# 1980 USAC Championship Car season

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.
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

In January 1980, USAC initially released a ten-race schedule, with new venues Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta added to the schedule. However, these three events were eventually scrapped when USAC entered into a joint sanctioning effort with CART.

### Original schedule

| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Length | Track | Location |
| 1 | April 26 | Texas 200 | 200 mi (320 km) | O Texas World Speedway | College Station, Texas |
| 2 | May 26 | 500 Mile International Sweepstakes | 500 mi (800 km) | O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
| 3 | June 8 | Gould Rex Mays Classic | 150 mi (240 km) | O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 4 | June 22 | True Value 500 | 500 mi (800 km) | O Pocono International Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania |
| 5 | July 13 | Red Roof Inns 150 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 6 | July 27 | Road Atlanta 200 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia |
| 7 | August 10 | Tony Bettenhausen 150 | 200 mi (320 km) | O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 8 | August 24 | Alabama 200 | 500 mi (800 km) | O Alabama International Motor Speedway | Talladega, Alabama |
| 9 | September 14 | Mosport 200 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Mosport International Raceway | Bowmanville, Ontario |
| 10 | September 28 | Charlotte 500 | 300 mi (480 km) | O Charlotte Motor Speedway | Charlotte, North Carolina |

### Revised schedule

In 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.
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Length | Track | Location | Pole Position | Winning Driver |
| 1 | April 13 | Datsun Twin 200 | 200 mi (320 km) | O Ontario Motor Speedway | Ontario, California | Johnny Rutherford | Johnny Rutherford |
| 2 | May 26 | 500 Mile International Sweepstakes | 500 mi (800 km) | O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | Johnny Rutherford | Johnny Rutherford |
| 3 | June 8 | Gould Rex Mays Classic | 150 mi (240 km) | O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Gordon Johncock | Bobby Unser |
| 4 | June 22 | True Value 500 | 500 mi (800 km) | O Pocono International Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | Bobby Unser | Bobby Unser |
| 5 | July 13 | Red Roof Inns 150 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | Al Unser | Johnny Rutherford |
| Races sanctioned by CART only ||||||||
| NC | July 20 | Norton 200 | 200 mi (320 km) | O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | Bobby Unser | Johnny Rutherford |
| NC | August 3 | Kent Oil 150 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York | Al Unser | Bobby Unser |
| NC | August 10 | Tony Bettenhausen 200 | 200 mi (320 km) | O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Johnny Rutherford | Johnny Rutherford |
| NC | August 31 | California 500 | 500 mi (800 km) | O Ontario Motor Speedway | Ontario, California | Bobby Unser | Bobby Unser |
| NC | September 20 | Gould Grand Prix | 150 mi (240 km) | O Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | Mario Andretti | Mario Andretti |
| NC | October 26 | I Copa México 150 | 150 mi (240 km) | R Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez | Mexico City, Mexico | Bobby Unser | Rick Mears |
| NC | November 8 | Miller High Life 150 | 150 mi (240 km) | O Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | Mario Andretti | Tom Sneva |

## Final points standings

| Pos | Driver | ONT | INDY | MIL | POC | MDO | Pts |
| 1 | Johnny Rutherford | 1* | 1* | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2740 |
| 2 | Tom Sneva | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 1970 |
| 3 | Bobby Unser | 23 | 9 | 1 | 1* | 15 | 1334 |
| 4 | Gordon Johncock | 3 | 4 | 3* | DNQ | 2 | 1330 |
| 5 | Pancho Carter | 18 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1078 |
| 6 | Bill Alsup | 7 | DNQ | 9 | 4 | 3 | 990 |
| 7 | Rick Mears | 21 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 9* | 766 |
| 8 | Gary Bettenhausen | | 3 | 12 | 33 | 20 | 726 |
| 9 | Sheldon Kinser | 13 | DNQ | 11 | 7 | 24 | 345 |
| 10 | Danny Ongais | | 7 | 24 | 18 | 21 | 330 |
| 11 | Howdy Holmes | | DNQ | 15 | 8 | 14 | 266 |
| 12 | Tom Bigelow | | 8 | | | | 250 |
| 13 | Spike Gehlhausen | 4 | 29 | | DNQ | | 245 |
| 14 | Tom Bagley | 5 | 28 | 23 | 29 | DNS | 220 |
| 15 | Tim Richmond | | 9 | DNQ | DNQ | 22 | 205 |
| 16 | Larry Cannon | | 33 | DNQ | 9 | DNQ | 205 |
| 17 | Roger Mears | 9 | DNQ | | | 4 | 180 |
| 18 | Gordon Smiley | 6 | 25 | | | | 170 |
| 19 | Billy Engelhart | | 11 | 10 | 13 | | 170 |
| 20 | Vern Schuppan | | DNQ | | 5 | 5 | 150 |
| 21 | Lee Kunzman | | DNQ | | 10 | DNQ | 150 |
| 22 | Greg Leffler | | 10 | | DNQ | | 150 |
| 23 | Tom Gloy | | | | | 6 | 120 |
| 24 | Jerry Sneva | | 17 | 8 | 14 | | 120 |
| 25 | Herm Johnson | 14 | DNQ | 17 | 11 | | 116 |
| 26 | Dick Ferguson | 8 | 31 | DNQ | | | 105 |
| 27 | Roger Rager | | 23 | | 26 | 8 | 100 |
| 28 | Cliff Hucul | | | 7 | | | 90 |
| 29 | Bill Vukovich II | | 12 | 21 | 28 | | 65 |
| 30 | Jan Sneva | 10 | DNQ | | | | 60 |
| 31 | Rick Muther | 24 | DNQ | 18 | | 10 | 57 |
| 32 | Jerry Karl | | 21 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 54 |
| 33 | Phil Caliva | 15 | DNQ | | 16 | 12 | 50 |
| 34 | Al Unser | 16 | 27 | 20 | 24 | 13 | 49 |
| 35 | A. J. Foyt | DNS | 14 | | 19 | | 45 |
| 36 | Ron Shuman | 11 | DNQ | | | | 40 |
| 37 | Mario Andretti | | 20 | | 17 | | 40 |
| 38 | Dick Simon | | 22 | 13 | 21 | DNQ | 38 |
| 39 | Dennis Firestone | | 16 | | 30 | | 30 |
| 40 | John Martin | | DNQ | | 20 | 16 | 28 |
| 41 | Mike Mosley | 19 | 32 | | 23 | | 28 |
| 42 | John Wood | 12 | DNQ | | DNQ | 23 | 25 |
| 43 | Don Whittington | | 13 | | DNQ | | 25 |
| 44 | George Snider | | 15 | | DNQ | | 25 |
| 45 | Jim McElreath | | 24 | | 27 | | 25 |
| 46 | Bill Tempero | 17 | DNQ | 16 | | 17 | 22 |
| 47 | Joe Saldana | 25 | DNQ | | 22 | DNQ | 19 |
| 48 | Phil Threshie | | DNQ | 22 | 25 | | 15 |
| 49 | Johnny Parsons | | 26 | | DNQ | | 10 |
| 50 | Billie Harvey | | | 19 | | | 6 |
| 51 | John Mahler | | DNQ | DNQ | | 19 | 6 |
| 52 | Bill Whittington | | 30 | | | | 5 |
| 53 | Al Loquasto | | DNQ | | 31 | | 5 |
| 54 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | | DNQ | DNQ | 32 | DNQ | 5 |
| - | Hurley Haywood | | 18 | | | | 0 |
| - | Pete Halsmer | 20 | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Ross Davis | 22 | | | | | 0 |
| - | Bob Frey | | | DNQ | DNQ | | 0 |
| - | Janet Guthrie | | DNQ | DNQ | | | 0 |
| - | Buddie Boys | | DNQ | | DNQ | | 0 |
| - | Rich Vogler | | DNQ | | DNQ | | 0 |
| - | Bob Harkey | | DNQ | | DNQ | | 0 |
| - | Dana Carter | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Larry Dickson | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Tom Frantz | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Jim Hurtubise | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Bill Puterbaugh | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Salt Walther | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Frank Weiss | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Bruce Hill | | | DNQ | | | 0 |
| - | Milt Harper | | | | DNQ | | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | ONT | INDY | MIL | POC | MDO | 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 ||