1976 USAC Championship Car season

1976 USAC Championship Car season

USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	13
Start date	March 14
End date	November 7
Awards
National champion	Gordon Johncock
Indianapolis 500 winner	Johnny Rutherford
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1975	1977

The 1976 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 14 and concluding at the same location on November 7. The USAC National Champion was Gordon Johncock and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford.

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Length	Track	Location	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	March 14	Jimmy Bryan 150	150 mi (240 km)	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Al Unser	Bobby Unser
2	May 2	Trenton 200	201 mi (323 km)	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Johnny Rutherford
3	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	255 mi (410 km)^A	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford
4	June 13	Rex Mays Classic	150 mi (240 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Gordon Johncock	Mike Mosley
5	June 27	Schaefer 500	500 mi (800 km)	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	Johnny Parsons, Jr.	Al Unser
6	July 18	Norton Twin 200s	200 mi (320 km)	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	A. J. Foyt	Gordon Johncock
7	August 1	Texas 150	150 mi (240 km)	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
8	August 15	Trenton 200	175.5 mi (282.4 km)^B	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Gordon Johncock
9	August 22	Tony Bettenhausen 200	200 mi (320 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Al Unser
10	September 5	California 500	500 mi (800 km)	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	A. J. Foyt	Bobby Unser
11	September 18	Michigan 150	150 mi (240 km)	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
12	October 31	Benihana World Series of Auto Racing	200 mi (320 km)	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	A. J. Foyt	Johnny Rutherford
13	November 7	Bobby Ball 150	150 mi (240 km)	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Al Unser

^A Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain.

^B Scheduled for 200 miles, stopped early due to rain.

Final points standings

Note: David Hobbs, Danny Ongais and Vern Schuppan not eligible for points.

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

Pos	Driver	PHX1	TRE1	INDY	MIL1	POC	MIC1	TXS1	TRE2	MIL2	ONT	MIC2	TXS2	PHX2	Pts
1	Gordon Johncock	3	2	3	2	27	1	5	1	2	3	2	2	2	4240
2	Johnny Rutherford	18	1	1	9	4	2	3	7	3	2	11	1	16	4220
3	Wally Dallenbach	16	6	4	12	3	20	2	4	17	4	3	6	4	3105
4	Al Unser	4			4	1	10	17	2	1	32	18	3	1	3020
5	Mike Mosley	5	5	15	1	2	22	4	5	5	15	7	22	DNQ	2120
6	Bobby Unser	1	DNQ	10	3	32				4	1	4	17	21	2080
7	A. J. Foyt	21	18	2	17	31	3	1	19	DNP	23	1	11	Wth	1720
8	Tom Sneva	17	3	6	13	7	6	16	3	13	26	5		DNQ	1570
9	Mario Andretti			8		5							4	3	1200
10	Johnny Parsons, Jr.	6	4	12	5	22	4	18	6	12	DNQ	13	15	20	980
11	Roger McCluskey		DNQ	30	DNP	6	5	DNQ	22	6	21	10	19	5	955
12	Pancho Carter	2	7	5	18	14					29	DNQ	10		920
13	Tom Bigelow	20	17	14	11	29	12	7	21	7	5	9	14	18	820
14	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	DNQ	22	31	6	26		6	8	15	24		5	6	660
15	Jan Opperman			16		19	7		10		6				580
16	Rick Mears	DNQ									8		9	9	390
17	Bill Puterbaugh			22		DNQ					7			8	375
18	Steve Krisiloff			24		8					16	6	21	17	370
19	George Snider			13		9						22	7	10	365
20	Salt Walther	9	9	9		18			DNQ		22				340
21	Dick Simon	7	16	32	14	10	19		13	16	30	21		7	330
22	John Martin	11	8	21	7	21	9		17	18	18				300
23	Todd Gibson					17	DNQ	13	9	8	11	14	16	13	280
24	Bobby Olivero	13		DNQ	10	DNQ		11			9		DNQ	14	275
25	Larry Dickson	19	19	DNQ		11	14	15	11		DNQ	19	8	15	240
26	Al Loquasto	8	10	25		15		10	12		DNQ		DNQ	12	215
27	Larry Cannon			17		30	11	8	DNQ			8	18		190
28	Bill Simpson			DNQ	8	23	8	12	14		14	15	20	DNQ	190
29	Jerry Grant	22		27							10				150
30	Spike Gehlhausen	12	14	33	21	25	16	14	16	9	13	12	12	19	130
31	Lloyd Ruby			11									13	22	100
32	Lee Kunzman			DNQ		13	18	9	DNQ		20		DNQ	11	90
33	Roger Rager								20	10	17	16			60
34	Sheldon Kinser			19		28					12				50
35	Bob Harkey			20		12					DNQ	20			50
36	Jim McElreath	10		DNQ							DNQ				45
37	Ed Finley	DNQ	13		15				DNQ	11		DNQ			40
38	Tom Frantz	15	11		DNQ								DNQ	DNQ	40
39	Ken Nichols	DNQ	12		20				18	14				DNQ	20
-	Janet Guthrie		15	DNQ		24	13		15		DNQ			DNQ	0
-	Arlene Hiss	14													0
-	Frank Weiss	DNP	DNQ		16		15								0
-	Larry McCoy			26		16									0
-	Eldon Rasmussen			DNQ		20	17				31	17			0
-	Vern Schuppan			18											0
-	Jerry Karl			DNQ	19		21				DNQ				0
-	Mike Hiss			DNQ		DNQ					19				0
-	Ed Crombie	DNQ	20	DNQ							DNQ			DNQ	0
-	Jack Owens	DNQ	21		DNQ										0
-	Billy Scott	DNQ		23							DNQ				0
-	John Mahler			DNQ							25				0
-	Gary Bettenhausen	DNQ		28	DNQ	33					27			DNQ	0
-	Danny Ongais										28				0
-	David Hobbs			29											0
-	Mel Kenyon			DNQ							33				0
-	Greg Hodges	DNQ	DNP		DNQ				DNQ						0
-	Gary Allbritain	DNQ	DNQ	DNP											0
-	Butch Harris	DNQ													0
-	Bill Engelhart			DNQ											0
-	Woody Fisher			DNQ											0
-	Jim Hurtubise			DNQ											0
-	Ed Miller			DNQ											0
-	Rick Muther			DNQ											0
Pos	Driver	PHX1	TRE1	INDY	MIL1	POC	MIC1	TXS1	TRE2	MIL2	ONT	MIC2	TXS2	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)
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 1976". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
Harms, Phil; Ferner, Michael; Measures, Gerry; Brown, Allen. "Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978)". OldRacingCars.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
"1976 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
Harms, Phil. "1976 Championship Driver Summary" (PDF). Motorsport.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-05-03. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 219-220)

American Championship car racing (IndyCar) 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

NASCAR	1952 1953

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 / CCWS	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 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~

INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)

Seasons	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84

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

The Indianapolis 500 was the only race in the USAC National Championship from 1984–85 onwards

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1976 USAC Championship Car season

Schedule and results

Final points standings

References

See also