1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series

1979 CART season
SCCA/CART Indy Car Series
Season
Races	14
Start date	March 11
End date	October 20
Awards
Drivers' champion	Rick Mears
Constructors' Cup	Penske
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Bill Alsup
Indianapolis 500 winner	Rick Mears
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1978 (USAC)	1980

The 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series was the inaugural season for the CART Indy car series. It was the first national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 14 races. Rick Mears was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Bill Alsup. The 1979 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Rick Mears won the Indy 500, his first of four victories in the event.

The 1979 season was filled with controversy on and off the track. During the offseason, several Indy car owners broke off from USAC, and formed Championship Auto Racing Teams, a new sanctioning body to govern the sport of open wheel Indy car racing. USAC continued to sanction their Gold Crown Championship, resulting in two parallel national championships for 1979. The controversy over the first "split" in Indy car racing came to its first climax at the 1979 Indianapolis 500, when USAC rejected entries by certain CART owners. The owners won a court injunction to be allowed to race, and later, another controversy erupted, this time involving illegal wastegate exhaust pipes.

The 1979 CART season was held through an arrangement such that it fell under the sanctioning umbrella of SCCA. This one-year, temporary arrangement was such that it would be formally recognized by ACCUS.

With three wins, two poles, and 14 top tens (no finish worse than 7th), Rick Mears ran way with the inaugural CART championship title. Mears took a large points lead after winning the Indy 500, and never relinquished the top spot through the remainder of the season. Bobby Unser won six races, and finished second in points.

USAC/CART "Split"

For more information, see 1979 Indianapolis 500 § Controversies

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1979 CART World Series.

• Number in parentheses ( ) is the number used at the Indianapolis 500.

Team/Car Owner	Chassis	Engine	Tires	#	Driver(s)	Notes
Jerry O'Connell Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	G	1	Tom Sneva
				32	Johnny Parsons	Ontario only.
Chaparral Cars	Lola Chaparral	Cosworth	G	2	Al Unser	Used Lola chassis at all races through Atlanta (2).
Team McLaren	McLaren	Cosworth	G	4	Johnny Rutherford
Bob Fletcher Racing	Lightning	Cosworth	G	7	Steve Krisiloff	All races through Trenton (3) only.
				55	Spike Gehlhausen	Ontario, Michigan (3), Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2) only.
Team Penske	Penske	Cosworth	G	9	Rick Mears
				12	Bobby Unser
				68	Bill Alsup	Indianapolis only.
				99	Mario Andretti	Ontario and Michigan (3) only.
Morales Motorsports	Lightning	Offenhauser Cosworth	G	10	Pancho Carter	Used Cosworth engine at Atlanta (1 and 2).
				15	Bob Harkey	Ontario only. Used the Offenhauser engine.
Longhorn Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	11	Tom Bagley	All races except Atlanta (3).
				71	Steve Krisiloff	Ontario only.
Gilmore Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	14	A.J. Foyt	Indianapolis only. Team ran in conjunction with Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing.
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Lightning	Drake Goosen Sparks Offenhauser	G	15	Johnny Parsons	Indianapolis only. Used the Drake Goosen Sparks engine.
				51	Hurley Haywood	Indianapolis only. Used the Offenhauser engine.
Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt	Offenhauser AMC	G	17	Dick Simon	Indianapolis only. Used the Offenhauser engine
				27	Dick Simon	Indianapolis practice only. Used the AMC engine.
Frantz Racing	Wildcat	Drake Goosen Saprks Offenhauser	G	18 (16)	Tom Frantz Bill Henderson	Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1), Indianapolis, Michigan (all), Watkins Glen, Trenton (3) and Ontario only. Used the Offenhauser engine at Trenton (3) and Ontario only. Team ran in conjunction with Hoffman Racing at Phoenix (1) and Atlanta (1) only. Henderson drove the car at Trenton (1) only.
Gehlhausen Racing	Eagle Wildcat McLaren	Offenhauser Cosworth	G	19	Spike Gehlhausen Bill Alsup Phil Caliva Bob Harkey	Gelhausen drove the car at all races through Trenton (3) only. Used the Wildcat chassis and the Cosworth engine at Indianapolis only. Team ran in conjunction with Patrick Racing at Indianapolis only. Used the McLaren chassis at Indianapolis practice only. Harkey and Alsup attempted to qualify the car at Indianapolis only. Caliva drove the car at Ontario only. Used the Eagle chassis and the Offenhauser engine at all races through Ontario, except Indianapolis.
				39	Al Loquasto	Indianapolis and Michigan (1 and 2) only. Used the Eagle chassis and the Offenhauser engine.
Patrick Racing	Penske Wildcat Lightning	Cosworth	G	20 (3)	Gordon Johncock	Used the Penske chassis.
				40 (6)	Wally Dallenbach	Used the Wildcat chassis at Phoenix (both) only and the Lightning chassis at Atlanta (1 and 2) only.
				60	Steve Krisiloff Roger Mears	Krisiloff drove the car at Michigan (3) only. Mears drove the car at Ontario only. Used the Penske chassis and the Cosworth engine.
Rhoades Competition	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	20	John Martin	Indianapolis only.
Conqueste Racing Team	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	21 (89)	Lee Kunzman	Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1 and 2), Indianapolis, Trenton (1 and 2), Michigan (1 and 2) and Ontario only.
Leader Card Racing	Watson	Offenhauser	G	22	Billy Vukovich II	Indianapolis only.
				24	Sheldon Kinser	Indianapolis only.
				40	George Snider	Indianapolis practice only.
McElreath Racing	Penske Eagle	Cosworth Offenhauser	G	23	Jim McElreath	Indianapolis only. Used the Penske chassis and the Cosworth engine.
				26	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	Indianapolis only. Used the Eagle chassis and the Offenhauser engine.
Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	25	Danny Ongais
Wheel Center	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	28	Billy Scott	Indianapolis and Ontario only.
Hucul Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	29	Cliff Hucul	Indianapolis only.
Thunder Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	30	Dana Carter John Martin	Carter drove the car at Indianapolis only. Martin drove the car at Ontario only.
Wysard Racing	Wildcat	Offenhauser	G	34	Vern Schuppan	Phoenix (both), Atlanta (1 and 2), Indianapolis, Michigan (1 and 3), Watkins Glen, Trenton (3) and Ontario only.
S&M Electric	Lightning	Offenhauser	G	35 (31)	Larry Rice Tim Richmond	Rice drove the car at Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1 and 2), Indianapolis and Trenton (1 and 2) only. Richmond drove the car at Watkins Glen, Trenton (3), Ontario and Phoenix (2) only.
Medlin Racing	Cicada	Offenhauser	G	35	Bill Puterbaugh	Indianapolis only.
All American Racers	Eagle	Cosworth	G	36	Mike Mosley
Karl Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	38	Jerry Karl	Indianapolis only.
WASP Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	41 (67)	Bill Alsup
Mergard Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	42	Herm Johnson	Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2) only.
AMI Racing	Lola Wildcat	Cosworth Drake Goosen Sparks	G	43	Tom Bigelow	Indianapolis practice only. Used the Lola chassis and the Cosworth engine.
				44	Tom Bigelow Gary Bettenhausen	Indianapolis only. Bettenhausen practiced the car and Bigelow raced in it. Used the Lola chassis and the Cosworth engine.
				45	Janet Guthrie	Indianapolis only. Used the Lola chassis and the Cosworth engine.
				46	Howdy Holmes	Indianapolis only. Used the Wildcat chassis and the Drake Goosen Sparks engine.
BFM Enterprises	Antares Manta	Offenhauser	G	50	Eldon Rasmussen Frank Weiss	Rasmussen drove the car at Indianapolis only. Weiss drove in the Indianapolis Rookie Orientation and Atlanta (3) only. Used the Manta chassis at Atlanta (3) only.
Hurtubise Racing	Mallard Unknown	Offenhauser Chevrolet	G	52	Woody Fisher	Indianapolis only. Used an unknown chassis and the Chevrolet engine.
				56	Jim Hurtubise	Indianapolis only. Used the Mallard chassis and the Offenhauser engine.
Crower Cams	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	57	Jerry Sneva	Indianapolis only.
Rasmussen Racing	Rascar	Foyt	G	58	Eldon Rasmussen	Indianapolis only.
Hoffman Racing	Eagle Lightning Spyder Penske	Offenhauser Cosworth	G	59	Joe Saldana George Snider Dick Ferguson	Snider drove the car at Indianapolis only. Saldana drove the car at Michigan (1 and 2) and Ontario only. Ferguson drove the car at Phoenix (2) only. Used the Lightning chassis and Offenhauser engine at Indianapolis, Michigan (1 and 2) and Ontario only. Used the Penske chassis and Cosworth engine at Phoenix (2) only.
				69	Joe Saldana Al Loquasto	Saldana drove the car at all races except Michigan (1 and 2), Ontario, Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2) only. Loquasto drove the car at Ontario only. Used the Eagle chassis and Offenhauser engine.
				79	Dick Ferguson Joe Saldana Cliff Hucul	Ferguson drove the car at Michigan (1 and 2) only. Saldana drove the car at Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2) only. Hucul drove the car at Ontario only. Used the Eagle chassis at Ontario, Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2), the Spyder chassis at Michigan (1 and 2) only and the Offenhauser engine in each of those races.
Bob Olmstead's V12	Eagle	Volker	G	62	Ed Finley	Indianapolis only.
Rager Racing	Eagle Wildcat	Chevrolet	G	66	Roger Rager	Indianapolis only. Used both the Eagle and Wildcat chassis in practice.
Mach I Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	69	Tim Richmond	Michigan (1) only.
Hodgdon Racing	McLaren Spirit	Cosworth AMC	G	72	Roger McCluskey Jerry Sneva	McCluskey drove the car at Indianapolis only. Sneva drove the car at Ontario only. Used the McLaren chassis and Cosworth engine.
				73	Neil Bonnet Jerry Sneva	Indianapolis only, Sneva drove in the race and Bonnet drove in practice. Used the Spirit 78 chassis and the AMC engine.
Gibson Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	75	Todd Gibson	Indianapolis only.
Walmotor	McLaren Penske	Cosworth	G	77	Salt Walther	Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1 and 2), Indianapolis, Michigan (all) and Ontario only. Used McLaren chassis at Phoenix (1) only.
R.P. Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	80	Larry Dickson	Indianapolis only.
Woodward Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	81	Dick Ferguson Jan Opperman	Indianapolis only.
Beaudoin Racing	Wildcat	Drake Goosen Sparks	G	83	Billy Engelhart	Indianapolis only.
AMSoil	Lola	Cosworth	G	86	Dennis Firestone	Ontario only.
Intercomp	Eagle Bear	Offenhauser Drake Goosen Sparks	G	92	John Mahler	Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1), Indianapolis, Trenton (1 and 2), Michigan (1 and 2) and Watkins Glen only. Used the Eagle chassis and the Offenhauser engine at Phoenix (1), Atlanta (1), Indianapolis and Watkins Glen only and the Bear chassis and the Drake Goosen Sparks engine at Trenton (1 and 2).
O'Hanlon Racing	March	Chevrolet	G	93	Larry McCoy	Indianapolis only.
Whittington Bros. Racing	McLaren Parnelli	Cosworth	G	94	Don Whittington	Ontario only. Used the McLaren chassis.
				98	Bill Whittington	Ontario only. Used the Parnelli chassis.
Cannon Racing	Wildcat	Drake Goosen Sparks Offenhauser	G	95	Larry Cannon	Indianapolis, Michigan (1 and 3), Trenton (3), Ontario, Atlanta (3) and Phoenix (2). Used the Drake Goosen Sparks engine at Michigan (1) only.
Agajanian-Grant King Racers	King	Chevrolet Offenhauser	G	97	Phil Threshie Jerry Miller	Indianapolis only. Miller drove the car in the rookie orientation and Threshie raced it. Used the Chevrolet engine.
				98	Gary Bettenhausen	Indianapolis only. Used the Offenhauser engine.
Canavan Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	X	Earle Canavan	Indianapolis only. Number was unknown.

Season Summary

Race Results

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Location	Pole Position	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	March 11	Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	Report
2	April 22	Gould Twin Dixie 125	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren	Report
3						Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren
4	May 27	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana	Rick Mears	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
5	June 10	Trenton Twin Indy	Trenton Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Gordon Johncock	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
6						Bobby Unser	Team Penske
7	July 15	Norton Twin 125	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Bobby Unser	Gordon Johncock	Team Penske	Report
8						Bobby Unser	Team Penske
9	August 5	Kent Oil 150	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	Al Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
10	August 19	Ditzler 150	Trenton Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
11	September 2	California 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Rick Mears	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
12	September 15	Gould Grand Prix	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
13	September 30	Rich's Atlanta Classic	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
14	October 20	Miller High Life 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Bobby Unser	Al Unser	Chaparral Cars	Report

• CART was sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
• Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART championship.

Final driver standings

Note: Non-CART members in CART events haven't points in officially: Don Whittington, Jr., Bill Whittington, Roger Mears, John Martin, Frank Weiss, Bob Harkey, Dennis Firestone, Johnny Parsons, Jr. and Cliff Hucul

Rounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Races 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 3 2 Pos Driver PHX ATL INDY TRT MIC WTG TRT ONT MIC ATL PHX 1 Rick Mears 2 5 2 1 5 7 4 5 2 1 2 3 1 3 4,060 2 Bobby Unser 5 7 4 5 1 1 Ret 1 1 2 1 1 3 2 3,820 3 Gordon Johncock 1 4 9 6 3 5 1 4 3 Ret Ret Ret 2 4 2,211 4 Johnny Rutherford 3 1 1 18 Ret 3 3 Ret Ret 5 4 4 Ret 6 2,163 5 Al Unser 4 6 3 Ret 2 Ret 13 3 5 6 5 Ret 5 1 2,085 6 Danny Ongais Ret Ret 6 4 7 6 Ret Ret 4 Ret 6 DNQ Ret Ret 1,473 7 Tom Sneva Ret 3 5 15 6 Ret Ret 2 Ret 3 Ret 2 8 5 1,360 8 Tom Bagley 8 8 7 9 8 4 6 6 6 7 Ret 5 9 1,208 9 Wally Dallenbach 7 11 8 Ret 4 2 5 Ret Ret 4 Ret 6 4 12 1,149 10 Mike Mosley 6 Ret Ret 3 Ret DNS 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 1,126 11 Mario Andretti 3 DNQ 700 12 Lee Kunzman 9 2 Ret Ret Ret DNS 14 Ret 9 490 13 Pancho Carter Ret 9 11 Ret 10 8 7 Ret Ret DNQ Ret 8 Ret 7 452 14 Vern Schuppan Ret 12 12 Ret Ret DNS 7 7 DNS Ret 449 15 Bill Alsup 11 Ret Ret DNQ 12 9 9 Ret 9 10 Ret 9 10 11 400 16 Joe Saldana 13 Ret 13 16 Ret Ret 10 8 Ret 8 Ret DNQ 6 Ret 368 17 Spike Gehlhausen Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 343 18 Salt Walther 12 10 10 12 8 7 Ret Ret 314 19 Steve Krisiloff Ret Ret DNS 11 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 279 20 Tom Frantz 14 DNQ 11 Ret Ret 9 Ret Ret 236 21 Jerry Sneva Ret Ret 155 22 Tim Richmond Ret DNS 8 Ret Ret Ret 112 23 Larry Rice 10 14 19 Ret 10 105 24 Herm Johnson 7 13 98 25 John Mahler Ret Ret 11 11 12 Ret 74 26 Al Loquasto DNQ Ret 9 Ret 70 27 Larry Cannon DNQ Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 56 28 Dick Ferguson DNQ 15 Ret Ret DNQ 35 29 Billy Scott DNQ Ret 20 30 Phil Caliva Ret 10 - A.J. Foyt 2 - - Howdy Holmes 7 - - Billy Vukovich II 8 - - Don Whittington, Jr. 8 - - Frank Weiss DNQ 9 - - Bill Whittington Ret - - Roger McCluskey 13 - - Tom Bigelow 14 - - Phil Threshie 17 - - John Martin DNQ Ret - - Eldon Rasmussen Ret - - Larry Dickson Ret - - Dick Simon Ret - - Sheldon Kinser Ret - - Bob Harkey DNQ Ret - - Cliff Hucul Ret Ret - - Dennis Firestone Ret - - Johnny Parsons Ret Ret - - George Snider Ret - - Janet Guthrie Ret - - Jim McElreath Ret - Pos Driver PHX ATL INDY TRT MIC WTG TRT ONT MIC ATL 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) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps DNS Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS) Rookie of the Year Rookie

Driver Breakdown

Pos	Driver	Team/Car Owner	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points
1	Mears	Team Penske	14	3	9	13	14	2	4,060
2	B. Unser	Team Penske	14	6	9	12	13	7	3,820
3	Johncock	Patrick Racing	14	2	5	9	11	2	2,211
4	Rutherford	Team McLaren	14	2	5	8	9	2	2,163
5	A. Unser	Chaparral Cars	14	1	4	8	10	1	2,085
6	Ongais	Interscope Racing	13	0	0	2	6	0	1,473
7	T. Sneva	Jerry O'Connel Racing	14	0	2	6	8	0	1,360
8	Bagley	Longhorn Racing	13	0	0	2	12	0	1,208
9	Dallenbach	Patrick Racing	14	0	1	5	8	0	1,149
10	Mosley	All American Racers	12	0	2	2	3	0	1,126
11	Andretti	Team Penske	1	0	1	1	1	0	700
12	Kunzman	Conqueste Racing Team	8	0	1	1	3	0	490
13	Carter	Morales Motorsports	13	0	0	0	6	0	452
14	Schuppan	Wysard Racing	8	0	0	0	2	0	449
15	Alsup (R)	WASP Racing/Team Penske/Gehlhausen Racing	13	0	0	0	6	0	400
16	Saldana	Hoffman Racing	13	0	0	0	4	0	368
17	Gehlhausen	Gehlhausen Racing/Bob Fletcher Racing	14	0	0	0	2	0	343
18	Walther	Walmotor	8	0	0	0	4	0	314
19	Krisiloff	Bob Fletcher Racing/Patrick Racing/Longhorn Racing	10	0	0	0	2	0	279
20	Frantz	Frantz Racing	7	0	0	0	1	0	236
21	J. Sneva	Hodgdon Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	155
22	Richmond	Mach 1 Racing/S&M Electric	5	0	0	0	1	0	112
23	Rice	S&M Electric	5	0	0	0	2	0	105
24	Johnson	Mergard Racing	2	0	0	0	1	0	98
25	Mahler	Intercomp	6	0	0	0	0	0	74
26	Loquasto	Gehlhausen Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	70
27	Cannon	Canon Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	56
28	Ferguson	Hoffman Racing	3	0	0	0	0	0	35
29	Scott	Wheel Center	1	0	0	0	0	0	20
30	Caliva	Gehlhausen Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	10

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "SCCA/CART Indy Car Series 1979". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "Official Box Score: 63rd Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "Standings after Phoenix". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

See also

• 1979 Indianapolis 500
• 1979 USAC Championship Car season