1979 IndyCar season

1979 IndyCar 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 IndyCar season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 11 and concluding at the same location on October 20. The SCCA/CART Indy Car Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Bill Alsup. This was the first year that the championship was co-sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and CART, after the majority of car owners left the USAC during the previous season. The 63rd Indianapolis 500 continued to be sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.

Contents

Drivers and constructors

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

Team Chassis Engine Tires No Drivers
Sugaripe Prune Penske Cosworth Goodyear 1 Tom Sneva
Chaparral Cars Inc. Chaparral Cosworth Goodyear 2 Al Unser
Team Penske Penske Cosworth Goodyear 9 Rick Mears
12 Bobby Unser
99 Mario Andretti
Patrick Racing Penske Cosworth Goodyear 20 Gordon Johncock
40 Wally Dallenbach
McLaren International McLaren Cosworth Goodyear 4 Johnny Rutherford
All American Racers Eagle Cosworth Goodyear 36 Mike Mosley
Longhorn Racing Penske Cosworth Goodyear 11 Tom Bagley
Hamm Parnelli Cosworth Goodyear 21 Lee Kunzman
S-M Electric Lightning Offy Goodyear 35 Larry Rice
WASP Racing McLaren Offy Goodyear 41 Bill Alsup
Walmotor McElreath Cosworth Goodyear 77 Salt Walther
Hoffman Racing Eagle Offy Goodyear 69 Joe Saldana
Frantz Racing Wildcat DGS Goodyear 18 Tom Frantz
Interscope Racing Parnelli Cosworth Goodyear 25 Danny Ongais
Fletcher Racing Lightning Cosworth Goodyear 7 Steve Krisiloff
Gehlhausen Racing Eagle Offy Goodyear 19 Spike Gehlhausen
39 Al Loquasto
Sport Magazine Eagle Offy Goodyear 92 John Mahler
Alex Foods Lightning Offy Goodyear 10 Pancho Carter
Wysard Motor Co. Wildcat Offy Goodyear 34 Vern Schuppan
National Engineering Spirit 78 AMC Goodyear 73 Jerry Sneva
Aero Electrics Spyder Offy Goodyear 79 Dick Ferguson
-Private Entry- Eagle Offy Goodyear 69 Tim Richmond
Canon Racing - GTI Engineering Wildcat DGS Goodyear 73 Larry Cannon
Wheel Center Eagle Offy Goodyear 28 Bill Scott
Sta-On Eagle Offy Goodyear 19 Phil Caliva
Mergard Racing Eagle Offy Goodyear 42 Herm Johnson
AMS/Oil Lola Cosworth Goodyear 86 Dennis Firestone

Results and standings

Races

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

Full Series Results

Points Breakdown

Points Earned for Each Type of Race
Pos 100 Miles 125 Miles 150 Miles 200 Miles 500 Miles Pos 100 Miles 125 Miles 150 Miles 200 Miles 500 Miles
1 200 250 300 400 1000 18 5 5 6 8 20
2 160 200 240 320 800 19 5 6 8 20
3 140 175 210 280 700 20 5 6 8 20
4 120 150 160 240 600 21 4 5 6 15
5 100 125 150 200 500 22 4 4 6 15
6 80 100 120 160 400 23 4 4 6 15
7 60 75 90 120 300 24 6 10
8 50 63 75 100 250 25 4 10
9 40 50 60 80 200 26 4 10
10 30 38 45 60 150 27 10
11 20 25 30 40 100 28 10
12 10 13 15 20 50 29 5
13 5 5 8 10 25 30 5
14 5 5 8 10 25 31 5
15 5 5 8 10 25 32 5
16 5 5 8 10 25 33 5
17 5 5 6 8 20

Final driver standings

Pos Driver PHO
R1
ATL
H1
ATL
H2
IND
500
TRE
H1
TRE
H2
MIG
H1
MIG
H2
WKG
INT
TRE
R3
CAL
500
MIG
R3
ATL
R3
PHO
R2
Pts
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, Sr. 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 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 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 11 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 279
20 Tom Frantz 14 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 Ret 9 Ret 70
27 Larry Cannon Ret Ret DNS Ret Ret 56
28 Dick Ferguson 15 Ret Ret DNQ 35
29 Billy Scott Ret 20
30 Phil Caliva Ret 10
- A.J. Foyt 2 -
- Howdy Holmes 7 -
- Bill Vukovich II 8 -
- Don Whittington 8 -
- Frank Weiss 9 -
- Bill Whittington Ret -
- Roger McCluskey 13 -
- Tom Bigelow 14 -
- Phil Threshie 17 -
- John Martin Ret -
- Eldon Rasmussen Ret -
- Larry Dickson Ret -
- Dick Simon Ret -
- Sheldon Kinser Ret -
- Bob Harkey Ret -
- Cliff Hucul Ret Ret -
- Dennis Firestone Ret -
- Johnny Parsons Ret Ret -
- George Snider Ret -
- Janet Guthrie Ret -
- Jim McElreath Ret -
Pos Driver PHO
R1
ATL
H1
ATL
H2
IND
500
TRE
H1
TRE
H2
MIG
H1
MIG
H2
WKG
INT
TRE
R3
CAL
500
MIG
R3
ATL
R3
PHO
R2
Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Finished, in points
Blue Finished, no points
Not classified (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Driver Breakdown

Pos Driver Team Entries 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 McLaren International 14 2 5 8 9 2 2,163
5 A. Unser Chaparral Cars Inc. 14 1 4 8 10 1 2,085
6 Ongais Interscope Racing 13 0 0 2 6 0 1,473
7 T. Sneva Sugaripe Prune 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 Hamm 8 0 1 1 3 0 490
13 Carter Alex Foods 13 0 0 0 6 0 452
14 Schuppan Wysard Motor Co. 8 0 0 0 2 0 449
15 Alsup (R) WASP Racing 13 0 0 0 6 0 400
16 Saldana Hoffman Racing 13 0 0 0 4 0 368
17 Gehlhausen Gehlhausen Racing 14 0 0 0 2 0 343
18 Walther Walmotor 8 0 0 0 4 0 314
19 Krisiloff Fletcher Racing 10 0 0 0 2 0 279
20 Frantz Frantz Racing 7 0 0 0 1 0 236
21 J. Sneva National Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 0 155
22 Richmond -Private Entry- 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 Sport Magazine 6 0 0 0 0 0 74
26 Loquasto Gehlhausen Racing 3 0 0 0 1 0 70
27 Cannon Canon Racing - GTI Engineering 4 0 0 0 0 0 56
28 Ferguson Aero Electrics 3 0 0 0 0 0 35
29 Scott Wheel Center 1 0 0 0 0 0 20
30 Caliva Sta-On 1 0 0 0 0 0 10

References

See also