United States Auto Club (Johnsonverse)

Category:Johnsonverse
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. Since 1956, USAC has sanctioned the United States National Championship and the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Gold Crown Series, Silver Crown Series, Bronze Crown Series, SuperCar Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge.
== History ==
When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it termed championship auto racing, the highest level of USAC racing. For a while there was a separate series of specifications for championship cars designed to be run on dirt, rather than paved, tracks. Today, USAC sanctions open-wheel racing series such as the Gold Crown Series, Silver Crown Series, Bronze Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series, National Midget Series, and Quarter Midgets.
=== Triple crown ===
The "triple crown" is earned in USAC racing when a driver claims all three national championships (Gold Crown, Silver Crown, and Bronze Crown).
=== 1978 plane crash ===
On April 23, 1978, returning from a race at the Trenton Speedway in New Jersey, eight USAC officials, plus the pilot, were killed when their 10-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed during a thunderstorm 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis.
Killed were:
* Ray Marquette, USAC's vice-president of public affairs and a former sportswriter for The Indianapolis Star
* Frank Delroy, chairman of USAC technical committee
* Shim Malone, starter for USAC races and head of its midget racer division
* Judy Phillips, graphic artist and publication director of USAC's newsletter
* Stan Worley, chief registrar
* Ross Teeguarden, assistant technical chairman
* Don Peabody, head of the sprint division
* Dr. Bruce White, assistant staff doctor
* Don Mullendore, owner and pilot of the plane.
The incident closely followed the death of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman.
=== Johnson buyout ===
The plane crash came at a time when Indy car owners and drivers were demanding changes from USAC. Aside from the Indianapolis 500, USAC events were not well attended, and the owners felt that USAC poorly negotiated television rights. The owners also wanted increases in payouts, especially at Indy. Though some think the plane crash was used as an opportunistic way to force change in the sport, it was merely an unfortunate coincidence. The seed of dissent had been growing for several years before the accident.
Also unpopular were the attempts of USAC to keep the aging Offenhauser engine competitive with the newer, and much more expensive, Cosworth DFX engine using boost-limiting "pop off valves" and limiting the amount of fuel that could be used.
In January 1979, USAC was purchased by Johnson Industries. Johnson CEO Sheldon Johnson had, for years, wanted to expand into auto racing, and had not only attempted to field a Buffalo at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans (the car failed to qualify), but also attempted to purchase the FIA in 1974. Prior to the Johnson acquisition, most car owners banded together to form Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978, with the first race to be run in 1979. Johnson's acquisition of USAC, and the resulting rule changes, were more than enough for the CART teams to stay with USAC (it helped that Roger Penske and Dan Gurney had no interest in tangling with the powerful Johnson family). The first season under Johnson retained the USAC National Championship Trail name, but in 1980, Johnson was able to lure Marlboro back as title sponsor, with the series being renamed the Marlboro Indy Car World Series; the "Gold Crown Series" name was adopted in 1984, along with "Silver Crown Series" for Mini-Indy and "Bronze Crown Series" for the National Dirt Car Championship. Throughout the 1980s, USAC flourished, though its Stock Car division folded in 1984. By 1986, NASCAR was in serious financial trouble thanks to the success of USAC, and the France family began to seriously consider selling the organization. Johnson purchased it in 1987, saving the flagging organization and making both open-wheel and stock car racing the most popular forms of motorsports in the United States.
In 1984, USAC began holding races outside the United States. The Marlboro Gold Crown Series had a global appeal, and became a serious competitor to Formula One. By the start of the 1990s, the series began seeing more and more international drivers and international races, with USAC even briefly considering renaming the Marlboro Gold Crown Series to "Formula America". The FIA was so concerned about USAC's popularity (especially since many smaller F1 teams had switched over to USAC due to its lower costs; larger teams could afford to compete in both), it even proposed an all-oval open-wheel series, which would include sanctioning for the Indianapolis 500. This "Open-Wheel War" and a potential custody battle for the Indianapolis 500 never materialized, however, and in 1996, the Indianapolis 500 became a USAC-F1 combination race. Despite this, USAC and the FIA are still locked in a bitter feud, both trying to discredit innovations made by the other, but ultimately adopting each other's innovations (for example, USAC adopted cockpit protection in 2013 in the form of the Aeroscreen, while the FIA held out on adopting anything resembling it for its own open-wheel series until it adopted the Halo in 2018).
Also in 1984, USAC introduced its current logo. The two checkered flags were eliminated, the red-and-white stripes were replaced by a red background, and the USAC initials replaced the United States Auto Club name. Also, the blue field now had three stars, representing the three national series.
The 1990s and 2000s saw a surge in female and minority drivers entering USAC, including Danica Patrick and Wendy Burleson.
As of 2023, NASCAR and USAC are operated as two separate concerns, with NASCAR focusing on stock car racing, and USAC on open-wheel racing of various types, as well as the Road Racing Division formed in 2022, consisting of the GT World Challenge America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America.
== Active series ==
=== USAC Gold Crown Series ===
Main article: USAC Gold Crown Series
The USAC Gold Crown Series presented by NTT is the highest level of open-wheel racing in North America, and the second-most popular open-wheel racing series in the world behind Formula One, as well as the second-most popular racing series in the world overall behind Formula One and ahead of the NASCAR RCA Cup Series; the series' popularity is such that several open-wheel series such as Formula Nippon and Atlantic Championship went bankrupt due to sponsors and fans jumping ship, and their drivers and teams joined the USAC Gold Crown Series. The series races on ovals, road courses, and street courses, with ovals being the most-numerous. Cars are designed to be adaptable for all three types of track. Often nicknamed "Formula America" (despite this nickname, however, the Gold Crown cars are actually closer to Formula Two in terms of road course lap times), the series is known for its diverse field of cars, of different chassis designs and engines. Chassis are divided into three categories:
* Customer chassis are chassis that have been built by third-parties to be sold to teams. Current customer chassis constructors include Dallara, Panoz, Riley, Swift, Lola, Reynard, Callaway, Racefab, and Shadow. Popular past customer chassis have included Watson, March, Williams, and Tatuus.
* Factory chassis are chassis that have been built by an automaker for their own factory team, and are sold to other teams. This category of chassis is very popular due to coming bundled with an engine. Current factory chassis builders include General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Mopar, Toyota Racing Development, Nismo (Nissan Motorsports), MAZDASPEED, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes-Benz. Popular past factory chassis have included Williams, Ligier, and Porsche.
* Team chassis are chassis that are custom-built by a team, usually to their own design. Team chassis are where the biggest variance in designs are seen, as each team seeks to outdo the other. Some teams will even build enough chassis to sell them to other teams. Current team chassis include Penske, Stewart, Petty, Hendrick, Earnhardt, Roush, Trackhouse, Rahal, Coyne, Williams, Ligier, Stacker, Oreca, Vanwall, Glickenhaus, and Ginetta. Popular past team chassis have included Vollstedt, Galmer (Galles), Rahal-Hogan, Wildcat (Patrick), Coyote (A. J. Foyt), and Eagle.
Engine manufacturers as of 2023 include Chevrolet, Ford-Cosworth, Dodge, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Toyota, Honda, Offenhauser, Lotus, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault.
=== USAC Silver Crown Series ===
Main article: USAC Silver Crown Series
The USAC Silver Crown Series presented by PPG is the second-tier series of the USAC ladder system. It began in 1977 as "Mini-Indy", then was renamed to the "Silver Crown Series" in 1984. Silver Crown Series races are held the day before Gold Crown Series races. The series is considered USAC's "Formula Two" equivalent, though unlike its counterpart, teams are allowed to run different chassis and engines, whereas F2 is a spec series (the Silver Crown cars are actually closer to Formula Three in terms of road course lap times; a better comparison would be the NASCAR Busch Series). Current chassis manufacturers include Dallara, Stohr, and Tatuus, plus team-built chassis, and engine manufacturers include Chevrolet, Ford-Cosworth, Dodge, Toyota, Offenhauser, and Lotus.
=== USAC Bronze Crown Series ===
Main article: USAC Bronze Crown Series
The USAC Bronze Crown Series presented by FedEx is the third-tier series of the USAC ladder system. From 1971 to 1983, the series was named "National Dirt Car Championship", then renamed "Bronze Crown Series" in 1984. Unlike the upper-two series, which use rear-engined cars exclusively on paved tracks of all kinds, the Bronze Crown Series runs front-engined cars on both paved and dirt short tracks. The series traces its roots back to 1971, when USAC eliminated all dirt tracks from the Championship Trail schedule, around the same time the NASCAR Winston Cup Series did the same. The front-engined cars continued being used on dirt tracks, while the faster rear-engined Indy Cars ran exclusively on paved tracks. The USAC Bronze Crown Series is very popular due to its low costs (reportedly, teams run in the Bronze Crown Series on 1/16 of a Gold Crown Series budget, which itself is 1/16 of a Formula One budget). The series includes a wide variety of both customer and team-built chassis, including Beast. Eagle, JEI, and C&R; the simplicity of Bronze Crown chassis means that they are easy to build, leading to a proliferation of custom-built chassis. Engines are manufactured by Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, and Offenhauser.
=== USAC SuperCar Series ===
Main article: USAC SuperCar Series
The USAC SuperCar Series presented by Pep Boys debuted in 2024, utilizing the FIA's Hypercar specifications (which are identical to IMSA's Grand Touring Prototype specifications). The SuperCar Series is being marketed as a "closed-fender" counterpart to the Gold Crown Series, and as such, most of its schedule is held on ovals.
===USAC National Sprint Car Championship===
From 1956 to 1960, USAC's National Sprint Car Championship was divided into two regional divisions in the Midwest and the East.
===USAC National Midget Championship===
===USAC/CRA Sprint Car Championship===
The USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car Series debuted in 2004 utilizing the same cars and 410ci engines that race in USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship at dirt oval tracks across California and Arizona. The series also features combination races with the AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Championship.
===USAC Western States Midget Championship===
USAC started the Western States Midgets in 1982 utilizing the same cars and engines that race in the USAC National Midgets. The series solely races on dirt ovals across California and Arizona but in past raced on pavement ovals as well. The series does run co-sanctioned races with USAC's National Midget Series (including the historic Turkey Night Grand Prix race) and the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets.
=== USAC 360 Sprint Car Series ===
USAC sanctions several regional 360 c.i.d. non-wing sprint car series across the country. USAC's West Coast Sprint Car Series was launched in 2009 by Santa Maria Speedway promoter Chris Kearns, and joined forces with USAC in 2010. The West Coast series primarily races at tracks across California while also having special event races in Nevada. USAC's Southwest Sprint Car Series was launched in 1991 as the Arizona Sprint Car Racing Association. The series joined forces with USAC in 2012. The Southwest series primarily races at tracks in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico while also having special event races in Arkansas, Kansas & Oklahoma. The Southwest series was put on hold after the 2019 season and has not made its way back into the sport since then.
USAC and URC Sprint Car Series promoter Curt Michael joined forces to create the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, with the first season beginning in 2018.
=== USAC Speed2 Midget Series ===
USAC formed the Speed2 Midget Series (formerly known as the Ford Focus Midget Series, Ignite Midget Series and HPD Midget Series) in 2002 with several regional divisions running across the United States on both dirt & pavement oval tracks. With exception to the engine, the cars used are the same as National & Western States Midget cars. The powerplants currently used are 4-cylinder production-based engines with stock internal dimensions to save costs for competitors. The series started out as a spec engine class, originally with Ford supplying their Zetec engine from 2002 to 2012, and then HPD supplying their K24 engine starting in 2013, followed by Offenhauser in 2015.
National Championship
The Speed2 Midget Series National Champion has been determined in a variety of ways. The inaugural championship, 2005, was decided by a two-race series (one dirt, one pavement). Subsequent national champions were determined by a single "national championship race" held at various locations. This format was used until 2010. In 2011, a points system was instituted to determine the national champion. Counting only a drivers twelve best finishes, the system allowed drivers from multiple regions to compete under a common points structure for a season-long championship. The 2012 season did not award a national champion, however the respective regional champions were honored at USAC Night of Champions.
=== USAC Lightning Sprint National Championship ===
USAC started the Speedway Motors Lightning Sprint National Championship in 2017 for local tracks running Lightning Sprint cars. The points format counts the 12 best races at USAC sanctioned tracks.
=== GT World Challenge America ===
Pirelli World Challenge, was started in 1990 and switched to USAC sanctioning in 2017. The championship originally raced on road and street courses across the United States and Canada with seven different classes for GT and Touring cars; at the request of Johnson, ovals were added in 2017, becoming the first sports car series to have races on ovals (these races take place on superspeedways such as Daytona, Talladega, San Jose, Denver, Indianapolis, and Ontario, as these are the largest tracks that can accomodate large sports car fields). Founded by WC Vision, the series is presently owned by SRO Group.
=== Off-road racing ===
The Stadium Super Trucks series was founded in 2013 by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon. It is sanctioned by USAC, though Gordon and sponsorship marketing company The Elevation Group co-own the series.
The USAC also sanctions the American Rally Association, Nitro Rallycross, King of the Hammers and Great American Shortcourse.
Category:Johnsonverse