1982 USAC Indy Car World Series (Johnsonverse)

The 1982 USAC Marlboro Indy Car World Series season was the 27th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by USAC. The season consisted of 18 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 28 and concluding at the same location on November 6. The USAC National Champion was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Bobby Rahal. The Indianapolis 500 winner was Gordon Johncock.
Jim Hickman was fatally injured in a practice crash for the Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Milwaukee, he was 39 years old. In the aftermath, Johnson began requiring numerous safety features in all chassis starting with the Chaparral 200 at Dover.
1982 saw the debut of Offenhauser's new V8 engine.
== Drivers, teams, and constructors ==
=== Chassis constructors ===
Constructor 	Chassis 	First year
March Engineering 	March 82C 	1982
March Engineering 	March 81C 	1981
Roger Penske 	Penske PC-10/82 	1982
Roger Penske 	Penske PC-7/79 	1979
Roger Penske 	Penske PC-9B/81 	1981
Rolla Vollstedt 	Vollstedt 82 	1982
Howdy Holmes 	Orbitor Mk1 	1980
McLaren 	McLaren M24 	1977
George Bignotti 	Wildcat MK8 	1982
Don Gates 	Antares 72 	1972
Rattlesnake Racing 	Rattlesnake 	1982
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers	IAM 002 	1982
Purcell 	Purcell 	1982
A. J. Watson 	Watson 79 	1979
A. J. Watson 	Watson 82C 	1982
Chaparral Cars 	Chaparral 2K 	1980
Arrows Grand Prix International 	Arrows I1 	1982
Williams Grand Prix Engineering 	Williams IW82 	1982
Longhorn Racing 	Longhorn LR-01 	1980
Longhorn Racing 	Longhorn LR-03/B	1982
=== Engine manufacturers ===
Manufacturer 	Marquee 	Type
Offenhauser 	Offenhauser	V8
Cosworth 	Cosworth 	V6
General Motors	Chevrolet 	V8
General Motors	Oldsmobile 	V6
Mildoon 	Mildoon 	V6
=== Drivers and teams ===
The following teams and drivers competed for the 1982 USAC Indy Car World Series.
Team/Car Owner 	Chassis 	Engine 	No	Drivers
Alex Morales Motorsports 	March 82C 	Offenhauser	3 	Pancho Carter
Alsup Racing 	Penske PC-10/82 	Cosworth 	2 	Bill Alsup
Alsup Racing 	Penske PC-10/82 	Cosworth 	27	Spike Gehlhausen
Arciero Racing 	Eagle 81 	Chevrolet 	66	Pete Halsmer
Armstrong Mould Racing Team 	Orbitor Mk1 	Cosworth 	43	Greg Leffler
Bettenhausen Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	8 	Gary Bettenhausen
Bettenhausen Racing w/ H&R Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	6 	Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
Bignotti-Cotter Racing 	March 81C
March 82C	Offenhauser	7 	Tom Sneva
Bignotti-Cotter Racing 	March 81C
March 82C	Offenhauser	21	Geoff Brabham
Brayton Racing 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	36	Patrick Bedard
Brayton Racing 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	36	Scott Brayton
Brayton Racing 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	37	Scott Brayton
BVC Racing 	Eagle 82C 	Mildoon 	75	Dennis Firestone
Caliva Racing 	McLaren M24 	Chevrolet 	38	Phil Caliva
Chaparral Racing 	Chaparral 2K 	Cosworth 	5 	Johnny Rutherford
Circle Bar Auto Racing 	Wildcat MK8 	Offenhauser	39	Chet Fillip
Doug Shierson Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	30	Howdy Holmes
Fletcher Racing 	March 82C 	Offenhauser	35	Gordon Smiley
Fletcher Racing 	March 82C 	Offenhauser	35	George Snider
Forsythe Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	32	Héctor Rebaque
Forsythe Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	33	Danny Sullivan
Forsythe Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	33	Al Unser Jr.
Frantz Racing w/ Burger King 	Coyote 	Chevrolet 	77	Tom Frantz
Garza Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	55	Josele Garza
Gilmore Racing 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	14	A. J. Foyt
Gohr Racing 	Penske PC-7 	Chevrolet 	56	Joe Saldana
Gohr Racing 	Penske PC-7 	Chevrolet 	56	Gary Bettenhausen
Grant King Racers 	Antares 72 	Offenhauser	65	Todd Tuttle
GTS Racing 	Eagle 82C 	Offenhauser	86	Al Loquasto
Hamilton Racing 	McLaren M24 	Cosworth 	17	Ken Hamilton
HBK Racing 	Eagle 81C 	Chevrolet 	72	Tom Bigelow
HBK Racing 	Eagle 81C 	Chevrolet 	72	Bill Whittington
Hodgson-Curb 	Watson 79 	Offenhauser	29	Bobby Olivero
Hoffman Racing 	Vollstedt 82 	Cosworth 	69	Jerry Sneva
Hoffman Racing w/ Rattlesnake Racing	March 81C 	Cosworth 	42	Jim Hickman
Jamieson Racing 	Penske PC-9 	Offenhauser	49	Chip Mead
Jamieson Racing 	Penske PC-9 	Offenhauser	49	Spike Gehlhausen
Jet Engineering 	Rattlesnake 	Cosworth 	64	Steve Chassey
Jet Engineering 	Rattlesnake 	Cosworth 	64	Bob Frey
Jet Engineering 	Rattlesnake 	Cosworth 	64	Greg Leffler
Joe Hunt Magneto 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	89	Phil Krueger
Joe Hunt Magneto 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	89	Dick Ferguson
Joe Hunt Magneto 	Penske PC-7 	Cosworth 	89	Jerry Sneva
Joel McCray Racing 	Purcell 	Offenhauser	46	Leroy van Conett
Joel McCray Racing 	Purcell 	Offenhauser	46	Jerry Karl
Kraco Enterprises 	Penske PC-9B/81
March 82C	Offenhauser	18	Dick Ferguson
Kraco Enterprises 	Penske PC-9B/81
March 82C	Offenhauser	18	Bill Vukovich II
Kraco Enterprises 	Penske PC-9B/81
March 82C	Offenhauser	18	Mike Mosley
Kraco Enterprises 	Penske PC-9B/81
March 82C	Offenhauser	99	Vern Schuppan
Leader Card Racers 	Watson 82C 	Cosworth 	22	Dick Simon
Leader Card Racers 	Watson 82C 	Cosworth 	24	Bill Vukovich II
Longhorn Racing 	Longhorn LR-03/B	Cosworth 	10	Al Unser
Luxury Racers 	Antares 72 	Offenhauser	65	Bob Brutto
Luxury Racers 	Antares 72 	Offenhauser	65	Phil Krueger
Machinists Union Racing 	IAM 002 	Cosworth 	31	Roger Mears
McElreath Racing 	King 	Offenhauser	23	Jim McElreath
Menard Racing 	Menard M82 	Oldsmobile 	28	Herm Johnson
Metametrix 	Arrows I1 	Cosworth 	47	Chris Kneifel
Metametrix 	Arrows I1 	Cosworth 	47	Jacques Villeneuve Sr.
Newman Freeman Racing 	Eagle 82C 	Offenhauser	68	Mike Chandler
Patrick Racing 	Wildcat Mk.VIIIB	Cosworth 	20	Gordon Johncock
Patrick Racing 	Wildcat Mk.VIIIB	Cosworth 	40	Mario Andretti
Rattlesnake Racing 	Rattlesnake 	Offenhauser	11	Dick Ferguson
Ray W Lipper Racing 	Eagle 82C 	Cosworth 	73	Ray Lipper
Rhoades Racing 	Wildcat Mk.VIII 	Cosworth 	12	Chip Ganassi
Team Penske 	Penske PC-10 	Cosworth 	1 	Rick Mears
Team Penske 	Penske PC-10 	Cosworth 	4 	Kevin Cogan
Tempero Racing 	Longhorn LR-01 	Chevrolet 	15	Bill Tempero
Truesports 	March 82C 	Cosworth 	19	Bobby Rahal
Vollstedt Racing 	Vollstedt 82 	Oldsmobile 	25	Keith Kauffman
Whittington Racing 	March 81C 	Offenhauser	91	Don Whittington
Wysard Racing 	Williams IW82 	Cosworth 	34	Hurley Haywood
Wysard Racing 	Williams IW82 	Cosworth 	34	Johnny Parsons
Wysard Racing 	Williams IW82 	Cosworth 	34	John Paul Jr.
Wysard Racing 	Williams IW82 	Cosworth 	34	Derek Daly
=== Notable team and driver changes ===
* Vollstedt Racing returned to Indy Car racing, with dirt track star Keith Kauffman running a full schedule. The team once again created its own chassis, and ran Oldsmobile engines.
* Wysard Racing initially planned to use a March 82C chassis, before Williams Grand Prix built an Indy version of its Formula One FW08 chassis, the IW82, which Wysard agreed to run on a part-time basis so Williams could test the feasibility of fielding their own USAC team.
== Schedule ==
New to the schedule was the 4-mile permanent road course named Road America.
No.	Race title 	Track 	Date
1 	Kraco Car Stereo 150 	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona 	March 28
2 	Datsun Twin 200 	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California 	April 11
3 	Texas Grand Prix 	Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas 	April 24
4 	Stroh's 200 	Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia 	May 1
5 	Indianapolis 500 	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana 	May 30
6 	Gould Rex Mays Classic 	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin 	June 13
7 	Domino's Pizza Pocono 500	Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania 	June 20
8 	Budweiser Cleveland 500 	Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland, Ohio 	July 4
9 	Norton Michigan 500 	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan 	July 18
10 	Tony Bettenhausen 200 	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin 	August 1
11 	Chaparral 200 	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover, Delaware 	August 15
12 	California 500 	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California 	August 29
13 	Alabama 500K 	Alabama International Motor Speedway, Lincoln, Alabama	September 4
14 	Road America 200 	Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconson 	September 19
15 	March Engineering 200 	Suzuka International Circuit, Suzuka, Kansai 	September 26
16 	Detroit News Grand Prix 	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan 	October 3
17 	I Copa México 150 	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico 	October 17
18 	Miller High Life 150 	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona 	November 6
== Results ==
No.	Race title 	Pole position 	Winner 	Team 	Chassis/Engine
1 	Kraco Car Stereo 150 	Rick Mears 	Rick Mears 	Team Penske 	Penske/Cosworth
2 	Datsun Twin 200 	Mario Andretti 	Roger Mears 	Machinists Union Racing 	IAM/Cosworth
3 	Texas Grand Prix 	A.J. Foyt 	Keith Kauffman 	Vollstedt Racing 	Vollstedt/Oldsmobile
4 	Stroh's 200 	Rick Mears 	Rick Mears 	Team Penske 	Penske/Cosworth
5 	Indianapolis 500 	Rick Mears 	Gordon Johncock 	Patrick Racing 	Wildcat/Cosworth
6 	Gould Rex Mays Classic 	Gordon Johncock 	Pancho Carter 	Alex Morales Motorsports	March/Cosworth
7 	Domino's Pizza Pocono 500	Rick Mears 	Tom Sneva 	Bignotti-Cotter Racing 	March/Cosworth
8 	Budweiser Cleveland 500 	Kevin Cogan 	Bobby Rahal 	Truesports 	March/Cosworth
9 	Norton Michigan 500 	Rick Mears/Mario Andretti	Ken Hamilton 	Hamilton Racing 	McLaren/Cosworth
10 	Tony Bettenhausen 200 	Rick Mears 	Tom Sneva 	Bignotti-Cotter Racing 	March/Cosworth
11 	Chaparral 200 	Jerry Sneva 	Jacques Villeneuve Sr.	Metametrix 	Arrows/Cosworth
12 	California 500 	Rick Mears 	Pancho Carter 	Alex Morales Motorsports	March/Offenhauser
13 	Alabama 500K 	Mario Andretti 	John Paul Jr. 	Wysard Racing 	Williams/Cosworth
14 	Road America 200 	Rick Mears 	Héctor Rebaque 	Forsythe Racing 	March/Cosworth
15 	March Engineering 200 	Kevin Cogan 	Al Unser 	Longhorn Racing 	Longhorn/Cosworth
16 	Detroit News Grand Prix 	Rick Mears 	Bobby Rahal 	Truesports 	March/Cosworth
17 	I Copa México 150 	Bobby Rahal 	Keith Kauffman 	Vollstedt Racing 	Vollstedt/Oldsmobile
18 	Miller High Life 150 	Rick Mears 	Tom Sneva 	Bignotti-Cotter Racing 	March/Cosworth
Category:Johnsonverse