The 1979 season was filled with controversy on and off the track. During the offseason, several Indy car owners broke off from USAC, and formed Championship Auto Racing Teams, a new sanctioning body to govern the sport of open wheel Indy car racing. USAC continued to sanction their Gold Crown Championship, resulting in two parallel national championships for 1979. The controversy over the first "split" in Indy car racing came to its first climax at the 1979 Indianapolis 500, when USAC rejected entries by certain CART owners. The owners won a court injunction to be allowed to race, and later, another controversy erupted, this time involving illegal wastegate exhaust pipes.
The 1979 CART season was held through an arrangement such that it fell under the sanctioning umbrella of SCCA. This one-year, temporary arrangement was such that it would be formally recognized by ACCUS.
With three wins, two poles, and 14 top tens (no finish worse than 7th), Rick Mears ran away with the inaugural CART championship title. Mears took a large points lead after winning the Indy 500, and never relinquished the top spot through the remainder of the season. Bobby Unser won six races, and finished second in points.
The California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway was originally scheduled as a USAC race for September 2, but was switched mid-season to a CART series race. Additional races at Mosport and Rockingham were ultimately cancelled.[1]
Bobby Unser won the first pole in the new series history and dominated the race leading the most laps (86). However Unser had tire issues forcing an extra stop and history would show Gordon Johncock as the series first ever winner with Rick Mears second, and Johnny Rutherford in third.
Johnny Rutherford would win the pole race 1. Race 1 would see Rutherford and Gordon Johncock dominate with Johncock leading the most laps (32) but would see Rutherford winning after a late race duel with Lee Kumzman who would hold on for second. Tom Sneva would take third while Johncock would take fourth.
Race 2 would see Rutherford again lead the field to the green flag (Race 2 lineup set by Race 1 finishing order). This time Rutherford would lead the most laps (61) and win. Rick Mears took second. Placing third was Al Unser Sr after he ran out of fuel on the final lap.
Also during this race weekend the CART teams that planned on entering the Indianapolis 500 were informed in a telegram from USAC that their board of directors voted unanimously to reject the entries of six key CART teams of Penske, Patrick, McLaren, Fletcher, Chaparral, and Gurney as they stated these six teams (19 cars) were alleged to be "harmful to racing" and "not in good standing with USAC."
After the rejected six filed an emergency injunction to be allowed to qualify and compete in the race, the injunction was granted. Race Day came around following the qualifying controversy and Rick Mears won his first of six Indy 500 poles. Both Bobby and Al Unser combined to lead 174 laps. But on lap 103 Al Unsers Day came to an end with a failed transmission. Bobby Unser was then in firm control until lap 181 when he slowed with gearbox troubles. Rick Mears would lead the remainder of the race for his first of four Indy 500 wins. A J. Foyt would finish second after losing his engine on the final lap. Mike Mosely would finish third, Danny Ongais would take fourth, Bobby Unser nursed his car to a fifth place finish with an ailing gearbox.
Race 1 would see Gordon Johncock take pole. He would lead the first 44 laps (most laps led) then lose the lead on the next lap as he had to pit, then he would spin 2 laps later losing more spots. That opened the door for Bobby Unser to win with brother Al Unser Sr taking second, and Johncock would recover for third.
Starting order for race 2 was set by race 1 finishing order so Bobby Unser started first and would finish first after leading the most laps (62). Wally Dallenbach would finish second, Johnny Rutherford finished third.
Races 7 and 8: Norton Twin 125s
In the first race, Bobby Unser won the pole, followed by Al Unser, Gordon Johncock, Wally Dallenbach, and Rick Mears. Johncock jumped out to lead the first three laps, but Bobby Unser fought back and led until the first caution flew on lap 11 for Spike Gehlhausen's stalled car. Lee Kunzman stayed out under the caution and took the lead, while Bobby Unser's engine blew on lap 21. [2] Al Unser would pick up the lead after the caution flew for Danny Ongais spinning, but he miscalculated fuel mileage and ran out of fuel with 17 laps to go.[2] This allowed Gordon Johncock to take the lead and win. Mike Mosley finished second, Johnny Rutherford third, Rick Mears fourth and Wally Dallenbach fifth. 11 laps into the race, Tom Sneva encountered a fire in his pits, but no one was hurt.
Before the second race, Bobby Unser's crew installed a new engine. [3]Mike Mosley led the first lap, but he had fuel pump problems the next lap and dropped out. Throughout the next 25 laps, Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears would trade the lead, before Unser charged to the front on lap 28 and never looked back, winning the race. Rick Mears finished second on track, but he was penalized for passing cars under the yellow, dropping him to fifth. [4]Tom Sneva moved to second, Al Unser to third, and Gordon Johncock to fourth. Two cautions flew, the first for John Mahler's stalled car on lap 23 and the second for a crash involving Danny Ongais on lap 40.
Following the second of the two races, Rick Mears was leading the points with a 460 point lead over Gordon Johncock. Bobby Unser was third, 470 points back, Johnny Rutherford fourth, 925 points back, and Mike Mosley rounded out the top 5, 960 points back.
Race 9: Kent Oil 150
Al Unser won the pole, with Bobby Unser, Danny Ongais, Rick Mears and Gordon Johncock making up the rest of the top five. In the race, Al and Bobby Unser dominated, the two brothers being the only ones to lead laps throughout the day. Bobby Unser took the lead for good after Al had transmission problems on lap 48,[5] and led the rest of the race to win over Rick Mears. Gordon Johncock finished third, Danny Ongais fourth, and Al Unser fell to fifth.
With his win, Bobby Unser rose to second in points, 410 points behind Rick Mears. Gordon Johncock fell to third, 490 points back, Johnny Rutherford was in fourth, 1157 points back after dropping out with a blown engine, and Mike Mosley remained in fifth, falling to 1185 points behind after dropping out with a broken gearbox.
The race was postponed over a week due to rain. When the race did run, except for one lap led by Bill Alsup, Unser, Sneva, and Mears were the only ones to lead the race. Bobby Unser led the first 20 laps, before giving the lead to Mears. Tom Sneva then led at lap 57, followed by Unser regaining the lead on lap 69. Unser made a pit stop with 14 laps to go, giving the lead back to Sneva. [6] Rick Mears gambled on pit strategy, [7] and passed Tom Sneva with just 3 laps to go to win the final ever IndyCar race at Trenton. Bobby Unser also passed him, taking advantage of Sneva's fading tires to finish second. [6] Sneva fell to third, Wally Dallenbach finished fourth after running as high as second before an extended pit stop,[6] and Johnny Rutherford finished fifth. Two cautions slowed the race, both for crashes. One was by Gordon Johncock on lap 5, and the other by Mike Mosley on lap 36.
Rick Mears extended his point lead to 470 points over Bobby Unser. Gordon Johncock remained in third, 782 points back, Johnny Rutherford stayed in fourth, 1307 points back, and Al Unser rose to fifth in points, 1450 points behind.
In the race, Al Unser led most of the first half of the race, but lost three laps due to a broken front-spoiler bracket.[8] For the remainder of the race, Bobby Unser and Rick Mears traded the lead, While leading on lap 164, Rick Mears killed the engine on his pit stop, causing him to lose 12 seconds to Bobby Unser.[8] This allowed Unser to lead most of the remaining laps, and won over Rick Mears. Mario Andretti claimed third despite running out of gas at the end, Johnny Rutherford finished fourth, and Al Unser ended up in fifth.
His win allowed Unser to close up to 270 points behind Mears, with Johnny Rutherford rising to third in points, Gordon Johncock falling to fourth, and Al Unser remaining in fifth. Apart from Unser, all other drivers were mathematically eliminated from the championship.
In the race, Gordon Johncock dominated the early stages of the race, before his engine blew while leading on the 36th lap. [9] This allowed Bobby Unser to take the lead, and hold it the rest of the way to win over Tom Sneva. Rick Mears was third despite running out of gas on the final lap, Johnny Rutherford finished fourth, and Tom Bagley was fifth. The win was the fifth straight for Team Penske.
Bobby Unser was now just 180 points behind Mears in the fight, followed by Rutherford, Johncock, and Al Unser.
In the race, Unser dominated the first half of the race, but while leading on lap 55 suffered a blown tire[10] handing the lead to Johnny Rutherford. But with 25 laps remaining in the race, Rutherford's engine blew, which allowed Rick Mears to cruise to an easy victory. Gordon Johncock placed second, despite running out of gas on the final lap, Bobby Unser wound up third, Wally Dallenbach finished fourth, and Al Unser, who had tire problems of his own,[10] finished fifth. The win was Penske's sixth straight.
The win gave Rick Mears a near-insurmountable 270 point lead in the points, which meant that he would win the championship as long as he finished 11th or better in the final round.
In the race, Al Unser jumped out to the lead on the first lap. He would eventually dominate the race, leading 138 of the 150 laps and only giving up the lead for a pair of pit stops. [11] There were two late-race cautions, one when Wally Dallenbach spun with 9 laps to go, and one when Pancho Carter lost a wheel, which led to a two-lap shootout[12] but Unser pulled away en route to his first and only win of the year, snapping a six-race Penske streak. Bobby Unser claimed second, Rick Mears third, Gordon Johncock fourth, and Tom Sneva fifth.
Mears's third was enough for him to claim the inaugural CART championship, winning by 240 points over Bobby Unser. Gordon Johncock finished third in points, with Johnny Rutherford in fourth and Al Unser in fifth.
Rick Ravon Mears is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six. Mears is also a three-time Indycar series/World Series champion.
The 62nd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser Sr. dominated the second half, and held a large lead late in the race. However, Unser bent the front wing of his Lola during a pit stop on lap 180, causing his handling to go away over the final twenty laps. Second place Tom Sneva charged to catch Unser's crippled Lola but came up 8 seconds short at the finish line – the second-closest finish in Indy history to that point. Unser held off the challenge, and became a three-time winner of the 500. It was Al Unser's third Indy victory in the decade of the 1970s, and the fifth of nine overall victories by the Unser family.
The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. Second-year driver Rick Mears took the lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, and won his first of four Indianapolis 500 races. It was also Mears' first of a record six Indy 500 pole positions. Brothers Al and Bobby Unser combined to lead 174 of the 200 laps, but Al dropped out around the midpoint, and Bobby slipped to 5th place at the finish nursing mechanical issues. It was also Roger Penske's second Indy 500 victory as a car owner.
The 64th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 25, 1980. Johnny Rutherford won the pole position, led 118 laps, and won the race by a commanding 29.92 second margin. After failing to finish the race the year before, Jim Hall's radical new Chaparral 2K ground effects chassis was a heavy favorite entering the month, and drove a flawless race. Rutherford, the winner in 1974 and 1976, became the sixth driver to win the Indy 500 three times.
The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1981. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti finishing second. After the conclusion of the race, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area during a caution on lap 149. Unser was subsequently issued a one-position penalty. The next morning, the official race results were posted, and Unser was dropped to second place. Andretti was elevated to first place and declared the race winner.
The 71st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 24, 1987. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical problems with only 23 laps to go. Five laps later, Al Unser Sr. assumed the lead, and won his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. At age 47, just days short of his 48th birthday, Unser became the oldest winner of the Indy 500, a record that still stands as of 2023. During the month of May, an unusually high 25 crashes occurred during practice and qualifying, with one driver in particular, Jim Crawford, suffering serious leg injuries.
The 68th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 27, 1984. Rick Mears, who previously won in 1979, won his second Indy 500 victories driving for Penske. Contenders Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti dropped out of the race in the second half, leaving Mears alone two laps ahead of the field, and he cruised to the victory. Three months after the race, however, Mears would suffer severe leg injuries in a practice crash at Sanair.
The Michigan 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Held from 1981 to 2001, the event was held in high prestige, constituting part of Indy car racing's 500-mile "Triple Crown".
IROC VII was the seventh year of IROC competition, which took place in 1979 and 1980. The format carried over from IROC VI in that three qualifying races were held for participants from NASCAR, CART, and Road Racing. The top four finishers in these qualifying races then earned the chance to race in the two final races at Riverside International Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. It used the Chevrolet Camaro in all races, and this was the final year for the series before it went on hiatus until 1984. Bobby Allison won the oval finale en route to the championship and $75,000.
The Pocono 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, located in the Pocono Mountains. The first Indy car race at Pocono was held in 1971. It was the first major event held at the track, shortly after its completion. The race was sanctioned by USAC from 1971 to 1981, and then by CART from 1982 to 1989, and was known as the Pocono 500. The race was removed from the CART calendar following the 1989 running, due to poor track conditions, as well as poor revenue for the promoter.
The 1980 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the second in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing. It consisted of twelve races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 8. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford. Rookie of the Year was Dennis Firestone. The entire season, including the 64th Indianapolis 500, was to be co-sanctioned by both the USAC and CART under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). However, USAC withdrew from the arrangement after five races.
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.
The 1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 7th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races. Al Unser Sr. was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Arie Luyendyk. The 1985 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Danny Sullivan won the Indy 500, in dramatic fashion, a race that became known as the "Spin and Win."
The 1979 Gould Dixie Twin 125 were the second and third rounds of the 1979 IndyCar season, held on April 22, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia.
The 1979 Trenton Twin Indy were the fifth and sixth rounds of the 1979 IndyCar season, held on June 10, at Trenton Speedway, Hamilton Township, Mercer County, near Trenton, New Jersey
The 1980 Pocono 500 was an IndyCar Series motor race held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday June 22, 1980. Branded as the 1980 True Value 500 for sponsorship reasons, it was the tenth running of the event. Bobby Unser won the race driving for Team Penske. It was Unser's first Pocono 500 win and the third for Penske.
The 1983 Pocono 500, the 13th running of the event, was held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 14, 1983. Branded as the 1983 Domino's Pizza 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Teo Fabi, the first rookie to win the Pocono 500.
The 1976 California 500, the seventh running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 5, 1976. The event was race number 10 of 13 in the 1976 USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Bobby Unser, becoming the first man to win the California 500 twice. The race was also the first Indy Car race for Rick Mears.
The 1977 California 500, the eighth running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 4, 1977. The event was race number 12 of 14 in the 1977 USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Al Unser, his first win in the California 500.
The 1978 California 500, the ninth running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 3, 1978. The event was race number 13 of 18 in the 1978 USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Al Unser, who became the only driver with win all three races in IndyCar's Triple Crown in one year.
↑ Gehlhausen was bumped from the Indy 500 field and loaned the #90 car from Patrick Racing, which he qualified. Later, the #19 was allowed to requalify in a special session, but it also failed to qualify with other drivers. For race day, the #90 was renumbered as #19.
↑ Used at the Trenton Twin and the Michigan Grand Prix.
↑ Used by Mears at the Indy 500, the Trenton Twin and Watkins Glen.
↑ Alsup switched to Gehlhausen-Reath at the special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after his Penske ride was disqualified for a technical infringement.
1 2 Ineligible to score points: team not affiliated with CART.
↑ Jerry Sneva switched to Hodgdon Racing for the second weekend of Indy 500 time trials.
↑ Eligible to score points after Hodgdon Racing switched allegiances to CART.
↑ Snider switched to Hoffman Auto Racing for a special qualifying session for bumped cars at the Indy 500, after the #40 was withdrawn due to a blown engine.
↑ Rasmussen switched to B/M Enterprises after a crash during Indy 500 practice.
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