The 1980 USAC Championship Car season consisted of five races, beginning in

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on April 13 and concluding in Lexington,

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on July 13. The USAC National Champion and

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winner was

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 start ...

. USAC and

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

united in early 1980 to form a co-sanctioning agreement under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). The entire season was supposed to run under this agreement, but only the first five races of the 1980 Indy/Championship Car season were run under CRL banner. Unhappy with the arrangement, USAC pulled out of the CRL after the Mid-Ohio race in July. USAC declared their 1980 season over after the five races, while CART finished out the remainder of the 1980 season on their own.

, driving Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effects Chaparral 2K won three of the five races (including

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), and finished second in the other two. Rutherford won the USAC championship by a commanding point margin. Rutherford happened to score the most points under both USAC's five-race points distribution and CART's 12-race points championship, securing what could be considered "undisputed" or "unanimous" top driver honors for the calendar year of 1980.

Schedule and results

In January 1980, USAC initially released a ten-race schedule, with new venues Talladega,

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, and

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added to the schedule. However, these three events were eventually scrapped when USAC entered into a joint sanctioning effort with CART.

Original schedule

Revised schedule

In the spring of 1980, USAC and CART merged their schedules for the newly created CRL Championship. With Talladega, Charlotte, and Road Atlanta already scrapped, Texas World Speedway was cancelled too. That track would soon cease to hold any more professional races, and Indy cars never raced at Texas World again. Mosport, which had held races in the past, was also dropped.

, Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio, and Pocono, all were kept as part of the final merged schedule. The co-sanctioning effort ended after only five races. USAC declared their involvement in the 1980 season over after Mid-Ohio. The remaining seven races were sanctioned solely by CART, and paid points to the CART championship only.

Final points standings

References

* *

Schedule and results

Original schedule

Revised schedule

Final points standings

References

See also