The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

. Today, USAC serves as the

sanctioning body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and

Pirelli World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...

. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.

History

When the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 mi ...

(AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the

Le Mans disaster The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...

and the death of

Bill Vukovich William John Vukovich Sr. (; December 13, 1918 – May 30, 1955) was an American automobile racing driver of Serbian descent. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, a ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United Stat ...

owner

Tony Hulman Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. (February 11, 1901 – October 27, 1977) was an American businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana, who bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and brought racing back to the famous race course after a four-year hiatus ...

. 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 Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post- World War II single ...

series such as the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Car Series, National Midget Series, Ignite Ethanol Fuel Series, and

Quarter Midgets Quarter midget racing is a form of automobile racing. The cars are approximately one-quarter (1/4) the size of a full-size midget car. The adult-size midget being raced during the start of quarter midget racing used an oval track of one-fifth of ...

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 Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...

(1995) and J. J. Yeley (2003), have achieved the triple crown in a single season. Five other drivers,

Pancho Carter Duane C. Carter Jr. (born June 11, 1950), nicknamed "Pancho", is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in CART Indy car races. He won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, finished third in the 19 ...

(1972–78),

Dave Darland David Lee Darland (born September 4, 1966) is an American auto racing driver from Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indian ...

(1997–2001), Jerry Coons Jr. (2006–08),

Tracy Hines Tracy Lee Hines (born May 1, 1972) is an American professional stunt driver. He was the 2000 USAC Silver Crown Champion and 2002 USAC National Sprint Car Champion. He currently does not have a full-time ride in NASCAR as he competes for Tony Stew ...

(2000, 2002, 2015), and Chris Windom (2016, 2017, 2020) have claimed each of the three championships at least once in their careers. In 2012

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also s ...

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 had awarded a national championship until

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

won his seventh title in 1979. It has announced that it will begin awarding a national championship starting 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 Bryan Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver. Best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Bryan was seen more and more co ...

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 -

; New Castle, Indiana *2014 - Tracy Hines; New Castle, Indiana *2015 -

; Kokomo, Indiana *2016 - Brady Bacon; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma *2017 - Justin Grant; Ione, California *2018 -

Tyler Courtney Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

; Indianapolis, Indiana *2019 - Tyler Courtney; Indianapolis, Indiana *2020 - Chris Windom; Canton, Illinois

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

. Killed were: *Ray Marquette, USAC's vice-president of public affairs and a former sportswriter for ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

'' *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. 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 The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...

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 A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

) in 1978, with the first race to be run in 1979. USAC tried unsuccessfully to ban all CART owners from the

1979 Indianapolis 500 The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. Second-year driver Rick Mears took the lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, and won his first of four Indi ...

, finally losing in court before the race began. Both the USAC and

ran 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 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 races 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 CART including the race in its schedule. 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 scoring errors that year; subsequent Indy 500s were sanctioned by the IRL, currently the IndyCar Series.

Expansion

As of 2022, the United States Auto Club will sanction the three lower rungs of the Road to Indy, the USF Juniors, the USF2000, and Indy Pro 2000 as well as continued sanctioning of the GT World Challenge America and

Porsche Sprint Challenge North America The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama is a sports car racing series organized by German car manufacturer Porsche and sanctioned by USAC, with races in the United States and Canada. Porsche Motorsports North America (PMNA) inten ...

under the newly formed Road Racing Division

Active series

USAC Silver Crown Series

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

From 1956 to 1960, USAC's National Sprint Car Championship was divided into two regional divisions in the Midwest and the East. ; Champions ; Race winners * As of the end of the 2020 season

USAC National Midget Championship

Rico Abreu 97 USAC Midget at Angell Park Speedway

; Champions ; Race winners * As of the end of the 2020 season

USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series

The USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Car Series debuted in 2004 utilizing the same cars and 410ci engines that race in USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship at dirt oval tracks across California and Arizona. The series also features combination races with the AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car National Championship. Champions

USAC Western States Midget Series

USAC started the Western States Midgets in 1982 utilizing the same cars & engines that race in the USAC National Midgets. The series solely races on dirt ovals across California and Arizona but in past raced on pavement ovals as well. The series does run co-sanctioned races with USAC's National Midget Series (including the historic

Turkey Night Grand Prix The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving ni ...

race) and the Bay Cities Racing Association Midgets. Champions reference:

USAC 360 Sprint Car Series

USAC sanctions several regional 360 c.i.d. non-wing sprint car series across the country. USAC's West Coast Sprint Car Series was launched in 2009 by Santa Maria Speedway promoter Chris Kearns, and joined forces with USAC in 2010. The West Coast series primarily races at tracks across California while also having special event races in Nevada. USAC's Southwest Sprint Car Series was launched in 1991 as the Arizona Sprint Car Racing Association. The series joined forces with USAC in 2012. The Southwest series primarily races at tracks in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico while also having special event races in Arkansas, Kansas & Oklahoma. USAC and URC Sprint Caf Series promoter Curt Michael joined forces to create the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series, with the first season beginning in 2018. Champions

USAC Speed2 Midget Series

USAC formed the Speed2 Midget Series (formerly known as the Ford Focus Midget Series, Ignite Midget Series and HPD Midget Series) in 2002 with several regional divisions running across the United States on both dirt & pavement oval tracks. With exception to the engine, the cars used are the same as National & Western States Midget cars. The powerplants currently used are 4-cylinder production-based engines with stock internal dimensions to save costs for competitors. The series started out as a spec engine class, originally with

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

supplying their Zetec engine from 2002 to 2012, and then HPD supplying their K24 engine starting in 2013. National Championship The Speed2 Midget Series National Champion has been determined in a variety of ways. The inaugural championship, 2005, was decided by a two-race series (one dirt, one pavement). Subsequent national champions were determined by a single "national championship race" held at various locations. This format was used until 2010. In 2011, a points system was instituted to determine the national champion. Counting only a drivers twelve best finishes, the system allowed drivers from multiple regions to compete under a common points structure for a season-long championship. The 2012 season did not award a national champion, however the respective regional champions were honored at USAC Night of Champions. National Champions *2005:

Robbie Ray Robert Glenn Ray (born October 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Toronto Blue Jays. Ray was an ML ...

; Davenport, IA; *2006: Michael Faccinto; Hanford, CA ; '' Scelzi #4x'' *2007: James Robertson; Indianapolis, IN; ''Steele #1'' *2008:

Alex Bowman Alex Michael Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Seri ...

; Tucson, AZ; ''Bowman #55'' *2009: Kyle Hamilton; Danville, IN; ''Steele #1'' *2010: Nick Drake; Mooresville, NC; ''Cline #55'' *2011: Nick Drake; Mooresville, NC; ''Cline #55'' Regional Champions

USAC Lightning Sprint National Championship

USAC started the Speedway Motors Lightning Sprint National Championship in 2017 for local tracks running Lightning Sprint cars. The points format counts the 12 best races at USAC sanctioned tracks.

GT World Challenge America

, was started in 1990 and switched to USAC sanctioning in 2017. The championship currently races on road and street courses across the United States and Canada with seven different classes for GT cars & Touring cars. Founded by WC Vision, the series is presently owned by SRO Group.

Off-road racing

The Stadium Super Trucks series was founded in 2013 by former NASCAR driver Robby Gordon. It is sanctioned by USAC, though Gordon and sponsorship marketing company The Elevation Group co-own the series. The USAC also sanctions the

American Rally Association The American Rally Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit stage rallying sanctioning body in the United States. The organization sanctions the American Rally Association Presented by DirtFish National Championship. It is currently managed by th ...

, Nitro Rallycross,

King of the Hammers King of the Hammers is an off-road race that combines desert racing and rock crawling. This race is held in February on Means Dry Lake at Johnson Valley, California, United States. The race is broadcast live on Ultra 4 Racing's website. King of ...

and

Great American Shortcourse Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Former series

USAC Championship Car Series

USAC Gold Crown Series

Starting in 1981, USAC scaled back their participation in Indy car racing outside of the Indianapolis 500. The preeminent national championship season was instead being sanctioned by

. USAC developed a split-calendar season, beginning in June, and ending in May with the Indy 500. After 1983, however, the Gold Crown schedule would consist of only one event per season (Indy 500), and the Gold Crown title would be regarded largely as ceremonial. The winner of the Indianapolis 500 would be the '' de facto'' Gold Crown champion, as it was the lone points-paying event. The title and the "series" were retired after the 1994–1995 season.

USAC Stock Cars

NormNelsonRogerMcCluskeyPlymouth2009MilwaukeeMile

USAC featured a stock car division from 1956 to 1984. * The inaugural season featured two subtitles: Pacific Coast (won by Sam Hanks) and Short Track (

Troy Ruttman Troy Ruttman (born March 11, 1930 – May 19, 1997) was an American race car driver. He was the older brother of Jimmy Ruttman, and NASCAR driver Joe Ruttman. Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500 in 1952, at the age of 22 years and 80 days. , he is ...

USAC Road Racing Championship

From 1958 until 1962, USAC sanctioned a road racing championship. It was held for sports cars from 1958 to 1961, and adopted

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

rules in 1962.

TORC: The Off-Road Championship

ScottTaylorPro2TrophyTruck2009CrandonWinner

TORC: The Off-Road Championship was founded in 2009 by

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competit ...

racer Rick Johnson and it was managed the race operations and officiated the events. USAC took over complete management of the series in 2010. The complete management ended in August 2013 season when it was sold to The Armory. USAC returned to officiation/race control and the series was renamed "TORC: The Off Road Championship" for 2014. *2009 Pro 4x4:

Rick Huseman Rick Huseman (July 9, 1973 – October 16, 2011) was an American race driver from Riverside, California. He raced off-road and his career peaked in the highest level in a four wheel drive (Pro 4) short course racing truck. He won the 2009 Traxxas ...

, Pro 2WD:

Rob MacCachren Rob MacCachren (born March 24, 1965) is an American off-road racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. MacCachren won over 200 off-road races including five editions of the Baja 1000. He raced the Mickey Thompson Stadium Series early in his career and ...

*2010 Pro 4x4: Johnny Greaves, Pro 2WD:

Ricky Johnson Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. ...

*2011 Pro 4x4:

, Pro 2WD

Bryce Menzies Bryce may refer to: People *Bryce (given name) *Bryce (surname) Places *Bryce Canyon National Park *Mount Bryce *Bryce, Utah *Bryce, Arizona Other *Bryce (software) *Bryce Hospital Bryce Hospital opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United St ...

*2012 Pro 4x4:

, Pro 2WD

*2013 Pro 4x4: Johnny Greaves, Pro 2WD:

*2014 Pro 4x4: Johnny Greaves, Pro 2WD: CJ Greaves

References

External links

USACracing.com
official website {{Authority control Articles containing video clips Open wheel racing