1983–84 USAC Championship Car season

1983–84 USAC Championship Car season
1983–84 USAC Championship Car season
USAC Gold Crown Championship
Season
Races	2
Start date	September 5, 1983
End date	May 27, 1984
Awards
National champion	Rick Mears
Indianapolis 500 winner	Rick Mears
	← 1982–83 1984–85 →

Last updated October 24, 2025

The 1983–84 USAC Championship Car season consisted of two races, beginning in Du Quoin, Illinois, on September 5, 1983, and concluding in Speedway, Indiana, on May 27, 1984. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. This was the last year that the Championship comprised more than one race, and the Ted Horn Memorial was the last ever Indycar race on a dirt or clay surface.

Schedule and results

All races were run on Oval/Speedway courses.

Rnd	Date	Race name	Length	Track	Location	Type	Pole position	Winning driver
1	September 5, 1983	Ted Horn Memorial	100 mi (160 km)	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	Gary Bettenhausen	Gary Bettenhausen
2	May 27, 1984	Indianapolis 500-Mile Race	500 mi (800 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Tom Sneva	Rick Mears

Final points standings

Note: Drivers not entered for the Indianapolis 500 were not eligible for points.

Pos	Driver	DQSF	INDY	Pts
1	Rick Mears		1*	1000
2	Roberto Guerrero		2	800
3	Al Unser		3	700
4	Al Holbert		4	600
5	Michael Andretti		5	500
6	Gary Bettenhausen	1*	DNQ	400
7	A. J. Foyt		6	400
8	George Snider	4	11	340
9	Bobby Rahal		7	300
10	Ken Schrader	3	DNP	280
11	Herm Johnson		8	250
12	Danny Ongais		9	200
13	Josele Garza		10	150
14	Larry Rice	8		100
15	Dennis Firestone		12	50
16	Rich Vogler	11	DNP	40
17	Chris Kneifel		15	25
18	Tom Sneva		16	25
19	Bill Vukovich II	12	DNP	20
20	Mario Andretti		17	20
21	Scott Brayton		18	20
22	Pancho Carter		19	20
23	Kevin Cogan		20	20
24	Al Unser Jr.		21	15
25	Johnny Rutherford		22	15
26	Dick Simon		23	15
27	Teo Fabi		24	15
28	Sheldon Kinser	16		10
29	Gordon Johncock		25	10
30	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.		26	10
31	Derek Daly		27	10
32	Chip Ganassi		28	10
33	Tom Bigelow	17	DNQ	8
34	Steve Chassey	23	DNQ	6
35	Danny Sullivan		29	5
36	Spike Gehlhausen		31	5
37	Emerson Fittipaldi		32	5
38	Geoff Brabham		33	5
39	Mark Alderson	26	DNP	4
-	Howdy Holmes		13	0
-	Tom Gloy		14	0
-	Patrick Bedard		30	0
-	Chuck Gurney	2		0
-	Bill Engelhart	5		0
-	Steve Kinser	6		0
-	Ron Shuman	7		0
-	Ron Burke	9		0
-	Gary Hieber	10		0
-	Jerry Nemire	13		0
-	Bud Wilmot	14		0
-	Steve Siegel	15		0
-	Mike Winblad	18		0
-	Jack Hewitt	19		0
-	Mike Johnson	20		0
-	Larry Dickson	21		0
-	Larry Martin	22		0
-	Bobby Olivero	24		0
-	Randy Bateman	25		0
-	Joe Saldana	27		0
-	Bob Cicconi	28		0
-	Jim McElreath	29		0
-	Rick Hood	30		0
-	Bill Alsup		DNQ	0
-	Chuck Ciprich		DNQ	0
-	Jim Crawford		DNQ	0
-	Larry Cannon		DNQ	0
-	Mike Chandler		DNQ	0
-	Phil Caliva		DNQ	0
-	Chet Fillip		DNQ	0
-	Dick Ferguson		DNQ	0
-	Stan Fox		DNQ	0
-	Bruno Giacomelli		DNQ	0
-	Pete Halsmer		DNQ	0
-	Jerry Karl		DNQ	0
-	Phil Krueger		DNQ	0
-	Steve Krisiloff		DNQ	0
-	Al Loquasto		DNQ	0
-	Roger Mears		DNQ	0
-	Jacques Villeneuve Sr.		Wth	0
-	Ed Primm		DNQ	0
-	John Paul Jr.		DNQ	0
-	Johnny Parsons	DNQ	DNQ	0
-	Desiré Wilson		DNQ	0
-	Jerry Sneva		DNQ	0
-	Terry Uehling	DNQ		0
-	Steve Cannon	DNQ		0
-	Gary Irvin	DNQ		0
-	Terry Kawell	DNQ		0
-	Larry Gates	DNQ		0
-	Randy Kinser	DNQ		0
-	Kevin Olson	DNQ		0
-	Manny Rockhold	DNQ		0
-	Ron Hughes Jr.	DNQ		0
-	Eddie Leavitt	DNQ		0
-	Steve Long	DNQ		0
-	Chuck Jones	DNQ		0
-	Jerry Weeks	DNQ		0
-	Ron Milton	DNQ		0
-	Jim Moughan Jr.	DNQ		0
-	Rip Williams	DNQ		0
-	Steve Ball	DNQ		0
-	Kenny Acheson		DNP	0
-	Price Cobb		DNP	0
-	John Morton		DNP	0
-	Jim Hillyer		DNP	0
-	Steve Hostetler		DNP	0
-	Bill Puterbaugh		DNP	0
-	Jorge Koechlin		DNP	0
-	Arie Luyendyk		DNP	0
-	Willy T. Ribbs		DNP	0
-	Randy Lewis		DNP	0
-	Paul Rochelle		DNP	0

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)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

References

Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1984". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
"1983-84 USAC Gold Crown Championship". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 191-192)

v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

v t e USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)
Seasons	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Indianapolis 500s	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
National Champions	Emerson Fittipaldi (twice) A. J. Foyt (twice) Gordon Johncock Joe Leonard (twice) Arie Luyendyk Roger McCluskey Rick Mears (three times) Bobby Rahal Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva (three times) George Snider Danny Sullivan Al Unser Al Unser Jr. (twice) Bobby Unser Jacques Villeneuve
Tracks	Atlanta Brands Hatch DuQuoin State Fair Illinois State Fair Indianapolis Indiana State Fair Michigan Mid-Ohio Milwaukee Mosport Nazareth Ontario Phoenix Pocono Rafaela Silverstone Texas World Trenton

1983–84 USAC Championship Car season

Contents

Schedule and results

Final points standings

References

See also