United States Auto Club

History

When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it termed championship auto racing, the highest level of USAC racing. For a while there was a separate series of specifications for championship cars designed to be run on dirt, rather than paved, tracks. Today, USAC sanction open-wheel racing series such as the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series, National Midget Series, and Quarter Midgets.

Triple crown

The "triple crown" is earned in USAC racing when a driver claims all three national championships (silver crown, sprint car, and midget car). Only two drivers, Tony Stewart (1995) and J. J. Yeley (2003), have achieved the triple crown in a single season. Six other drivers, Pancho Carter (1972–78), Dave Darland (1997–2001), Jerry Coons Jr. (2006–08), Tracy Hines (2000, 2002, 2015), Chris Windom (2016, 2017, 2020), and Logan Seavey (2023–2024) have claimed each of the three championships at least once in their careers. In 2012 Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian became the only car owners to win the triple crown by winning all three championships in the same year.

National championship

USAC awarded a national championship until A. J. Foyt won his seventh title in 1979. It resumed awarding a national championship in 2010. A driver's best 25 finishes are counted toward the championship and the 2010 winner received $40,000. Points are accumulated in the three national series: sprints, midgets, and silver crown. Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana claimed the inaugural championship, topping runner-up Levi Jones by 14 points.

As of 2013 it has been known as the Mike Curb "Super License" National Championship Award.

USAC national drivers champions

• 2010 – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana
• 2011 – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana
• 2012 – Bryan Clauson; Noblesville, Indiana
• 2013 - Tracy Hines; New Castle, Indiana
• 2014 - Tracy Hines; New Castle, Indiana
• 2015 - Dave Darland; Kokomo, Indiana
• 2016 - Brady Bacon; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
• 2017 - Justin Grant; Ione, California
• 2018 - Tyler Courtney; Indianapolis, Indiana
• 2019 - Tyler Courtney; Indianapolis, Indiana
• 2020 - Chris Windom; Canton, Illinois
• 2021 - Justin Grant; Ione, California
• 2022 - Justin Grant; Ione, California
• 2023 - Justin Grant; Ione, California
• 2024 - Logan Seavey; Sutter, California

1978 plane crash

On April 23, 1978, returning from a race at the Trenton Speedway in New Jersey, eight USAC officials, plus the pilot, were killed when their 10-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed during a thunderstorm 25 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

Killed were:

• Ray Marquette, USAC's vice-president of public affairs and a former sportswriter for The Indianapolis Star
• Frank Delroy, chairman of USAC technical committee
• Shim Malone, starter for USAC races and head of its midget racer division
• Judy Phillips, graphic artist and publication director of USAC's newsletter
• Stan Worley, chief registrar
• Ross Teeguarden, assistant technical chairman
• Don Peabody, head of the sprint division
• Dr. Bruce White, assistant staff doctor
• Don Mullendore, owner and pilot of the plane.

Arthur W Graham III, Director of Timing & Scoring, was scheduled to be on the flight, but decided last-minute to drive back with the timing equipment.

The incident closely followed the death of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman.

End of championship car sanctioning

The plane crash came at a time when Indy car owners and drivers were demanding changes from USAC. Aside from the Indianapolis 500, USAC events were not well attended, and the owners felt that USAC poorly negotiated television rights. The owners also wanted increases in payouts, especially at Indy. Though some think the plane crash was used as an opportunistic way to force change in the sport, it was merely an unfortunate coincidence. The seed of dissent had been growing for several years before the accident, and claims the crash was an immediate cause for the 1979 CART/USAC "split" are considered for the most part unfounded.

Also unpopular were the attempts of USAC to keep the aging Offenhauser engine competitive with the newer, and much more expensive, Cosworth DFX engine using boost-limiting "pop off valves" and limiting the amount of fuel that could be used.

Finally, most car owners banded together to form Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in 1978, with the first race to be run in 1979. USAC tried unsuccessfully to ban all CART owners from the 1979 Indianapolis 500, finally losing in court before the race began. Both the USAC and CART ran multi-race schedules in 1979.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway president John Cooper was instrumental in forming a joint body of CART and USAC with the creation of the Championship Racing League (CRL) in March 1980. However, in mid-1980, Cooper forced USAC to renounce their agreement with the CRL if they wanted to keep officiating the Indy 500. After USAC's attempt at a 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway – which was boycotted by the CART teams, forcing USAC to fill the field with silver crown cars – USAC and CART eventually settled into a relatively peaceful co-existence, with USAC continuing to sanction the Indianapolis 500 and no other Championship car races, and CART including the race in its schedule between other CART-sanctioned races. USAC continued to sanction the Indy 500 until 1997, when the Indy Racing League (itself product of the second American open-wheel split in 1996) terminated the sanctioning agreement following two consecutive officiating controversies that year; subsequent Indy 500s (and IRL races, as USAC was also involved in IRL's racing-related matters up to that point) were sanctioned by the IRL itself, which was renamed the IndyCar Series in 2003.

Road racing expansion

Since 2022, the United States Auto Club has sanctioned the USF Juniors, USF2000 Championship, and USF Pro 2000 Championship series, which serve as a ladder series to Indy NXT, along with the Radical Sportscars North American Championships, Skip Barber Racing School, as well as continued sanctioning of the GT World Challenge America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America under the newly formed Road Racing Division under the direction of Randy Hembrey.

Active series

USAC Silver Crown Series

| image-size = | country/region = United States

Beginning in 1971, all dirt races were split from the National Championship. From 1971 to 1980, the series was named "National Dirt Car Championship", then renamed "Silver Crown Series" in 1981.

; Champions

; Race winners

• As of the end of the 2022 season

USAC National Sprint Car Championship ===

| image-size = | country/region = United States

From 1956 to 1960, USAC's National Sprint Car Championship was divided into two regional divisions in the Midwest and the East.

; Champions