1977 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season August 2023 USAC Championship Car 1977 USAC National Championship Trail 14 March 6 October 29 National champion United States Tom Sneva United States A. J. Foyt 1976 1978 The 1977 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 6 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 29. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The schedule included a road course for the first time since 1970. Entrants (partial list) TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds United States A.J. Foyt EnterprisesCoyoteFoytUS A.J. Foyt 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12 United States AgajanianKingOffenhauserUS Gary Bettenhausen 4-9, 11-12, 14 United States All American RacersEagle (1-7 9-10, 12) Lightning (11)OffenhauserUS Pancho Carter 1-7, 9-12 United States Alex MoralesLightningOffenhauserUS Pancho Carter 14LightningOffenhauserUS Bobby Olivero 5-7, 10-14 United States Interscope RacingParnelliCosworthUS Danny Ongais 1-3, 5-14 United States Jerry O"Connell RacingEagle (1-4, 14) Lightning (5-7, 9, 12-13)OffenhauserUS Mike Mosley 1-7, 9, 12-14 United States Joe HuntEagle OffenhauserUS Gary Bettenhausen 1-2 United States Leader Card RacingEagleOffenhauserUS Tom Bigelow All United States Lindsey Hopkins RacingLightningOffenhauserUS Roger McCluskey 2-3, 5-13 United Kingdom McLarenMcLarenCosworthUS Johnny Rutherford All United States Patrick RacingWildcatDGSUS Gordon Johncock AllWildcatDGSUS Wally Dallenbach All United States Team PenskeMcLaren (1-8, 11, 14) Penske (9-10, 12-13)Cosworth (1-13) Offenhauser (14)US Tom Sneva AllMcLaren (2, 4-5, 7, 12, 14) Penske (13)Cosworth (2, 5, 7, 12-14) Offenhauser (4)US Mario Andretti 2, 4-5, 7, 12-14 United States Vel's Parnelli Jones RacingParnelliCosworthUS Al Unser 1-3, 5-14 Schedule and results Rnd Date Race name Track Location Pole position Winning driver 1 March 6 Datsun Twin 200s white O silver Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California USA Johnny Rutherford USA A. J. Foyt 2 March 27 Jimmy Bryan 150 white O silver Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona USA Johnny Rutherford USA Johnny Rutherford 3 April 2 Texas Grand Prix white O silver Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas USA Johnny Rutherford USA Tom Sneva 4 April 30 Trenton 200 white O silver Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey USA Johnny Rutherford USA Wally Dallenbach Sr. 5 May 29 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes white O silver Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana USA Tom Sneva USA A. J. Foyt 6 June 12 Rex Mays Classic 150 white O silver Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin USA Bobby Unser USA Johnny Rutherford 7 June 26 Schaefer 500 white O silver Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania USA A. J. Foyt USA Tom Sneva 8 July 3 Molson Diamond Indy lightblue R silver Mosport Park Bowmanville, Ontario USA Al Unser USA A. J. Foyt 9 July 17 Norton 200 white O silver Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan USA Tom Sneva USA Danny Ongais 10 July 31 American Parts 200 white O silver Texas World Speedway College Station, Texas USA Danny Ongais USA Johnny Rutherford 11 August 21 Tony Bettenhausen 200 white O silver Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin USA Danny Ongais USA Johnny Rutherford 12 September 4 California 500 white O silver Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California USA Johnny Rutherford USA Al Unser 13 September 17 Michigan Grand Prix white O silver Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan USA Danny Ongais USA Gordon Johncock - September 24 Machinists Union 150 white O silver Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Race postponed due to rain; eventually cancelled 14 October 29 Bobby Ball 150 white O silver Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona USA Bobby Unser USA Gordon Johncock #FFFFFF O Oval/Speedway solid 1px #AAAAAA lightblue R Road Course solid 1px #AAAAAA The Machinist Union 150, scheduled for September 24, was first postponed due to rain, and was eventually cancelled on October 3.https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/04/archives/trenton-race-canceled.html Trenton Race Canceled The New York Times August 2, 2019 October 4, 1977https://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=Y77O Trenton 200 OldRacingCars.com August 2, 2019 Final points standings List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2TRE2 PHX2 Pts 1USA Tom Sneva 14 16 1 10 2 2 1 3 4 5 18 3 10 C 17 3965 2USA Al Unser 2 9 2 3 3 25 17 16 21 15 1 4 C 2 3030 3USA Johnny Rutherford 25 1 4 8 33 1 5 9 3 1 1 24 2 C 22 2840 4USA A. J. Foyt 1 2 14 1 15 1 Wth 19 2 C 2840 5USA Gordon Johncock 5 12 9 2 11 12 3 18 2 2 10 11 1 C 1 2830 6USA Wally Dallenbach Sr. 18 10 3 1 4 15 4 16 8 17 3 20 3 C 6 2635 7USA Mario Andretti DNQ 16 26 2 4 20 C 4 1580 8USA Pancho Carter 3 20 11 9 15 5 20 10 3 2 14 3 1420 9USA Tom Bigelow 4 4 12 15 6 7 29 8 11 10 4 28 15 C 19 1370 10USA Mike Mosley 16 6 5 3 19 4 8 Wth 16 18 C DNQ 1030 11USA Roger McCluskey 22 3 17 5 8 19 26 11 20 DNQ 20 22 7 C 5 940 12USA Danny Ongais gold RY silver 7 5 13 20 17 23 15 1 13 21 8 17 C 12 935 13USA Bobby Olivero 25 6 32 9 6 5 9 C 21 920 14USA Gary Bettenhausen 10 11 11 16 20 7 2 17 8 17 C 14 850 15USA Johnny Parsons DNQ DNP 5 DNQ 11 18 4 13 29 14 C 20 840 16USA Larry Dickson 13 DNQ 18 DNQ 13 5 8 12 7 6 C 18 740 17USA Lee Kunzman 7 DNP 6 DNQ 22 15 16 DNQ 700 18USA Todd Gibson 11 13 6 6 DNQ 14 DNQ 4 15 DNQ DNQ 600 19USA Rick Mears 24 DNQ 15 DNQ 30 6 7 5 26 8 C 555 20USA Spike Gehlhausen 26 14 8 12 DNQ 9 DNQ 10 9 12 7 13 13 C 7 550 21USA Jim McElreath 23 24 12 6 9 5 530 22AUS Vern Schuppan 8 8 16 17 DNQ 21 19 6 475 23USA Salt Walther 23 18 4 DNQ 18 12 6 DNP 25 DNQ C 13 450 24USA Dick Simon 6 7 31 13 16 19 14 9 33 C 11 360 25USA Steve Krisiloff 21 9 DNP 22 14 7 DNQ 19 27 320 26USA James McElreath orange R silver DNQ 7 7 DNQ 31 DNQ DNQ 23 19 C 240 27USA Bill Vukovich II 20 19 13 17 9 12 14 31 220 28USA Joe Saldana orange R silver DNQ 11 10 Wth 18 11 DNQ 22 C 220 29USA Jerry Grant Wth 13 5 DNQ DNQ 16 200 30CAN Ed Crombie 10 7 DNQ 14 DNS 165 31USA Jerry Sneva 10 DNP 18 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ C 150 32USA John Martin DNQ 10 150 33USA Larry Cannon DNP DNQ 12 12 C 9 125 34USA Bill Simpson 9 22 Wth 80 35USA Bobby Unser 15 17 DNP Wth 18 16 19 21 15 17 30 8 75 36USA Clark Templeman orange R silver 8 75 37USA Al Loquasto 19 21 DNP Wth 28 28 11 19 11 C 16 70 38USA Gary Irvin orange R silver 10 14 DNQ 60 39USA Bill Puterbaugh 12 50 40USA George Snider 24 33 DNQ 20 32 21 C 10 45 41CAN Cliff Hucul orange R silver 12 15 19 22 DNP DNQ 20 -USA Phil Threshie orange R silver 13 16 DNQ 0 -CAN Eldon Rasmussen 13 21 0 -USA John Mahler 14 14 DNQ 0 -USA Tom Gloy orange R silver 15 0 -USA Lloyd Ruby 17 27 DNP 0 -USA Bubby Jones 21 DNQ C DNQ 0 -USA Bob Harkey DNQ 22 DNQ 0 -USA Chuck Gurney 27 DNQ 0 -USA Sheldon Kinser 32 0 -AUS Alan Jones DNS 0 -USA Larry McCoy DNQ Wth 0 -USA Tommy Hunt DNS 0 -USA Ed Finley C DNQ 0 -USA Jerry Karl DNQ DNQ 0 -SWE Bertil Roos DNQ C DNQ 0 -USA Jim Hurtubise DNQ 0 -USA Mel Kenyon DNQ 0 -BEL Teddy Pilette DNQ 0 -USA Tom Frantz Wth 0 -USA Jack Owens C 0Ineligible for USAC championship points -USA Janet Guthrie DNQ 29 17 18 C 0 -CHE Clay Regazzoni orange R silver 30 0 Pos Driver ONT1 PHX1 TWS1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 POC MOS MIS1 TWS2 MIL2 ONT2 MIS2TRE2 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 notparticipate(DNP) Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race lapsgold RY silver Rookie of the Yearorange R silver Rookie See also 1977 Indianapolis 500 References http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1977/ USAC National Championship 1977 Åberg, Andreas Driver Database 2009-05-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20080325034428/http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1977/ 2008-03-25 live http://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/ Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978) Harms, Phil Ferner, Michael Measures, Gerry Brown, Allen OldRacingCars.com 2009-05-04 https://archive.today/20120906023507/http://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/ 2012-09-06 live http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1977.htm 1977 USAC National Championship Trail ChampCarStats.com 2009-05-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20080827191427/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1977.htm 2008-08-27 live http://old.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1977sum.pdf 1977 Championship Driver Summary Harms Phil Motorsport.com 2011-05-03 https://www.webcitation.org/5yQ3uPhkG?url=http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1977sum.pdf 2011-05-04 dead http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053905/http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf 2016-03-04 (p. 217-218) https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1977.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025 https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1977/ Retrieved August 9, 2025 https://www.racingyears.com/results/1977/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025 * USAC Championship Car season Category:USAC Championship Car Category:1977 in American motorsport