# 1976 USAC Championship Car season

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 | Track | Location | Pole Position | Winning Driver |
| 1 | March 14 | Jimmy Bryan 150 | Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | Al Unser | Bobby Unser |
| 2 | May 2 | Trenton 200 | Trenton International Speedway | Trenton, New Jersey | A. J. Foyt | Johnny Rutherford |
| 3 | May 30 | International 500 Mile Sweepstakes | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | Johnny Rutherford | Johnny Rutherford |
| 4 | June 13 | Rex Mays Classic | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Gordon Johncock | Mike Mosley |
| 5 | June 27 | Schaefer 500 | Pocono International Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania | Johnny Parsons | Al Unser |
| 6 | July 18 | Norton Twin 200s | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | A. J. Foyt | Gordon Johncock |
| 7 | August 1 | Texas 150 | Texas World Speedway | College Station, Texas | A. J. Foyt | A. J. Foyt |
| 8 | August 15 | Trenton 200 | Trenton International Speedway | Trenton, New Jersey | A. J. Foyt | Gordon Johncock |
| 9 | August 22 | Tony Bettenhausen 200 | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Johnny Rutherford | Al Unser |
| 10 | September 5 | California 500 | Ontario Motor Speedway | Ontario, California | A. J. Foyt | Bobby Unser |
| 11 | September 18 | Michigan 150 | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | A. J. Foyt | A. J. Foyt |
| 12 | October 31 | Benihana World Series of Auto Racing | Texas World Speedway | College Station, Texas | A. J. Foyt | Johnny Rutherford |
| 13 | November 7 | Bobby Ball 150 | 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 were not eligible for points.
| 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 Sr. | 16 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3105 |
| 4 | Al Unser | 4 | | 7 | 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 | | 23 | 1 | 11 | | 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 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 22 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 12 | DNQ | 13 | 15 | 20 | 980 |
| 11 | Roger McCluskey | | DNQ | 30 | | 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 II | DNQ | 22 | 31 | 6 | 26 | | 6 | 8 | 15 | 24 | | 5 | 6 | 660 |
| 15 | Jan Opperman | | | 16 | | 19 | 7 | | 10 | | 6 | | | | 580 |
| 16 | Rick Mears RY | 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 R | 13 | | DNQ | 10 | DNQ | | 11 | | | 9 | | DNQ | 14 | 275 |
| 25 | Larry Dickson | 19 | 19 | Wth | | 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 | | | Wth | | 13 | 18 | 9 | DNQ | | 20 | | DNQ | 11 | 90 |
| 33 | Roger Rager R | | | | | | | | 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 R | DNQ | 12 | | 20 | | | | 18 | 14 | | | | DNQ | 20 |
| - | Janet Guthrie R | | 15 | DNQ | | 24 | 13 | | 15 | | DNQ | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Arlene Hiss R | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Frank Weiss | | DNQ | | 16 | | 15 | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Larry McCoy | | | 26 | | 16 | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Eldon Rasmussen | | | DNQ | | 20 | 17 | | | | 31 | 17 | | | 0 |
| - | Vern Schuppan R | | | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Jerry Karl | | | Wth | 19 | | 21 | | | | DNQ | | | | 0 |
| - | Mike Hiss | | | DNQ | | DNQ | | | | | 19 | | | | 0 |
| - | Ed Crombie R | DNQ | 20 | Wth | | | | | | | DNQ | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Jack Owens R | 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 R | | | | | | | | | | 28 | | | | 0 |
| - | David Hobbs | | | 29 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Mel Kenyon | | | DNQ | | | | | | | 33 | | | | 0 |
| - | Greg Hodges | DNQ | | | DNQ | | | | DNQ | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Gary Allbritain | DNQ | DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Butch Harris | DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Bill Engelhart | | | DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Jim Hurtubise | | | DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Rick Muther | | | DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| - | Ed Miller | | | Wth | | | | | | | | | | | 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 |
| RY Rookie of the Year ||
| R Rookie ||