1979 California 500

American auto race February 2025 United States California 500 1979 California 500 program cover.jpg September 2 1979 1979 California 500 11 14 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California, United States Permanent racing facility 2.500 4.023 200 500.000 804.672 USA Rick Mears Team Penske 203.046 mph km/h on USA Bobby Unser Team Penske USA Rick Mears Team Penske USA Mario Andretti Team Penske The 1979 California 500, the tenth running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 2, 1979. The event was race number 11 of 14 in the 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series. The race was won by Bobby Unser, his third California 500 victory. It was the first year of the California 500 under CART sanctioning. Background In late 1978, the CART series was formed as a collective of race teams who formed a sanctioning body to address problems they faced in auto racing, ones they felt were ignored by USAC. While some events switched allegiance to CART, the Triple Crown of 500 mile races comprising Indianapolis, Pocono, and Ontario maintained loyalty to USAC. On March 25, USAC opened their season at Ontario with a 200-mile doubleheader of Indy cars and USAC Stock Cars. A. J. Foyt won both races.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-1979-sprin/132274162/ San Bernardino County Sun California Associated Press Foyt Doubles His Pleasure at Ontario March 26, 1979 21 CART teams skipped the event and Foyt had no real challengers. The event attracted what was described as the smallest crowd in track history at around 20,000.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-1979-sprin/132274149/ San Bernardino County Sun California Associated Press Nobody to Gain... March 26, 1979 23 On April 19, 1979, the USAC board of directors voted unanimously to reject the entries for the 1979 Indianapolis 500 of six key teams: Penske, Patrick, McLaren, Fletcher, Chaparral, and Gurney. These six teams (19 cars) were alleged to be "harmful to racing" and "not in good standing with USAC."Hungness Carl 1996 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook Carl Hungness Publishing 24 1996 1st 0-915088-76-2 USAC sent the owners a telegram informing them of the situation while they were participating in the CART race at Atlanta, the Gould Twin Dixie 125s.http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-cart-usac-memories-indy-1979/ INDYCAR: CART/USAC Memories – Indy 1979 Speed Indycar Robin Miller Robin Miller (journalist) 2009-05-06 2011-12-16 2012-06-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20120613010359/http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-cart-usac-memories-indy-1979/ dead On April 26, the "rejected six" teams filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, requesting an injunction to allow the teams to compete in the 1979 Indy 500. They cited antitrust and restraint of trade. On May 5, judge James Ellsworth Noland issued the injunction, but restrained the teams from disrupting or interfering with the running of the event. Rick Mears won the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske.Rick Mears Wins 63d '500' https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11434528/ Robin Miller Robin Miller (journalist) The Indianapolis Star 1 Newspapers.com May 28, 1979 June 2, 2017 On June 1, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway declared that the 1980 Indianapolis 500 would be invitation only. In order to receive an automatic invitation, teams would have to run at Pocono on June 24 and Ontario on September 2. The move also protected the Speedway legally from disallowing entries.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14382921/1980-indy-500-invitational/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press 1980 500 By Invitation Only June 2, 1979 1 CART declared they would boycott all remaining races sanctioned by USAC. They openly suggested they could run a 500 kilometer race at Trenton Speedway on the same day as Pocono and would honor Pocono tickets. Seeing how the conflict was hurting Indy Car racing, both sides approached Ray Smartis, General Manager of Ontario, to lead peace talks in early June.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-press-1979-june-peace-talks/132274209/ Star Press California Associated Press Championship Car Feud Far From Over June 17, 1979 28 As a result of the talks, CART dropped their plans to rival the Pocono 500 "in a good faith move in the best interest of auto racing."https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38700649/the-indianapolis-news/ Indianapolis News Indiana Associated Press CART Seeks Treaty OK From USAC June 12, 1979 23 Smartis presented peace plans for a unified Indy car series to USAC who rejected the idea.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-1979-peace/132274243/ San Bernardino County Sun California Associated Press CART Giving Up Attempts at Reconciliation with USAC June 28, 1979 83 As CART teams boycotted the 1979 Pocono 500 on June 24, the track saw their regular attendance shrink by half. Eight days after the Pocono 500, Ontario Motor Speedway changed their sanctioning for September's California 500 from USAC to CART. "We feel the decision to go with CART is in the best interest of the race as well as the fans," said Ray Smartis. "I think we owe it to the fans to provide the best field of cars and drivers available and under the present circumstances. I don't think that's possible with USAC."https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101579435/the-indianapolis-star/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Ontario Hitches Ride on CART July 3, 1979 23 By 1979, Ontario owed nearly $35 million to the bond holders who owned the track ($25.5 million in principal and $9 million in delinquent interest payments). Despite this, Smartis insisted the track was in a good position. "Right now we're financially viable. We're making money and if it wasn't for the burden of the debt, we would be just as successful as any other company. But that debt burden is unbelievable. It's hard to get anywhere when you're looking at $2 million a year (in debt paybacks)."https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-1979-calif/132275268/ San Bernardino County Sun California Associated Press It Was the Smartest Choice for OMS August 22, 1979 60 Days before the California 500, Smartis admitted ticket sales were down 15 percent compared to 1978, the first time pre-sales did not stay consistent with past years. "The dissension between the USAC and the CART groups is the primary reason for all of this. There is a question in the fans' minds whether or not we will have enough drivers and who will and won't be here. They remember last year and all the problem, and I can't blame them for being concerned... We're in serious trouble. We are going to have to take a good look at this race and what we want to do in the future. We are in a critical position in regards to the California 500 and other events here. We have an obligation to the bond holders and because of that we are forced to make a serious study of this and other events."https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot-1979-california-500-tickets-h/132275121/ News Pilot California Associated Press Ontario Admits Trouble August 29, 1979 39 Practice and Time Trials Unlike in past years, practice began on Wednesday. In the four-hour practice session on August 29, Bobby Unser posted the fastest speed at 200.566 mph. Unser's Team Penske teammate, Mario Andretti, was second fastest at 198.255 mph. A surprising third was Spike Gehlhausen at 197.455 mph.https://www.newspapers.com/article/camarillo-star-1979-california-500-1st-p/132307275/ Camarillo Star California Associated Press Unser Goes Over 200 MPH At Ontario August 30, 1979 24 For the first time, Indy cars used two days of Formula One-style group qualifying. Teams were split into five groups of eight cars that were given 20 minute sessions.https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot-1979-california-500-qualifyin/132309220/ News-Pilot California Associated Press Mears Leads Cal 500 Qualifying August 31, 1979 15 Rick Mears was fastest at 203.046 mph. Al Unser was second at 201.844 mph. Bobby Unser was third at 201.387 mph. Five cars had their times disqualified for their rear wings being too high: Gordon Johncock, Wally Dallenbach, Tim Richmond, Vern Schuppan, and Tom Frantz.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-1979-california-50/132307372/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Rick Mears Sets Record August 31, 1979 31 In Friday's second day of time trials, Al Unser improved his speed to 202.202 mph but was not fast enough to knock Mears off the pole.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-1979-california-50/132307437/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Mears Keeps Ontario Pole September 1, 1979 21 A 10-minute qualifying session was held on Saturday to determine the 33rd and final starting position. Joe Saldana earned the spot with a speed of 188.770 mph. The cars driven by Cliff Hucul and Larry Cannon were ultimately added to the field as "promoter's options" and the field was expanded to 35 starters.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kokomo-tribune-1979-california-500-3/132312076/ Kokomo Tribune Indiana Associated Press Field of 35 Cars for Ontario 500 September 2, 1979 24 Race An estimated 75,000 spectators were on hand for the tenth California 500.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1979-california-50/132307580/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Cal 500 a Penske Parade September 3, 1979 16 The Datsun 280ZX pace car was driven by Otis Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1979-california-50/132307728/ Los Angeles Times California Associated Press Bobby U Leads Penske Parade September 3, 1979 40 The race promised to be a battle for the win between the cars with ground-effects, the Penske PC-7 driven by the Team Penske cars of Mears, Bobby Unser, and Andretti versus the Chaparral 2K of Al Unser. When the race began, Al Unser passed Mears to take the lead. The first caution came out on lap three when Mike Mosley blew an engine, the fifth engine his car had lost in the week. On lap 8, Spike Gehlhausen and Tom Bagley touched in turn one which sent Bagley spinning into the wall. Bagley was cut out of the car and treated for a broken rib. Al Unser's Chaparral was the fastest car in the early part of the race, leading 62 of the first 71 laps. But on lap 72, the bracket holding Unser's front wing broke and his crew lost several minutes repairing it.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-1979-california-50/132307532/ Indianapolis Star Indiana Associated Press Bobby Unser Wins California 500 September 3, 1979 32 Al Unser's repairs gave the lead to the Penske cars of Bobby Unser and Rick Mears, who swapped the lead several times during the middle of the race. It looked that Mears might back up his Indianapolis win with a victory at Ontario but on a lap 164 pit stop, Mears stalled the car leaving the pits and needed to be restarted. His stop was 34 seconds long, compared to Bobby Unser's 14 second stop, which allowed Unser to take the lead. Bobby Unser drove to a 10-second victory over Mears to capture his third California 500. Mario Andretti ran out of fuel on the last lap and coasted to the finish line. Andretti had a sick engine most of the day and was unable to challenge his Penske teammates. Penske cars finished 1-2-3, the first time in major American racing that a team swept the top three spots. Box score FinishGridNo Car numberNameEntrantChassisEngineLapsTime/StatusLed Laps ledPoints 1 3 12 USA Bobby Unser Penske Racing Penske PC-7 Cosworth 200 3:24:22.000 97 1000 2 1 9 USA Rick Mears Penske Racing Penske PC-7 Cosworth 200 +10.000 34 800 3 4 99 USA Mario Andretti Penske Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 200 +34.000 0 700 4 13 4 USA Johnny Rutherford Team McLaren McLaren M24B Cosworth 199 +1 Lap 2 600 5 2 2 USA Al Unser Chaparral Racing Chaparral 2K Cosworth 197 +3 Laps 62 500 6 8 25 USA Danny Ongais Interscope Racing Parnelli VPJ6B Cosworth 196 +4 Laps 0 400 7 30 34 AUS Vern Schuppan Wysard Motor Co. Wildcat Mk2 DGS 192 +8 Laps 0 300 8 29 94 USA Don Whittington Team McLaren McLaren M24B Cosworth 190 +10 Laps 0 0 9 14 21 USA Lee Kunzman Conqueste Racing Team Parnelli VPJ6C Cosworth 188 +12 Laps 0 200 10 25 72 USA Jerry Sneva Hodgson Racing McLaren M24 Cosworth 170 Engine 0 150 11 31 18 USA Tom Frantz Tom Frantz Wildcat Offenhauser 152 +48 Laps 0 100 12 24 98 USA Bill Whittington Whittington Racing Parnelli VPJ6C Cosworth 139 Intake manifold 0 0 13 17 60 USA Roger Mears Patrick Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 135 Engine 0 0 14 35 95 USA Larry Cannon Cannon Racing Team Wildcat Offenhauser 128 Piston 0 25 15 12 20 USA Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 119 Fuel pump 0 25 16 15 23 USA Dick Ferguson Aero Electronics Penske Cosworth 118 Valve 0 25 17 5 1 USA Tom Sneva Jerry O'Connell Racing McLaren M24 Cosworth 108 Oil pump 5 20 18 23 30 USA John Martin John Martin McLaren Offenhauser 107 Engine 0 0 19 32 28 USA Billy Scott Billy Scott Eagle Offenhauser 74 Engine 0 20 20 20 77 USA Salt Walther Dayton-Walther Penske PC-6 Cosworth 69 Transmission 0 20 21 27 69 USA Al Loquasto Spike Gehlhausen Eagle Offenhauser 69 Piston 0 15 22 22 41 USA Bill Alsup WASP Racing McLaren M16D Offenhauser 59 Cylinder 0 15 23 7 71 USA Steve Krisiloff Longhorn Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 47 Valve 0 15 24 16 40 USA Wally Dallenbach Patrick Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 46 Engine 0 15 25 10 55 USA Spike Gehlhausen Fletcher Racing Team Lightning Cosworth 46 Halfshaft 0 10 26 18 35 USA Tim Richmond Pat Santello Lightning Offenhauser 39 Transmission 0 10 27 28 19 ITA Phil Caliva Spike Gehlhausen Eagle 79 Offenhauser 23 Oil leak 0 10 28 19 10 USA Pancho Carter Alex Morales Motorsports Lightning Offenhauser 21 Camshaft 0 10 29 26 15 USA Bob Harkey Alex Morales Motorsports Lightning Offenhauser 17 Crash 0 0 30 33 59 USA Joe Saldana Hoffman Racing Lightning Offenhauser 14 Oil pump 0 5 31 21 86 AUS Dennis Firestone Dennis Firestone Lola Cosworth 10 Oil leak 0 0 32 9 11 USA Tom Bagley Longhorn Racing Penske PC-6 Cosworth 7 Crash 0 5 33 6 32 USA Johnny Parsons Jerry O'Connell Racing McLaren Cosworth 4 Valve 0 0 34 11 36 USA Mike Mosley All American Racers Eagle 79 Cosworth 2 Engine 0 5 35 34 79 CAN Cliff Hucul Hoffman Racing Eagle Offenhauser 2 Transmission 0 0 Source:1979 California 5001979 California 500 - Round 11 Race Statistics Average Speed: 146.794 mph km/h on Lead changes: 18 among 5 drivers Lap Leaders FromLap ToLap TotalLaps Leader 1 25 25 Al Unser 26 30 5 Tom Sneva 31 47 17 Al Unser 48 51 4 Bobby Unser 52 71 20 Al Unser 72 106 35 Bobby Unser 107 115 9 Rick Mears 116 125 10 Bobby Unser 126 138 13 Rick Mears 139 139 1 Johnny Rutherford 140 150 11 Bobby Unser 151 155 5 Rick Mears 156 161 6 Bobby Unser 162 164 3 Rick Mears 165 165 1 Johnny Rutherford 166 183 18 Bobby Unser 184 187 4 Rick Mears 188 200 13 Bobby Unser Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 US Rick Mears 3340 2 US Bobby Unser 3070 3 US Johnny Rutherford 1833 4 USA Gordon Johncock 1783 5 USA Al Unser 1590 References 2 Category:1979 in CART California 500 Category:California 500 (IndyCar)