Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1976 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season

Sports season

The 1976 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 14 and concluding at the same location on November 7. The USAC National Champion was Gordon Johncock and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford.

Entrants

(partial list)

TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds
United States A.J. Foyt EnterprisesCoyoteFoytUS A.J. Foyt1-8, 10-12
United States All American RacersEagleOffenhauserUS Pancho Carter1-5, 10-12
United States Bruce CrowerEagleOffenhauserUS Tom Sneva13
United States Bob FletcherEagleOffenhauserUS Bobby Unser1-5, 9-13
United States Alex MoralesEagleOffenhauserUS Bob Vukovich II1-5, 7-10, 12-13
United States Jerry O"Connell RacingEagleOffenhauserUS Mike MosleyAll
United States Leader Card RacingEagleOffenhauserUS Tom BigelowAll
United States Lindsey Hopkins RacingHopkinsOffenhauserUS Roger McCluskey2-3, 5-13
United Kingdom McLarenMcLarenOffenhauserUS Johnny RutherfordAll
United States Patrick RacingEagle (3-5)
Wildcat (1, 6-13)Offenhauser (3-6)
(DGS (1, 6-13)US Gordon JohncockAll
WildcatDGSUS Wally DallenbachAll
United States Team PenskeMcLarenOffenhauserUS Tom Sneva1-11
McLarenOffenhauserUS Mario Andretti3, 5, 12-13
United States Vatis EnterprisesEagleOffenhauserUS Johnny ParsonsAll
United States Vel's Parnelli Jones RacingParnelliCosworthUS Al Unser1, 3-13

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

RndDateRace nameTrackLocationPole positionWinning driver12345678910111213
March 14Jimmy Bryan 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaUSA Al UnserUSA Bobby Unser
May 2Trenton 200Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyUSA A. J. FoytUSA Johnny Rutherford
May 30International 500 Mile SweepstakesIndianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, IndianaUSA Johnny RutherfordUSA Johnny Rutherford
June 13Rex Mays ClassicWisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, WisconsinUSA Gordon JohncockUSA Mike Mosley
June 27Schaefer 500Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, PennsylvaniaUSA Johnny ParsonsUSA Al Unser
July 18Norton Twin 200sMichigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganUSA A. J. FoytUSA Gordon Johncock
August 1Texas 150Texas World SpeedwayCollege Station, TexasUSA A. J. FoytUSA A. J. Foyt
August 15Trenton 200Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New JerseyUSA A. J. FoytUSA Gordon Johncock
August 22Tony Bettenhausen 200Wisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, WisconsinUSA Johnny RutherfordUSA Al Unser
September 5California 500Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, CaliforniaUSA A. J. FoytUSA Bobby Unser
September 18Michigan 150Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, MichiganUSA A. J. FoytUSA A. J. Foyt
October 31Benihana World Series of Auto RacingTexas World SpeedwayCollege Station, TexasUSA A. J. FoytUSA Johnny Rutherford
November 7Bobby Ball 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaUSA Bobby UnserUSA Al Unser

: Originally scheduled for April 25 but postponed to May 2 due to heavy rain. : Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain. : Scheduled for 200 miles, stopped early due to rain.

Final points standings

Note: David Hobbs, Danny Ongais and Vern Schuppan were not eligible for points.

PosDriverPHX1
TRE1
INDY
MIL1
POC
MIS1
TWS1
TRE2
MIL2
ONT
MIS2
TWS2
PHX2
Pts1424024220331054302052120620807172081570912001098011955129201382014660155801639017375183701936520340213302230023280242752524026215271902819029150301303110032903360345035503645374038403920-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0PosDriverPHX1
TRE1
INDY
MIL1
POC
MIS1
TWS1
TRE2
MIL2
ONT
MIS2
TWS2
PHX2
Pts
USA Gordon Johncock32322715123222
USA Johnny Rutherford1811942373211116
USA Wally Dallenbach Sr.16641232024174364
USA Al Unser4741101721321831
USA Mike Mosley5515122245515722DNQ
USA Bobby Unser1DNQ103324141721
USA A. J. Foyt211821731311923111
USA Tom Sneva1736137616313265DNQ
USA Mario Andretti8543
USA Johnny Parsons6412522418612DNQ131520
USA Roger McCluskeyDNQ3065DNQ2262110195
USA Pancho Carter275181429DNQ10
USA Tom Bigelow2017141129127217591418
USA Bill Vukovich IIDNQ223162668152456
USA Jan Opperman16197106
USA Rick MearsDNQ899
USA Bill Puterbaugh22DNQ78
USA Steve Krisiloff2481662117
USA George Snider13922710
USA Salt Walther99918DNQ22
USA Dick Simon71632141019131630217
USA John Martin118217219171818
USA Todd Gibson17DNQ139811141613
USA Bobby Olivero13DNQ10DNQ119DNQ14
USA Larry Dickson1919Wth11141511DNQ19815
USA Al Loquasto81025151012DNQDNQ12
USA Larry Cannon1730118DNQ818
USA Bill SimpsonDNQ82381214141520DNQ
USA Jerry Grant222710
USA Spike Gehlhausen1214332125161416913121219
USA Lloyd Ruby111322
USA Lee KunzmanWth13189DNQ20DNQ11
USA Roger Rager20101716
USA Sheldon Kinser192812
USA Bob Harkey2012DNQ20
USA Jim McElreath10DNQDNQ
USA Ed FinleyDNQ1315DNQ11DNQ
USA Tom Frantz1511DNQDNQDNQ
USA Ken NicholsDNQ12201814DNQ
USA Janet Guthrie15DNQ241315DNQDNQ
USA Arlene Hiss14
CAN Frank WeissDNQ1615
USA Larry McCoy2616
CAN Eldon RasmussenDNQ20173117
AUS Vern Schuppan18
USA Jerry KarlWth1921DNQ
USA Mike HissDNQDNQ19
CAN Ed CrombieDNQ20WthDNQDNQ
USA Jack OwensDNQ21DNQ
USA Billy ScottDNQ23DNQ
USA John MahlerDNQ25
USA Gary BettenhausenDNQ28DNQ3327DNQ
USA Danny Ongais28
GBR David Hobbs29
USA Mel KenyonDNQ33
USA Greg HodgesDNQDNQDNQ
USA Gary AllbritainDNQDNQ
USA Butch HarrisDNQ
USA Bill EngelhartDNQ
USA Jim HurtubiseDNQ
USA Rick MutherDNQ
USA Ed MillerWth
ColorResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
Green4th & 5th place
Light Blue6th-10th place
Dark BlueFinished
(Outside Top 10)
PurpleDid not finish
(Ret)
RedDid not qualify
(DNQ)
BrownWithdrawn
(Wth)
BlackDisqualified
(DSQ)
WhiteDid not start
(DNS)
BlankDid not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing

|- |

Rookie

|} |}

References

  • http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 219–220)
  • https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1976.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
  • https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1976/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
  • https://www.racingyears.com/results/1976/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025

References

References

  1. MRN Broadcast of the 1976 Virginia 500 NASCAR race held April 25 extensively mentions this
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1976-in-motorsport usac-championship-car 1976-in-american-motorsport
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1976 USAC Championship Car season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report