# 1982–83 USAC Championship Car season

The 1982–83 USAC Championship Car season consisted of four races, beginning in Springfield, Illinois, on August 14, 1982, and concluding in Speedway, Indiana, on May 29, 1983. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Tom Sneva.
By this time, the preeminent national championship season was instead sanctioned by CART.

## Schedule and results

All races were run on Oval/Speedway courses.
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Length | Track | Location | Type | Pole Position | Winning Driver |
| 1 | August 14 | Tony Bettenhausen 100 | 100 mi (160 km) | Illinois State Fairgrounds | Springfield, Illinois | Dirt | Sheldon Kinser | Bobby Olivero |
| 2 | September 6 | Ted Horn Memorial | 100 mi (160 km) | DuQuoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, Illinois | Dirt | Gary Bettenhausen | Gary Bettenhausen |
| 3 | December 4 | Nazareth 100 | 100 mi (160 km) | Nazareth National Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | Dirt | Bob Cicconi | Keith Kauffman |
| 4 | May 29 | Indianapolis 500-Mile Race | 500 mi (800 km) | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | Paved | Teo Fabi | Tom Sneva |

## Final points standings

Note: Drivers who failed to enter the Indy 500 were not eligible for points.
| Pos | Driver | SPR | DQSF | NAZ | INDY | Pts |
| 1 | Tom Sneva | | | | 1* | 1000 |
| 2 | Al Unser | | | | 2 | 800 |
| 3 | Rick Mears | | | | 3 | 700 |
| 4 | Geoff Brabham | | | | 4 | 600 |
| 5 | Mark Alderson | 4 | 7 | 5 | DNQ | 560 |
| 6 | Kevin Cogan | | | | 5 | 500 |
| 7 | Joe Saldana | 2 | 8 | 30 | DNP | 422 |
| 8 | Gary Bettenhausen | | 1 | 24 | DNQ | 406 |
| 9 | Howdy Holmes | | | | 6 | 400 |
| 10 | Ken Schrader | 8 | 12 | 4 | DNQ | 360 |
| 11 | Larry Rice | 6 | 6 | | DNQ | 320 |
| 12 | Pancho Carter | | | | 7 | 300 |
| 13 | Rich Vogler | 20 | 19 | 3 | DNQ | 296 |
| 14 | Sheldon Kinser | 3 | 20 | DNS | DNQ | 288 |
| 15 | Bobby Olivero | 1 | 3 | 26 | DNQ | 284 |
| 16 | Chip Ganassi | | | | 8 | 250 |
| 17 | Al Unser Jr. | | | | 10 | 150 |
| 18 | Steve Chassey | | 2 | 19 | 11 | 100 |
| 19 | George Snider | | 15 | 9 | 32 | 95 |
| 20 | Chris Kneifel | | | | 12 | 50 |
| 21 | Mike Mosley | | | | 13 | 25 |
| 22 | Gordon Johncock | | | | 14 | 25 |
| 23 | Dick Simon | | | | 15 | 25 |
| 24 | Michael Chandler | | | | 16 | 25 |
| 25 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | | | | 17 | 20 |
| 26 | Bill Whittington | | | | 18 | 20 |
| 27 | Derek Daly | | | | 19 | 20 |
| 28 | Bobby Rahal | | | | 20 | 20 |
| 29 | Jerry Nemire | 21 | 18 | 19 | DNP | 16 |
| 30 | Danny Ongais | | | | 21 | 15 |
| 31 | Johnny Parsons | | | | 22 | 15 |
| 32 | Mario Andretti | | | | 23 | 15 |
| 33 | Josele Garza | | | | 25 | 10 |
| 34 | Don Whittington | | | | 27 | 10 |
| 35 | Roger Mears | | | | 28 | 10 |
| 36 | Gary Irvin | 22 | | | | 6 |
| 37 | Steve Krisiloff | | | | 29 | 5 |
| 38 | A. J. Foyt | | | | 31 | 5 |
| 39 | Roger Rager | 26 | | | DNQ | 4 |
| - | Keith Kauffman | 18 | 16 | 1 | | 0 |
| - | Bill Engelhart | 9 | 4 | 2 | | 0 |
| - | Rick Hood | 7 | 5 | | | 0 |
| - | Ron Shuman | 5 | 24 | 12 | | 0 |
| - | Paul Koch | | | 6 | | 0 |
| - | Steve Siegel | | | 7 | | 0 |
| - | Gary Hieber | | | 8 | | 0 |
| - | Scott Brayton | | | | 9 | 0 |
| - | Mike Peters | 11 | 9 | | | 0 |
| - | Jerry Weeks | | 10 | 28 | | 0 |
| - | Walt Kennedy | 10 | | | | 0 |
| - | Danny Frye Jr. | | | 10 | | 0 |
| - | Steve Kinser | | 11 | 17 | | 0 |
| - | Tracy Potter | | | 11 | | 0 |
| - | Dana Carter | 12 | 21 | 23 | | 0 |
| - | Joe McCarthy | | 13 | 16 | | 0 |
| - | Ron Burke | 13 | | | | 0 |
| - | Ed Angle | | | 13 | | 0 |
| - | Bob Cicconi | 23 | 14 | 22 | | 0 |
| - | Doug Wolfgang | 14 | | | | 0 |
| - | Bobby Allen | | | 14 | | 0 |
| - | Larry Dickson | DNQ | | 15 | | 0 |
| - | Arnie Knepper | 15 | | | | 0 |
| - | Elvin Felty | 16 | | | | 0 |
| - | Chuck Amati | 17 | 21 | DNS | | 0 |
| - | Mike Gregg | | 17 | | | 0 |
| - | Smokey Snellbaker | | | 18 | | 0 |
| - | Mike Winblad | 19 | | | | 0 |
| - | Manny Rockhold | | | 20 | | 0 |
| - | Duke Cook | | 22 | | | 0 |
| - | Barry Camp | | | 23 | | 0 |
| - | Emmitt Hahn | 24 | | | | 0 |
| - | Dennis Firestone | | | | 24 | 0 |
| - | Steve Cannon | 25 | | 27 | | 0 |
| - | Tom Bigelow | | 25 | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Brian Seidel | | | 25 | | 0 |
| - | Teo Fabi | | | | 26 | 0 |
| - | Patrick Bedard | | | | 30 | 0 |
| - | Chet Fillip | | | | 33 | 0 |
| - | Bill Alsup | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Jim Buick | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Phil Caliva | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Larry Cannon | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Steve Chassey | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Chuck Ciprich | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Dick Ferguson | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bob Frey | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Amber Furst | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Spike Gehlhausen | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Pete Halsmer | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bob Harkey | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Doug Heveron | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Herm Johnson | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Jerry Karl | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Phil Krueger | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bob Lazier | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Greg Leffler | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Al Loquasto | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Harry MacDonald | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | John Mahler | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Mack McClellan | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Graham McRae | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | John Paul Jr. | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Dave Peperak | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Teddy Pilette | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Johnny Rutherford | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Jerry Sneva | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bill Tempero | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bill Vukovich II | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Desiré Wilson | | | | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Jorge Koechlin | | | | DNP | 0 |
| - | Lee Kunzman | | | | DNP | 0 |
| - | Dave McMillan | | | | DNP | 0 |
| - | Chip Mead | | | | DNP | 0 |
| - | Bill Puterbaugh | | | | DNP | 0 |
| - | Harry Sauce | | | | DNP | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | SPR | DQSF | NAZ | INDY | 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 ||