1976 USAC Championship Car season

1976 USAC Championship Car season
1976 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	13
Start date	March 14
End date	November 7
Awards
National champion	Gordon Johncock
Indianapolis 500 winner	Johnny Rutherford

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.

Entrants

(partial list)

Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Rounds
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt	1-8, 10-12
All American Racers	Eagle	Offenhauser	Pancho Carter	1-5, 10-12
Bruce Crower	Eagle	Offenhauser	Tom Sneva	13
Bob Fletcher	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bobby Unser	1-5, 9-13
Alex Morales	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bob Vukovich II	1-5, 7-10, 12-13
Jerry O"Connell Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Mike Mosley	All
Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Tom Bigelow	All
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Hopkins	Offenhauser	Roger McCluskey	2-3, 5-13
McLaren	McLaren	Offenhauser	Johnny Rutherford	All
Patrick Racing	Eagle (3-5) Wildcat (1, 6-13)	Offenhauser (3-6) (DGS (1, 6-13)	Gordon Johncock	All
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	DGS	Wally Dallenbach	All
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Tom Sneva	1-11
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Mario Andretti	3, 5, 12-13
Vatis Enterprises	Eagle	Offenhauser	Johnny Parsons	All
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	Al Unser	1, 3-13

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^A	Trenton 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Johnny Rutherford
3	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes^B	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^C	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 Originally scheduled for April 25 but postponed to May 2 due to heavy rain.^[1]

^B Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain.

^C 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	MIS1	TWS1	TRE2	MIL2	ONT	MIS2	TWS2	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	MIS1	TWS1	TRE2	MIL2	ONT	MIS2	TWS2	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

References

Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1976". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
Harms, Phil; Ferner, Michael; Measures, Gerry; Brown, Allen. "Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978)". OldRacingCars.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
"1976 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
Harms, Phil. "1976 Championship Driver Summary" (PDF). Motorsport.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 219–220)
https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1976.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1976/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.racingyears.com/results/1976/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025

References

^ MRN Broadcast of the 1976 Virginia 500 NASCAR race held April 25 extensively mentions this

[1] MRN Broadcast of the 1976 Virginia 500 NASCAR race held April 25 extensively mentions this

[1]

American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)
Seasons	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Indianapolis 500s	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
National Champions	Emerson Fittipaldi (twice) A. J. Foyt (twice) Gordon Johncock Joe Leonard (twice) Arie Luyendyk Roger McCluskey Rick Mears (three times) Bobby Rahal Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva (three times) George Snider Danny Sullivan Al Unser Al Unser Jr. (twice) Bobby Unser Jacques Villeneuve
Tracks	Atlanta Brands Hatch DuQuoin State Fair Illinois State Fair Indianapolis Indiana State Fair Michigan Mid-Ohio Milwaukee Mosport Nazareth Ontario Phoenix Pocono Rafaela Silverstone Texas World Trenton

Entrants

Schedule and results

Final points standings

References

See also

References