1976 California 500

American auto race February 2025 United States California 500 1976 California 500 program cover.jpg September 5 1976 1976 California 500 10 13 USAC Championship Car Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California, United States Permanent racing facility 2.500 4.023 200 500.000 804.672 USA A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing 190.416 mph km/h on USA Bobby Unser Fletcher Racing USA Johnny Rutherford McLaren USA Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing The 1976 California 500, the seventh running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 5, 1976. The event was race number 10 of 13 in the 1976 USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Bobby Unser, becoming the first man to win the California 500 twice. The race was also the first Indy Car race for Rick Mears. Background Ontario Motor Speedway was built using public bonds and the bond-owners were represented by the non-profit Ontario Motor Speedway Corporation. Beginning in 1973, a group led by Parnelli Jones and Tony Hulman leased Ontario Motor Speedway and promoted racing events there. 15 days after the 1975 California 500, Jones announced that the group would terminate their lease with the non-profit group. Jones said, "We have lost a lot of money and the future doesn't look any better. There is too much politics involved in the speedway. We have to answer to the non-profit board that oversees the track, to the bank that represents the bond holders, and to the City Council, which can tell us what we can and can't promote."https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AFlUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1o4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1906%2C4878463 Daily Record UPI Ellensburg, WA Jones says his group will terminate Ontario lease March 27, 1975 13 Moving forward, OMS Corp. eliminated the business of leasing to promoter groups and rehired Ray Smartis as General Manager on their behalf, who had worked with the track under past groups. Under his leadership, Smartis realized the track was unsustainable by using it only as a venue for large events and aimed to have the track pay their bills through small events such as swap meets, film production rentals, and concerts. The large events would help the track be profitable.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-1975-ontar/132149820/ San Bernardino County Sun California Associated Press No More Mistakes For Ontario Speedway September 1, 1975 14 Smartis also moved the California 500 back to its original Labor Day weekend. "Running the California 500 in March proved to be a financial disaster," Smartis said in August 1975.https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-telegram-1975-ontario-new-manager/132149597/ Press Telegram California Associated Press Optimistic Future for Ontario Speedway August 29, 1975 32 "Considerable research had gone into the Labor Day scheduling back in 1968 when the speedway was built and that was the best possible time."https://www.newspapers.com/article/sun-post-news-1975-august-ontario-manage/132149191/ Sun Post News California Associated Press Ontario Speedway Making Big Changes August 27, 1975 7 Indy cars were scheduled to return to Ontario in March with a 200-mile doubleheader paired with a USAC Stock Car race. In January 1976, the March doubleheader was canceled by the track due to a lack of sponsorship. The move to Labor Day, once again made the California 500 the final leg in IndyCar's Triple Crown. In May, Johnny Rutherford won the Indianapolis 500. In the second Crown Jewel race, Al Unser won the Pocono 500. Janet Guthrie entered the California 500 and attempted to become the first woman to compete in the California 500. Earlier that year, Guthrie attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and was the first woman to compete in a 500-mile Indy Car when she competed in the Pocono 500. In addition, Rick Mears and Danny Ongais made their Indy car debut at the California 500. Mears was driving a car owned by Bill Simpson while Ongais drove for Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1976-california-50/132164613/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Strongest Cal 500 Field Since 71 Opens Practice August 29, 1976 45 Practice and Time Trials Unlike in past years, practice and Time Trials were reduced to one week instead of two, with practice beginning on Sunday August 29. On the first day of practice, Bobby Unser posted the fastest speed at 185.594 mph.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ogden-standard-examiner-1976-califor/132164732/ Ogden Standard Examiner Utah Associated Press Bobby Unser Paces Early Practice Runs for California 500 August 30, 1976 13 In Monday's practice, Johnny Rutherford was fastest with a speed of 187.153 mph. Al Loquasto crashed in turn one. Later, Al Unser spun and hit the turn one wall, impacting the concrete with the rear of the car and climbing several feet off the ground. Both crashes were blamed on high winds.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1976-california-50/132164848/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Loquasto, Al Unser Escape Injuries in Separate Crashes August 31, 1975 30 Rutherford posted the fastest speed on Tuesday at 188.957 mph. A. J. Foyt arrived at the track on Tuesday after spending time with his mother in Houston who suffered a stroke on Sunday. Foyt ran only two laps before a leaky radiator forced him back to the garage.https://www.newspapers.com/article/independent-1976-california-500-3rd-prac/132164935/ Independent California Associated Press Ontario 500 Qualifying to Be Hot Show September 1, 1976 27 Pole Day - Wednesday September 1 For the first time since 1972, qualifying was a four-lap, 10 mile average speed. The Heat Races that had been run the last three years were also canceled. Despite having only a few hours of practice, A. J. Foyt won his third consecutive California 500 pole with an average speed of 190.416 mph. Roger McCluskey was second fastest at 189.235 mph. Tom Sneva completed the front row with a speed of 189.215 mph. Johnny Rutherford, who had been among the fastest in practice, could only produce the seventh fastest speed due to high winds on his qualifying run.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-1976-california-50/132165003/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Foyt's 190.416 Wins Pole for Cal 500 September 2, 1976 30 Bump Day - Thursday September 2 Inaugural California 500 winner, Jim McElreath found himself without a ride entering the final day of qualifying. McElreath stood in his firesuit on pit road in the event that a team would have an open car for him to qualify. With one hour left in time trials, car-owner Warner Hodgdon hired McElreath to replace his driver Billy Scott who was four miles per hour slower than the time needed to make the race. With 10 minutes left in qualifying, McElreath made his run. Without any practice laps in the car, McElreath was three mph faster than Scott, but at 174.995 mph, was still one mph slower than what was needed to make the race. After a second lap was no faster, he graciously pulled off the track to allow Al Loquasto a chance to qualify before time expired. The crowd at the track gave McElreath a standing ovation for his sportsmanship. Loquasto was not fast enough to qualify.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-news-1976-california-50/132165033/ Indianapolis News Indiana Associated Press Jim, Janet Lack Go to Make Ontario September 3, 1976 26 Janet Guthrie failed to qualify for the race. Two laps of 174.757 and 173.444 were the quickest the car was capable of before the crew aborted the run. Race A reported crowd of 52,466 spectators attended the California 500.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1976-california-50/132165168/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Bobby Unser Wins Drag Race - And Cal 500 September 6, 1976 29https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-news-1976-california-50/132165126/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Bobby Unser Lasts 500, Wins Ontario September 6, 1976 21 From his position on the pole, A.J. Foyt led the first 14 laps. Roger Rager brought out a caution flag when he spun on lap 14 and Foyt chose to pit under caution. On the restart, Eldon Rasmussen blew an engine and brought out the second caution to clean oil. On lap after the restart, Dick Simon stalled on track and the caution flag was displayed again. In an impressive Indycar debut, Danny Ongais climbed from 11th starting spot to fifth by lap 50. Exiting turn two on lap 54, Ongais suffered a broken halfshaft which sent his car into the outside wall along the backstretch. The car climbed the wall and flipped, landing upside down and sliding along the backstretch. Pancho Carter spun to avoid Ongais and impacted the outside wall. Salt Walther came upon the wreck, stopped his car, and ran over to help Ongais. Carter and Walther flipped the car over to allow Ongais to walk away from the wreck. Ongais's helmet had swirl marks on it from where it dragged along the asphalt. He was checked and released at the infield hospital where he complained of a sore head and bruised feet.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1976-california-50/132165188/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Bobby U Outsprints His Rivals September 6, 1976 32 On the restart following Ongais's crash, John Mahler crashed in turn one. After six laps of green flag racing, Bill Vukovich Jr. crashed in turn one on lap 77. A.J. Foyt retired from the race on lap 77 when he lost oil pressure. On lap 101, Gordon Johncock, Wally Dallenbach, and Johnny Rutherford entered the pits under green. Watching the two cars in front of him, Rutherford missed his pit box and had to go around the track another lap. The race turned into a four car battle between Bobby Unser, Gordon Johncock, Wally Dallenbach, and Johnny Rutherford. After the last cycle of pit stops, Unser took the lead with 23 laps remaining. The caution was thrown on with only seven laps remaining when beer cans were thrown on the track. This set up a four lap run to the finish with Unser followed by Rutherford and Johncock. Unser won by 2.54 seconds and became the first man to win the California 500 twice, having previously won the 1974 California 500. By finishing second, Rutherford won the Olsonite Triple Crown championship for 500-mile races and the $1,500 prize it carried. Box score FinishGridNo Car numberNameEntrantChassisEngineLapsTime/StatusLed Laps ledPoints 1 10 3 USA Bobby Unser Fletcher Racing Team Eagle 76 Offenhauser 200 3:29:25.760 53 1000 2 7 2 USA Johnny Rutherford Team McLaren McLaren M16E Offenhauser 200 +2.540 24 800 3 6 20 USA Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing Wildcat Mk2 DGS 200 Running 69 700 4 5 40 USA Wally Dallenbach Patrick Racing Wildcat Mk2 DGS 198 Flagged 36 600 5 12 24 USA Tom Bigelow Leader Card Racers Eagle Offenhauser 196 Flagged 0 500 6 23 18 USA Jan Opperman Longhorn Racing Eagle Offenhauser 194 Flagged 0 400 7 26 83 USA Bill Puterbaugh Lee Elkins Eagle 74 Offenhauser 193 Flagged 0 300 8 20 38 USA Rick Mears Bill Simpson Eagle Offenhauser 192 Flagged 0 250 9 27 78 USA Bobby Olivero Alex Morales Motorsports Eagle Offenhauser 192 Flagged 0 200 10 15 73 USA Jerry Grant Fred Carillo Eagle AMC 191 Flagged 0 150 11 33 8 USA Todd Gibson Routh Meat Packaging Eagle Offenhauser 191 Flagged 0 100 12 21 97 USA Sheldon Kinser J. C. Agajanian King Offenhauser 190 Flagged 0 50 13 30 19 USA Spike Gehlhausen Carl Gehlhausen McLaren M16B Offenhauser 189 Flagged 0 0 14 14 6 USA Bill Simpson Bill Simpson McLaren Offenhauser 187 Flagged 2 0 15 9 12 USA Mike Mosley Jerry O'Connell Racing Eagle Offenhauser 185 Oil tank 0 0 16 13 45 USA Steve Krisiloff Don Gerhardt Eagle Offenhauser 181 Flagged 0 0 17 28 44 USA Roger Rager Dick Simon Racing Eagle Foyt 161 Oil pressure 0 0 18 24 98 USA John Martin J. C. Agajanian King Offenhauser 147 Rear end 0 0 19 29 23 USA Mike Hiss Leader Card Racers Eagle Offenhauser 134 Ignition 0 0 20 19 65 USA Lee Kunzman Pat Santello Eagle Offenhauser 133 Piston 0 0 21 2 7 USA Roger McCluskey Lindsey Hopkins Racing Lightning Offenhauser 119 Valve spring 0 0 22 17 77 USA Salt Walther Dayton-Walther McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser 95 Engine 0 0 23 1 14 USA A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Coyote Foyt 77 Oil pressure 14 0 24 16 5 USA Bill Vukovich II Alex Morales Motorsports Eagle Offenhauser 75 Crash 0 0 25 25 76 USA John Mahler Webster Racing Eagle Offenhauser 63 Crash 0 0 26 3 68 USA Tom Sneva Penske Racing McLaren M16C/D Offenhauser 60 Ignition 2 0 27 22 99 USA Gary Bettenhausen Joe Hunt Eagle Offenhauser 56 Engine 0 0 28 11 25 USA Danny Ongais Interscope Racing Parnelli Offenhauser 54 Crash 0 0 29 4 48 USA Pancho Carter All American Racers Eagle Offenhauser 54 Crash 0 0 30 18 17 USA Dick Simon Vollstedt Enterprises Vollstedt Offenhauser 32 Piston 0 0 31 32 58 CAN Eldon Rasmussen Rasmussen Racing Rascar Foyt 20 Engine 0 0 32 8 21 USA Al Unser Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing Parnelli VPJ6B Cosworth DFX 13 Engine 0 0 33 31 61 USA Mel Kenyon Lindsey Hopkins Racing Coyote Foyt 8 Piston 0 0 Source:1976 California 5001976 California 500 - Round 10 References 2 California 500 California 500 Category:California 500 (IndyCar)