1980 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

1980 IndyCar season
PPG Indy Car World Series
Season
Races	12
Start date	April 13
End date	November 8
Awards
Drivers' champion	Johnny Rutherford
Constructors' Cup	Penske
Manufacturers' Cup	Cosworth
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Dennis Firestone
Indianapolis 500 winner	Johnny Rutherford

The 1980 IndyCar season, the second in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 12 races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 8. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford. Rookie of the Year was Dennis Firestone. The entire season, including the 64th Indianapolis 500, was to be co-sanctioned by the both the USAC and CART, however the USAC withdrew from the agreement after the fifth race.

The season-opening race at Phoenix, set for March 2, was cancelled due to local flooding and washed out roads.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed for the 1980 CART World Series.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	#	Drivers
Team Penske	Penske	Cosworth	G	1	Rick Mears
				11	Bobby Unser
				12	Mario Andretti
				61	Tom Gloy
Leader Card Racing	Watson	Offenhauser Cosworth	G	2	Billy Vukovich II
				24	Sheldon Kinser Billy Vukovich II
AMI Racing	Wildcat Lola Orbiter McLaren	Drake Goosen Sparks Cosworth	G	3	Howdy Holmes Tom Bigelow
				7	Jerry Sneva
				43	Tom Bigelow Howdy Holmes Danny Ongais
				44	Greg Leffler
				46	Gary Bettenhausen
Chaparral Cars	Chaparral	Cosworth	G	4	Johnny Rutherford
Longhorn Racing	Longhorn	Cosworth	G	5	Al Unser
Jerry O'Connel Racing	McLaren Phoenix	Cosworth	G	7	Tom Sneva
				9	Tom Sneva
				89	Vern Schuppan
Morales Motorsports	Penske	Cosworth	G	10	Pancho Carter
Gilmore Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	14	A.J. Foyt
				16	George Snider
Tempero Racing	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	15	Bill Tempero
				65	Bill Tempero
Rhoades Competition	Penske McLaren Eagle	Cosworth Offenhauser Chevrolet	G	18	Dennis Firestone
				19	Dana Carter
				X	Larry Rice
Patrick Racing	Penske Wildcat Phoenix	Cosworth	G	20	Gordon Johncock
				40	Tom Bagley
				60	Gordon Smiley
				70	Gordon Smiley
Mach I Racing	Penske Eagle	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	21	Tim Richmond Mike Mosley
Bob Fletcher Racing	Penske Phoenix	Cosworth	G	35	Spike Gehlhausen Gordon Smiley
				55	Spike Gehlhausen
All American Racers	Eagle	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	48	Mike Mosley
Alsup Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth Offenhauser	G	41	Bill Alsup
				47	Phil Caliva
Sanett Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	23	Dick Ferguson
				26	Dick Ferguson
				81	Dick Ferguson
Agajanian-Grant King Racers	King	Chevrolet	G	97	Billie Harvey Jerry Miller Roger Mears
				98	Bob Harkey Tony Bettenhausen Jr
BFM Enterprises	Antares	Offenhauser	G	50	Jan Sneva Rich Vogler Dick Ferguson Milt Harper
Hoffman Racing	Penske Lightning Spyder	Cosworth Offenhauser	G	59	Joe Saldana
				69	Joe Saldana
				79	Bob Frey
Stanton Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	75	Ron Shuman
Mergard Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	42	John Wood
Menard Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser	G	28	Herm Johnson
Davis Racing	Wildcat	Offy	G	22	Ross Davis
Pacific Coast Racing	Penske Lightning	Cosworth Offenhauser	G	38	Rick Muther
				82	Rick Muther
				86	Al Loquasto Jeff Heywood
Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	25	Danny Ongais
Beaudoin Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	G	29	Billy Engelhart
Whittington Bros. Racing	Penske Parnelli	Cosworth	G	94	Bill Whittington
				96	Don Whittington
Karl Racing	McLaren Gerhardt Karl	Chevrolet	G	38	Jerry Karl
Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt	Offenhauser	G	8	Dick Simon
Rager Racing	Wildcat	Chevrolet	G	66	Roger Rager
McElreath Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	23	Jim McElreath
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser Cosworth	G	15	Johnny Parsons
				51	Johnny Parsons
				55	Janet Guthrie
				99	Hurley Haywood
Cannon Racing	Wildcat	Drake Goosen Sparks Offenhauser	G	95	Larry Cannon
Vetrock Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	71	Dean Vetrock
Machinists Union Racing	IAM	Chevrolet	G	30	Phil Threshie Larry Dickson
Intercomp	Finley Eagle Penske	Offenhauser	G	91	Chip Mead John Mahler
				92	John Mahler
Bettenhausen Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	32	Tony Bettenhausen Jr
Wysard Racing	Wildcat McLaren	Drake Goosen Sparks Cosworth	G	34	Vern Schuppan Pete Halsmer
J J Enterprises	Wildcat	Cosworth Drake Goosen Sparks	G	36	John Martin
				37	John Martin
Hodgdon Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	G	72	Roger Mears Michael Chandler
Walmotor	Penske McLaren	Cosworth	G	76	Salt Walther
				77	Jerry Sneva
Pronosticos Deportivos	Penske	Cosworth	G	88	Daniel Muñiz
Ovaciones	Penske	Cosworth	G	91	Juan Carlos Bolaños
Shade Tree Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	85	Michel Jourdain
Garza Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	55	Josele Garza
O'Hanlon Racing	McLaren	Drake Goosen Sparks Cosworth Chevrolet	G	75	Bruce Hill
				81	Cliff Hucul Lee Kunzman Jerry Sneva

Full Series Results

Calendar

Rd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Pole Position	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	April 13	Datsun Twin 200	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Report
2	May 26	Indianapolis 500-Mile Race	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Report
3	June 8	Gould Rex Mays Classic 150	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Gordon Johncock	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
4	June 22	True Value 500	Pocono Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
5	July 13	Red Roof Inns 150	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Al Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Report
6	July 20	Norton 200	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Report
7	August 3	Kent Oil 150	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	Al Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
8	August 10	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	Report
9	August 31	California 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	Report
10	September 20	Gould Grand Prix 150	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti	Team Penske	Report
11	October 26	I Copa México 150	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Team Penske	Report
12	November 8	Miller High Life 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Mario Andretti	Tom Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	Report

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

• CART and USAC united in 1980 under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL).The first five races of the season were run under CRL banner sanction by USAC. The union dissolved after the Mid-Ohio race. CART sanctioned the seven remaining races on the schedule and combined the results of those along with the CRL events for their championship.

Points Breakdown

Points were awarded on the following basis:

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

Final driver standings

Pos Driver ONT1 INDY MIL1 POC MDO MIC1 WGL MIL2 ONT2 MIC2 MXS PHX Pts 1 Johnny Rutherford 1 1 2 2 1 1 5 1 2 4 Ret Ret 4,723 2 Bobby Unser Ret Ret 1 1 Ret 2 1 3 1 2 2 DNQ 3,714 3 Tom Sneva 2 2 6 3 Ret 6 4 Ret Ret 6 4 1 2,930 4 Rick Mears Ret 5 5 12 Ret 4 2 2 3 3 1 7 2,866 5 Pancho Carter Ret 6 4 6 7 3 7 Ret 7 7 Ret Ret 1,855 6 Gordon Johncock 3 4 3 DNQ 2 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 1,572 7 Bill Alsup 7 DNQ 9 4 3 10 8 Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 1,214 8 Al Unser Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 7 Ret 13 4 5 3 Ret 1,153 9 Gary Bettenhausen 3 12 Ret Ret 9 11 WD Ret Ret 3 1,057 10 Vern Schuppan DNQ 5 5 Ret 10 806 11 Tom Bagley 5 Ret Ret Ret DNS 8 6 4 Ret 8 Ret Ret 794 12 Dennis Firestone Ret Ret 14 6 DNS 5 5 743 13 Sheldon Kinser Ret DNQ 11 7 Ret 16 Ret Ret 12 14 7 4 697 14 Tom Gloy 6 5 9 680 15 Danny Ongais 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 11 Ret 601 16 Mario Andretti Ret Ret 1 2 580 17 Spike Gehlhausen 4 Ret 12 5 Ret Ret 473 18 Roger Rager Ret Ret 8 Ret 8 11 Ret Ret 381 19 Rick Muther Ret DNQ 18 Ret Ret 10 8 356 20 Bill Tempero Ret DNQ 16 Ret 17 15 6 Ret 16 8 Ret 331 21 Dick Ferguson 8 Ret DNQ 13 9 315 22 Howdy Holmes DNQ 15 8 Ret 11 13 314 23 Larry Cannon Ret DNQ 9 Ret DNQ Ret Ret 9 Ret 299 24 Herm Johnson Ret DNQ 17 11 11 13 13 Ret 8 272 24 Roger Mears 9 DNQ 4 16 Ret 272 26 Tom Bigelow 8 14 260 27 Billy Engelhart 11 10 13 10 Ret Ret 246 28 Jim McElreath Ret Ret 12 9 6 240 29 Jerry Karl Ret 14 15 Ret 15 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 215 30 Tim Richmond 9 DNQ Ret Ret 209 31 Dick Simon Ret 13 Ret Ret 17 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 185 32 Greg Leffler 10 Ret 15 Ret 184 33 Gordon Smiley 6 Ret Ret DNQ 176 34 Lee Kunzman DNQ 10 150 35 Jerry Sneva Ret 8 14 Ret Ret 11 Ret 149 36 Pete Halsmer Ret DNQ 6 128 37 Bill Vukovich II 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 96 38 Cliff Hucul 7 90 39 Phil Caliva Ret DNQ Ret Ret Ret Ret 70 40 Jan Sneva 10 DNQ 60 41 John Martin DNQ Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 56 41 Mike Mosley Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 56 43 Joe Saldana Ret DNQ Ret Ret 12 Ret 50 44 A.J. Foyt DNS Ret Ret 45 45 Ron Shuman 11 DNQ 40 46 Johnny Parsons Ret DNQ Ret Ret Ret 36 47 John Mahler DNQ DNQ Ret 14 Ret Ret Ret 35 48 Don Whittington 13 25 48 John Wood 12 DNQ Ret DNQ 25 48 Mike Chandler Ret 25 48 George Snider Ret DNQ 25 52 Hurley Haywood Ret 20 53 Phil Threshie DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 15 54 Larry Dickson Ret Ret 10 55 Daniel Muñiz Ret 8 55 Jerry Miller Ret 8 57 Billie Harvey 19 6 57 Bob Frey DNQ DNQ 17 6 57 Juan Carlos Bolaños Ret 6 57 Michel Jourdain, Sr. Ret DNQ 6 57 Ross Davis Ret DNQ 6 57 Salt Walther DNQ 18 6 63 Al Loquasto DNQ Ret 5 63 Bill Whittington Ret 5 63 Chip Mead Ret 5 63 Tony Bettenhausen Jr DNQ DNQ Ret DNQ 5 63 Jeff Heywood Ret 5 Pos Driver ONT1 INDY MIL1 POC MDO MIC1 WGL MIL2 ONT2 MIC2 MXS 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	Rutherford	Chaparral Cars	12	5	8	10	10	3	4,723
2	B. Unser	Team Penske	11	4	8	8	8	3	3,714
3	T. Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	12	1	4	6	9	0	2,930
4	Ri. Mears	Team Penske	12	1	5	8	9	0	2,866
5	Carter	Morales Motorsports	12	0	1	2	8	0	1,855
6	Johncock	Patrick Racing	11	0	3	5	5	1	1,572
7	Alsup	Alsup Racing	11	0	1	2	7	0	1,214
8	A. Unser	Longhorn Racing	12	0	1	3	4	2	1,153
9	G. Bettenhausen	AMI Racing	9	0	2	2	3	0	1,149
10	Schuppan	Jerry O'Connell Racing Wysard Racing	4	0	0	2	3	0	806
11	Bagley	Patrick Racing	11	0	0	2	5	0	794
12	Firestone	Rhoades Competition	6	0	0	2	3	0	743
13	Kinser	Leader Card Racing	11	0	0	1	3	0	697
14	Gloy	Team Penske	3	0	0	1	3	0	680
15	Ongais	Interscope Racing AMI Racing	9	0	0	1	2	0	601
16	Andretti	Team Penske	4	1	2	2	2	3	580
17	Gehlhausen	Bob Fletcher Racing	6	0	0	2	2	0	473
18	Rager	Rager Racing	8	0	0	0	2	0	381
19	Muther	Pacific Coast Racing	6	0	0	0	2	0	356
20	Tempero	Tempero Racing	10	0	0	0	2	0	331
21	Ferguson	Sanett Racing	4	0	0	0	2	0	315
22	Holmes	AMI Racing	5	0	0	0	1	0	314
23	Cannon	Cannon Racing	7	0	0	0	2	0	299
24	Johnson	Menard Racing	8	0	0	0	1	0	272
24	Ro. Mears	Hodgdon Racing Agajanian-Grant King Racers	4	0	0	1	2	0	272
26	Bigelow	AMI Racing	2	0	0	0	1	0	260
27	Engelhart	Beaudoin Racing	6	0	0	0	2	0	246
28	McElreath	McElreath Racing	5	0	0	0	2	0	240
29	Karl	Karl Racing	10	0	0	0	1	0	215
30	Richmond	Mach I Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	209
31	Simon	Vollstedt Enterprises	10	0	0	0	1	0	185
32	Leffler	AMI Racing	4	0	0	0	1	0	184
33	Smiley	Patrick Racing Bob Fletcher Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	176
34	Kunzman	O'Hanlon Racing	1	0	0	0	1	0	150
35	Je. Sneva	AMI Racing O'Hanlon Racing	7	0	0	0	1	0	149
36	Halsmer	Wysard Racing	2	0	0	0	1	0	128
37	Vukovich	Leader Card Racing	7	0	0	0	0	0	96
38	Hucul	O'Hanlon Racing	1	0	0	0	1	0	90
39	Caliva	Alsup Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	70
40	Ja. Sneva	BFM Enterprises Walmotor	1	0	0	0	1	0	60
41	Martin	JJ Enterprises	5	0	0	0	0	0	56
41	Mosley	All American Racers Mach I Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	56
43	Saldana	Hoffman Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	50
44	Foyt	Gilmore Racing	3	0	0	0	0	0	45
45	Shuman	Stanton Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	40
46	Parsons	Lindsey Hopkins Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	36
47	Mahler	Intercomp	5	0	0	0	0	0	35
48	D. Whittington	Whittington Bros. Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Wood	Mergard Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Chandler	Hodgdon Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Snider	Gilmore Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
52	Haywood	Linsey Hopkins Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	20
53	Threshie	Machinists Union Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	15
54	Dickson	Machinists Union	2	0	0	0	0	0	10
55	Muñiz	Pronosticos Deportivos	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
55	Miller	Agajanian-Grant King Racers	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
57	Harvey	Agajanian-Grant King Racers	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Frey	Hoffman Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Bolaños	Ovaciones	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Jourdain	Shade Tree Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Davis	Davis Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Walther	Walmotor	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
63	Loquasto	Pacific Coast Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	B. Whittington	Whittington Bros. Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	Mead	Intercomp	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	T. Bettenhausen Jr.	Bettenhausen Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	Heywood	Pacific Coast Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	5

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "PPG Indy Car World Series 1980". Driver Database. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
• "1980 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
• "Official Box Score: 64th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also

• 1980 Indianapolis 500
• 1980 USAC Championship Car season