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.
| 1980 USAC Championship Car season | |
|---|---|
| Championship Racing League | |
 Champion: Johnny Rutherford | |
| Season | |
| Races | 5 |
| Start date | April 13 |
| End date | July 13 |
| Awards | |
| National champion |  Johnny Rutherford |
| Indianapolis 500 winner | 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, driving Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effects Chaparral 2K won three of the five races (including Indianapolis), and finished second in the other two. Rutherford won the USAC championship by a commanding point margin. Rutherford happened to score the most points under both USAC's five-race points distribution and CART's 12-race points championship, securing what could be considered "undisputed" or "unanimous" top driver honors for the calendar year of 1980.
Schedule and results
editIn 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.
Original schedule
editRevised schedule
editIn 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.
Final points standings
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References
edit- Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1980". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- "1980 Championship Racing League". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ^ Miller, Robin (December 27, 1979). "USAC Announces 1980 Schedule". The Indianapolis Star. p. 31. Retrieved June 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
