}

Final points standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2 TRE2 PHX2 Pts 1 Tom Sneva 14 16 1 10 2 2 1 3 4 5 18 3 10 C 17 3965 2 Al Unser 2 9 2 3 3 25 17 16 21 15 1 4 C 2 3030 3 Johnny Rutherford 25 1 4 8 33 1 5 9 3 1 1 24 2 C 22 2840 4 A. J. Foyt 1 2 14 1 15 1 Wth 19 2 C 2840 5 Gordon Johncock 5 12 9 2 11 12 3 18 2 2 10 11 1 C 1 2830 6 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 18 10 3 1 4 15 4 16 8 17 3 20 3 C 6 2635 7 Mario Andretti DNQ 16 26 2 4 20 C 4 1580 8 Pancho Carter 3 20 11 9 15 5 20 10 3 2 14 3 1420 9 Tom Bigelow 4 4 12 15 6 7 29 8 11 10 4 28 15 C 19 1370 10 Mike Mosley 16 6 5 3 19 4 8 Wth 16 18 C DNQ 1030 11 Roger McCluskey 22 3 17 5 8 19 26 11 20 DNQ 20 22 7 C 5 940 12 Danny Ongais  RY  7 5 13 20 17 23 15 1 13 21 8 17 C 12 935 13 Bobby Olivero 25 6 32 9 6 5 9 C 21 920 14 Gary Bettenhausen 10 11 11 16 20 7 2 17 8 17 C 14 850 15 Johnny Parsons DNQ DNP 5 DNQ 11 18 4 13 29 14 C 20 840 16 Larry Dickson 13 DNQ 18 DNQ 13 5 8 12 7 6 C 18 740 17 Lee Kunzman 7 DNP 6 DNQ 22 15 16 DNQ 700 18 Todd Gibson 11 13 6 6 DNQ 14 DNQ 4 15 DNQ DNQ 600 19 Rick Mears 24 DNQ 15 DNQ 30 6 7 5 26 8 C 555 20 Spike Gehlhausen 26 14 8 12 DNQ 9 DNQ 10 9 12 7 13 13 C 7 550 21 Jim McElreath 23 24 12 6 9 5 530 22 Vern Schuppan 8 8 16 17 DNQ 21 19 6 475 23 Salt Walther 23 18 4 DNQ 18 12 6 DNP 25 DNQ C 13 450 24 Dick Simon 6 7 31 13 16 19 14 9 33 C 11 360 25 Steve Krisiloff 21 9 DNP 22 14 7 DNQ 19 27 320 26 James McElreath  R  DNQ 7 7 DNQ 31 DNQ DNQ 23 19 C 240 27 Bill Vukovich II 20 19 13 17 9 12 14 31 220 28 Joe Saldana  R  DNQ 11 10 Wth 18 11 DNQ 22 C 220 29 Jerry Grant Wth 13 5 DNQ DNQ 16 200 30 Ed Crombie 10 7 DNQ 14 DNS 165 31 Jerry Sneva 10 DNP 18 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ C 150 32 John Martin DNQ 10 150 33 Larry Cannon DNP DNQ 12 12 C 9 125 34 Bill Simpson 9 22 Wth 80 35 Bobby Unser 15 17 DNP Wth 18 16 19 21 15 17 30 8 75 36 Clark Templeman  R  8 75 37 Al Loquasto 19 21 DNP Wth 28 28 11 19 11 C 16 70 38 Gary Irvin  R  10 14 DNQ 60 39 Bill Puterbaugh 12 50 40 George Snider 24 33 DNQ 20 32 21 C 10 45 41 Cliff Hucul  R  12 15 19 22 DNP DNQ 20 - Phil Threshie  R  13 16 DNQ 0 - Eldon Rasmussen 13 21 0 - John Mahler 14 14 DNQ 0 - Tom Gloy  R  15 0 - Lloyd Ruby 17 27 DNP 0 - Bubby Jones 21 DNQ C DNQ 0 - Bob Harkey DNQ 22 DNQ 0 - Chuck Gurney 27 DNQ 0 - Sheldon Kinser 32 0 - Alan Jones DNS 0 - Larry McCoy DNQ Wth 0 - Tommy Hunt DNS 0 - Ed Finley C DNQ 0 - Jerry Karl DNQ DNQ 0 - Bertil Roos DNQ C DNQ 0 - Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0 - Mel Kenyon DNQ 0 - Teddy Pilette DNQ 0 - Tom Frantz Wth 0 - Jack Owens C 0 Ineligible for USAC championship points - Janet Guthrie DNQ 29 17 18 C 0 - Clay Regazzoni  R  30 0 Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2 TRE2 PHX2 Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

See also

• 1977 Indianapolis 500

References

1. "Trenton Race Canceled". The New York Times . October 4, 1977. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
2. "Trenton 200". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1977". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
• Harms, Phil; Ferner, Michael; Measures, Gerry; Brown, Allen. "Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978)". OldRacingCars.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
• "1977 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
• Harms, Phil. "1977 Championship Driver Summary" (PDF). Motorsport.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 4, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 217-218)
• https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1977.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
• https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1977/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
• https://www.racingyears.com/results/1977/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025