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1978 USAC Championship Car season

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Sports season

1978 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National ChampionshipCiticorp Cup
Season
Races	18
Start date	March 18
End date	October 28
Awards
National champion	Tom Sneva
Indianapolis 500 winner	Al Unser
← 1977 1979 (USAC) 1979 (CART) →

The1978 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning atPhoenix on March 18 and concluding at the same location on October 28. TheUSAC National Champion wasTom Sneva and theIndianapolis 500 winner wasAl Unser. This was the last year before the firstUSAC/CART "Split". By winning theIndianapolis 500,Pocono 500, andCalifornia 500, Al Unser swept the Indy car"Triple Crown", the only driver in history to do so.

The 1978 season is also statistically noteworthy.Danny Ongais won the most races (5), and Al Unser swept the triple crown races, but it wasTom Sneva (who did not win a single race) who won the championship title. Sneva had six 2nd place finishes, and twelve top 5s, and seven poles (includingIndianapolis andOntario), and experienced more consistent finishes. Sneva became the second driver to win the USAC championship without winning a race during the season, the last beingTony Bettenhausen in1958. Sneva's "winless" championship was not without its critics, however, a statistician calculated points results using contemporary points tables from other major racing series, and concluded that Sneva would have still won the title in nearly every scenario.^[1]

The 1978 season was also a break-out year for future championRick Mears.Mario Andretti was running the fullFormula One season (of which he would beWorld Champion). Andretti was running a partial Indy car schedule forPenske Racing, and Roger Penske hired the young Mears to fill in for Andretti the weekends he was overseas. Mears, who had spent two years in lesser-funded rides, jumped at the opportunity to drive for Penske, even though it was only a part-time ride. Mears wonCo-Rookie of the Year atIndy, won three races, and despite running only 11 of 18 races, finished 9th in points.

Entrants

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(partial list)

Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Rounds
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote (1-11, 13, 16-17) Parnelli (12, 14-15, 18)	Foyt (1-11, 13, 16-17) Cosworth (12, 14-15, 18)	A.J. Foyt	All
All American Racers	Lightning (1-4) Eagle (5-13, 16-18)	Cosworth	Bobby Unser	1-13, 16-18
Chapparal Racing	Chapparal (1-2, 6-18) Lola (3, 5)	Cosworth	Al Unser	1-3, 5-18
Bob Fletcher	Lightning	Offenhauser	Pancho Carter	5-11, 13-15, 18
Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	Danny Ongais	All
Jerry O"Connell Racing	McLaren (1-14, 16-18) Lightning (15)	Cosworth	Wally Dallenbach	1-7, 9, 12-14
Leader Card Racing	Eagle (1-4) Watson (5-18)	Offenhauser	Tom Bagley	All
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser	Johnny Parsons	1-15, 18
McLaren	McLaren	Cosworth	Johnny Rutherford	All
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	DGS	Gordon Johncock	All
Patrick Racing	Wildcat	DGS (1-13, 15, 18) Offenhauser (14, 16-17)	Steve Krisiloff	All
Team Penske	Penske	Cosworth	Tom Sneva	All
	Penske	Cosworth	Mario Andretti	1-4, 7, 13-15, 18
	Penske	Cosworth	Rick Mears	1, 5-7, 9-13, 16-17

Schedule and results

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Rnd	Date	Race name	Track	Location	Pole position	Winning driver
1	March 18	Jimmy Bryan 150	O Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale,Arizona	Danny Ongais	Gordon Johncock
2	March 26	Datsun Twin 200	O Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario,California	Tom Sneva	Danny Ongais
3	April 15	Coors 200	O Texas World Speedway	College Station,Texas	Danny Ongais	Danny Ongais
4	April 23	Gabriel 200	O Trenton International Speedway	Trenton,New Jersey	Tom Sneva	Gordon Johncock
5	May 28	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	O Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway,Indiana	Tom Sneva	Al Unser
6	June 11	Molson Diamond Indy	R Mosport Park	Bowmanville,Ontario	Danny Ongais	Danny Ongais
7	June 18	Rex Mays Classic	O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis,Wisconsin	Danny Ongais	Rick Mears
8	June 25	Schaefer 500	O Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond,Pennsylvania	Danny Ongais	Al Unser
9	July 16	Norton Twin 200	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn,Michigan	Tom Sneva	Johnny Rutherford
10	July 23	Gould Twin Dixie	O Atlanta International Raceway	Hampton,Georgia	Tom Sneva	Rick Mears
11	August 6	Texas Grand Prix	O Texas World Speedway	College Station,Texas	Tom Sneva	A. J. Foyt
12	August 20	Tony Bettenhausen 200	O Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis,Wisconsin	Danny Ongais	Danny Ongais
13	September 3	California 500	O Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario,California	Tom Sneva	Al Unser
14	September 16	Gould Grand Prix	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn,Michigan	Johnny Rutherford	Danny Ongais
15	September 23	Machinist Union 150	O Trenton International Speedway	Trenton,New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Mario Andretti
16	October 1	Daily Express Indy Silverstone	R Silverstone Circuit	Silverstone,England	Danny Ongais	A. J. Foyt
17	October 7	Daily Mail Indy Trophy	R Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit)	Fawkham,England	Al Unser	Rick Mears
18	October 29	Miller High Life Bobby Ball Memorial 150	O Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale,Arizona	Danny Ongais	Johnny Rutherford

O Oval/Speedway

R Road Course

Final points standings

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Note: Janet Guthrie is not eligible for points.

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

Pos	Driver	PHX1	ONT1	TWS1	TRE1	INDY	MOS	MIL1	POC	MIS1	ATL	TWS2	MIL2	ONT2	MIS2	TRE2	SIL	BRH	PHX2	Pts
1	Tom Sneva	22	2	2	3	2	4	15	3	2	8	5	15	23	2	3	3	2	16	4153
2	Al Unser	10	3	Wth		1	12	8	1	17	14	17	5	1	17	4	10	15	5	4031
3	Gordon Johncock	1	19	3	1	3	DNQ	22	14	19	7	7	3	3	3	14	4	11	3	3548
4	Johnny Rutherford	16	13	19	10	13	8	2	2	1	2	2	8	11	13	11	5	3	1	3067
5	A. J. Foyt	3	4	17	2	7	16	19	8	16	4	1	4	28	5	19	1	4	2	3024
6	Wally Dallenbach Sr.	14	9	4	11	5	11	3	4	3	9	4	7	10	11	6	14	5	6	2966
7	Steve Krisiloff	2	14	8	5	4	3	4	32	14	5	3	6	7	15	5	6	DNQ	8	2874
8	Danny Ongais	12	1	1	4	18	1	16	19	6	21	DNS	1	12	1	15	15	9	4	2662
9	Rick Mears	5				23	2	1		22	1	9	2	9			2	1		2171
10	Pancho Carter					24	15	21	10	DNQ	11	11		2	18	7			9	1206
11	Tom Bagley RY	8	17	10	12	27	17	7	26	12	6	16	DNS	4	6	12	13	14	14	1188
12	Bobby Unser	18	16	13	20	6	19	17	20	5	3	8	20	13			8	13	11	1122
13	Larry Dickson	17	5	14		22	5	5	5	11										1121
14	Johnny Parsons	DNS	18	11	17	10	9	9	22	4	20	18	19	15	7	2			DNQ	978
15	George Snider					8			6	15		DNS		27			11	8	20	766
16	Tom Bigelow	15	7	12	8	21	14	6	15	8			10		4				18	764
17	Mario Andretti		15	5	13	12			23					DNS	20	1			7	681
18	Dick Simon	4	6			19		18	30	13	18	6	21	14			12	7	22	670
19	Jim McElreath			6	7	20			25	7	13	12	12	20	9	DNQ			12	573
20	Salt Walther	13	11	7	15	28	7	11	13	18				29			7	6	DNQ	562
21	Cliff Hucul	7				33	10		17	DNQ		21	9	8		13				519
22	Lee Kunzman					DNQ			33		DNQ		18	5						513
23	Sheldon Kinser	6	8	15	14	32			12	DNQ	17	19	11	17	8	10			19	495
24	Mike Mosley					17	DNQ	14	7	DNQ		13	DNQ	16		8			10	483
25	Roger Mears R													6					DNQ	400
26	Bobby Olivero	9	10	9	6	Wth														360
27	Al Loquasto					DNQ	13	12	9	10	19		13	19						321
28	Joe Saldana					15			21	9	10	10	DNQ		10	DNQ	16	10		314
29	Gary Bettenhausen	21	12		19	16	6	DNQ	29				22			9			21	294
30	Spike Gehlhausen	20	23	16	18	29	DNQ	13	31	20	22	14	16	21	16	17	9	12	17	188
31	Larry Cannon					DNQ		10	11	DNQ		15	17	22	19	DNQ			DNQ	184
32	Larry Rice	DNQ			9	11			DNQ	DNQ										180
33	Jerry Karl	11	21	21	22	14			18					DNS		20				104
34	Jerry Sneva					31			16	DNQ	16			25	14	18			DNQ	62
35	Roger McCluskey	19	20	20	21	25								24					13	61
36	Phil Threshie					30	18	20	24	21	DNQ			30						45
37	Todd Gibson										15		14			16			15	34
38	Vern Schuppan			18	16							20								26
39	Bob Harkey		22			DNQ								18						26
40	Bill Vukovich II					DNQ			28					26						20
41	Eldon Rasmussen					DNQ				DNQ					12	DNQ				15
42	Roger Rager					DNQ		DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	12									15
43	John Mahler					26														10
44	Bubby Jones					Wth			27											10
45	Chuck Gurney	DNQ	24																	6
-	Janet Guthrie					9														0
-	Ed Finley							DNQ												0
-	Tom Gloy															DNQ			DNQ	0
-	Jim Hurtubise					DNQ														0
-	Gary Irvin					DNQ														0
-	Bill Puterbaugh					DNQ														0
-	John Martin					DNQ														0
-	Graham McRae					DNQ														0
-	Frank Weiss																		DNQ	0
-	Mike Hiss					QL														0
Pos	Driver	PHX1	ONT1	TWS1	TRE1	INDY	MOS	MIL1	POC	MIS1	ATL	TWS2	MIL2	ONT2	MIS2	TRE2	SIL	BRH	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

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^The Talk of Gasoline Alley. May 12, 2015.WFNI.

Åberg, Andreas."USAC National Championship 1978". Driver Database.Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. RetrievedMay 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. RetrievedMay 4, 2009.
"1978 USAC National Championship Citicorp Cup". ChampCarStats.com.Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. RetrievedMay 11, 2009.
Harms, Phil."1978 Championship Driver Summary"(PDF).Motorsport.com. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on September 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. 214-216)
https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1978.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1978/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.racingyears.com/results/1978/USAC Retrieved August 9, 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

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Entrants

Schedule and results

Final points standings

References

See also