The 1980 TrueValue Hardware 500 at Pocono was held as part of the 1980 CRL season, the joint USAC/CART sanctioning arrangement. It was the next-to-last race before CART pulled out and proceeded with their own championship for 1980. The race was run using 48 inHG of turbocharger boost, the same used a month earlier at Indianapolis, but down from the 60 inHG permitted at Ontario in April. Bobby Unser won the pole position with a two-lap average speed of 185.491 mph, but A. J. Foyt who qualified second, drew controversy after qualifying. After noticeably struggling earlier in the year at Ontario and Indianapolis, Foyt turned the fastest single qualifying lap (185.874 mph), which led some to accuse him of cheating by over-boosting the engine or illegally using nitrous. Foyt denied the allegations, and no action was taken. At the start, Foyt got the jump and led the field into turn one. Foyt led 67 of the first 85 laps until he dropped out with broken valve. The race shaped up as a battle between Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford, who started the race in a back-up car due to a practice crash. Unser led by 13 seconds before a caution came out on lap 151 due to a spin by Pancho Carter. On the ensuing restart on lap 158, Rutherford went four-wide down the mainstretch to grab the lead going into turn one. The lead was short-lived, as Unser powered by on lap 164. On the final round of pit stops, Rutherford's chances for victory were dashed when he blew his clutch and stalled the engine. Rutherford had to be push-started, and lost many seconds. One lap later, Unser had a near-flawless pit stop, taking on fuel only, and maintained the lead. Unser won by 21.03 seconds, his first and only victory at Pocono.