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1972 USAC Championship Car season

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Sports season

1972 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	10
Start date	March 18
End date	November 4
Awards
National champion	Joe Leonard
Indianapolis 500 winner	Mark Donohue
← 1971 1973 →

The1972 USAC Championship Car season consisted of ten races, beginning inAvondale,Arizona on March 18 and concluding at the same location on November 4. TheUSAC National Champion wasJoe Leonard and theIndianapolis 500 winner wasMark Donohue.Jim Malloy was killed at Indianapolis in practice; he was 40 years old.

After sponsoring the USAC Championship Trail in 1970–1971,Marlboro dropped out of the sport for 1972. After only two seasons as title sponsor, the company became angered when rivalViceroy was signed on to sponsorVel's Parnelli Jones Racing, at the time dubbed the "super team" of the series. Without any exclusivity clause, managers at Marlboro deemed the situation "impractical and untenable,"^[1] and abruptly quit. Marlboro would not return to Indy car racing until 1986.

Entrants

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(partial list)

Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Rounds
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt	1, 3, 8-10
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola (4), Coyote (5, 8)	Foyt	Sam Sessions	4-5, 8
All American Racers	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bobby Unser	All
Andy Granatelli	Lola	Foyt	Wally Dallenbach	3-10
Gene White Racing	Lola	Foyt	Sam Sessions	3
Gerhardt	Gerhardt (4, 7), Eagle (5-6, 8-10)	Offenhauser	Johnny Rutherford	4-10
Jerry O'Connell Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bill Vukovich II	All
Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Mike Mosley	1-4, 8-10
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Kuzma (1-2, 4, 7, 9) Antares (3) McLaren (5-6, 8, 10)	Offenhauser	Roger McCluskey	All
	Eagle	Offenhauser	Wally Dallenbach	1-2
	Eagle (1, 4-5, 8-10) Kuzma (2) Coyote (3, 6-7)	Foyt (1-7) Offenhauser (8-10)	Mel Kenyon	All
McLaren	McLaren	Offenhauser	Gordon Johncock	2-3, 5-9
Page Racing	Eagle (1-6, 9-10) McLaren (8)	Offenhauser	Mike Hiss	1-6, 8-10
Patrick Racing	Eagle (1-2) Brabham (3)	Offenhauser	Johnny Rutherford	1-3
Patrick Racing	Eagle (1-4, 7) Brabham (5-6, 8-10)	Offenhauser	Swede Savage	All
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Mark Donohue	1-4, 9-10
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Gary Bettenhausen	1-7
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Colt (1), Parnelli (2-10)	Offenhauser	Joe Leonard	All
	Colt (1), Parnelli (2-10)	Offenhauser	Al Unser	All
	Colt (1), Parnelli (2-10)	Offenhauser	Mario Andretti	All

Schedule and results

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All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd	Date	Race name	Track	Location	Pole position	Winning driver
1	March 18	Jimmy Bryan 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale,Arizona	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser
2	April 23	Trentonian 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton,New Jersey	Bobby Unser	Gary Bettenhausen
3	May 27	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway,Indiana	Bobby Unser	Mark Donohue
4	June 4	Rex Mays Classic	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis,Wisconsin	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser
5	July 16	Michigan 200	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn,Michigan	Bobby Unser	Joe Leonard
6	July 29^A	Schaefer 500	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond,Pennsylvania	Bobby Unser	Joe Leonard
7	August 13	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis,Wisconsin	Mario Andretti	Joe Leonard
8	September 3	California 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario,California	Jerry Grant	Roger McCluskey
9	September 24	Trenton 300	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton,New Jersey	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser
10	November 4	Best Western 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale,Arizona	Mark Donohue	Bobby Unser

^A Originally scheduled for July 2, postponed because of rain.

In the fall of 1971, a tentative schedule held the possibility of returning road courses to the championship schedule. Races atColorado,Brainerd,Bridgehampton,Road Atlanta,Mosport, as well as a return toRafaela, Argentina, and a new "Florida 500" at the proposed "Florida International Raceway", were all part of an early press release.^[2] However, all road courses were ultimately left off, the Argentina race was discontinued, and the Florida race course was never built.

Final points standings

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Note: Peter Revson is not eligible for points.

Further information:List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos	Driver	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	MIS	POC	MIL	ONT	TRE	PHX	Pts
1	Joe Leonard	5	4	3	5	1	1	1	15	3	DNQ	3460
2	Bill Vukovich II	20	18	28	4	11	4	2	3	4	15	2200
3	Roger McCluskey	7	2	24	7	8	11	19	1	8	6	1970
4	Al Unser	6	20	2	19	15	3	15	31	23	4	1800
5	Mark Donohue	17	19	1	2					2	16	1720
6	Mike Hiss RY	10	7	7	13	26	6		2	14	DNQ	1665
7	Johnny Rutherford	13	Wth	27	21	16	2	3	10	6	5	1620
8	Bobby Unser	1	17	30	1	14	20	Wth	24	1	1	1500
9	Sam Sessions			4		4	15		4			1440
10	Mike Mosley	3	13	26	DNQ				5	5	2	1250
11	Mario Andretti	2	22	8	8	12	7	11	27	28	3	1135
12	Gary Bettenhausen	4	1	14	3	24	19	DNQ				790
13	Wally Dallenbach Sr.	9	6	15	DNQ	2	14	DNQ	21	7	24	720
14	Salt Walther		11	33		DNQ	8		6	27		690
15	Lee Kunzman	22		17	18	5	9	4	26	12	23	670
16	George Snider	16	DNQ	11	23	6	21	18	8	10	10	517
17	Sam Posey			5			5		19			500
18	Lloyd Ruby	21		6	22		26	DNQ	17	18	7	490
19	Mel Kenyon	23	10	18	15	3	13	16	28	11	9	460
20	Art Pollard	14		Wth					7	9	11	450
21	Jimmy Caruthers			9	12	22	10		12			415
22	Gordon Johncock		3	20		9	22	22	13	20		360
23	Rick Muther			DNQ	24	20	12	5	15		22	250
24	Jim Malloy	15	5	Wth								200
25	Swede Savage	19	16	32	6	17	23	9	20	19	19	200
26	Dick Simon	18	14	13	9	7	16	12		16	14	200
27	Bill Simpson	24		DNQ		13	24	24	9		17	200
28	Johnny Parsons							6	22	17	DNS	160
29	Cale Yarborough			10					DNQ			150
30	John Mahler		8	22	11		27	25	18			130
31	Jerry Grant			12	20				33	21	8	125
32	Tom Bigelow			Wth		21	DNQ	7		13		120
33	Steve Krisiloff		12	21		18	32	14	11	15	18	120
34	John Hubbard R							8				100
35	Al Loquasto		9	DNQ			DNQ		DNQ			80
36	A. J. Foyt	8		25					30	22	21	75
37	Bentley Warren		DNQ	DNQ	14		18	10		26	20	60
38	Lee Brayton R			DNQ		10	DNQ	17	DNQ			60
39	Jim McElreath		DNQ	DNQ	10		DNQ		DNS			45
40	George Eaton	11										30
41	Jim Hurtubise	12	21	23	DNQ	23	DNQ					15
42	Greg Weld						33		DNQ		12	6
-	John Martin			16	17		17	20	32		13	0
-	Dee Jones							13				0
-	Carl Williams			29	16		30		14			0
-	Joe Tetz R		15					23				0
-	Larry McCoy R		DNQ			19		21		24		0
-	Denny Zimmerman			19			25		25			0
-	Peter Revson			31			31		23			0
-	Gig Stephens		23									0
-	Merle Bettenhausen			DNQ		25						0
-	Arnie Knepper			DNQ						25		0
-	Jerry Karl			DNQ				28		29		0
-	Bob Harkey			DNQ			29					0
-	George Follmer								DNS			0
-	Larry Dickson			DNQ			DNQ					0
-	David Hobbs						DNQ					0
-	Eldon Rasmussen						DNQ					0
-	Bruce Walkup			DNQ								0
-	Jigger Sirois			DNQ								0
-	Bill Puterbaugh			Wth								0
-	Bud Tingelstad			Wth								0
Pos	Driver	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	MIS	POC	MIL	ONT	TRE	PHX	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

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^"Marlboro Bowing Out As Auto Racing Angel".The Indianapolis Star. December 17, 1971. p. 54. RetrievedJanuary 22, 2019 – viaNewspapers.com.
^"USAC Lines Up 17-Event Slate".The Indianapolis Star. September 15, 1971. p. 37. RetrievedJanuary 22, 2019 – viaNewspapers.com.

Åberg, Andreas."USAC National Championship 1972". Driver Database.Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. RetrievedMay 3, 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. RetrievedMay 3, 2009.
"1972 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com.Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. RetrievedMay 11, 2009.
Harms, Phil."1972 Championship Driver Summary"(PDF).Motorsport.com. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on August 10, 2012. RetrievedMay 3, 2011.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine (p. 228–229)
https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1972.htm Retrieved July 30, 2025
https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1972/ Retrieved July 30, 2025

v t e 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 initalics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

v t e 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