1980 IndyCar season

1980 American Championship Car season
Series : IndyCar
Champion : Johnny Rutherford
Previous: 1979	Next: 1981

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	No	Drivers
Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	G	7/9	Tom Sneva
Chaparral Cars Inc.	Chaparral	Cosworth	G	4	Johnny Rutherford
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske Phoenix	Cosworth	G	1	Rick Mears
				11	Bobby Unser
				12	Mario Andretti
				20	Gordon Johncock
				61	Tom Gloy
Patrick Racing	Penske Wildcat Phoenix	Cosworth	G	20	Gordon Johncock
				40	Tom Bagley
				60	Gordon Smiley
Fletcher Racing	Penske Phoenix	Cosworth	G	35/55	Spike Gehlhausen
Fletcher Racing	Penske Phoenix	Cosworth	G	70	Gordon Smiley
All American Racers	Eagle	Cosworth	G	48	Mike Mosley
Longhorn Racing	Longhorn	Cosworth	G	5	Al Unser
Alsup Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth	G	41	Bill Alsup
Alsup Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth	G	47	Phil Caliva
Galles Racing	Penske McLaren	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	23/26 81	Dick Ferguson
King Racing	McLaren King	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	72/86 97	Roger Mears
King Racing	McLaren King	Cosworth Chevrolet	G	97	Billie Harvey Jerry Miller
1st National Bank of Peru	Anteres	Offy	G	50	Jan Sneva
Hoffman Racing	Penske Lightning Spyder	Cosworth Offy	G	59/69	Joe Saldana
Hoffman Racing	Penske Lightning Spyder	Cosworth Offy	G	79	Bob Frey
Stanton Barrett	Penske	Cosworth	G	75	Template:Noflag
Mergard Racing	Eagle	Offy	G	42	Template:Noflag
Leader Card	Watson	Offy Cosworth	G	2/24	Billy Vukovich II
Leader Card	Watson	Offy Cosworth	G	24	Sheldon Kinser
Menard Racing	Lightning	Offy	G	28	Herm Johnson
Wood Power	Eagle	Chevrolet	G	15/65	Bill Tempero
Alex Foods	Penske	Cosworth	G	10	Pancho Carter
Del Ray Marine Agajanian-Faas	King	Chevrolet	G	98	Bob Harkey Tony Bettenhausen Jr
The Enterprise	Wildcat	Offy	G	22	Template:Noflag
Pacific Coast Racing	Penske Lightning	Cosworth Offy	G	38/82	Rick Muther
Pacific Coast Racing	Penske Lightning	Cosworth Offy	G	86	Al Loquasto Template:Noflag
Gilmore Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	14	A.J. Foyt
Gilmore Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	16	George Snider
Armstrong Mould O'Hanlon Racing	Wildcat Lola Orbiter McLaren March	DGS Cosworth Chevrolet	G	7/43/81	Jerry Sneva
				43	Tom Bigelow Howdy Holmes Danny Ongais
				44	Greg Leffler
				46	Gary Bettenhausen
				75	Template:Noflag
				81	Cliff Hucul Lee Kunzman
Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	G	25	Danny Ongais
Richmond Racing Mach I Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	21	Tim Richmond
Beaudoin Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	G	29	Billy Engelhart
Sun Systems	Penske	Cosworth	G	94	Bill Whittington
Sun Systems	Penske	Cosworth	G	96	Don Whittington
Scientific Drilling	Penske	Cosworth	G	18	Dennis Firestone
Guarantee	Lightning	Chevrolet	G	99	Hurley Haywood
Tonco Trailer	McLaren Gerhardt Karl	Chevrolet	G	38	Jerry Karl
Simon Racing	Vollstedt	Offy	G	8	Dick Simon
Advance Clean Sweep	Wildcat	Chevrolet	G	66	Roger Rager
McElreath Racing	Penske	Cosworth	G	23/97	Jim McElreath
Hopkins Racing	Lightning	Offy Cosworth	G	15/51	Johnny Parsons
Kraco Racing	Wildcat	DGS Offy	G	95	Larry Cannon
Vetrock Racing	Eagle	Offy	G	71	Dean Vetrock
Machinists Union	IAM	Chevrolet	G	30	Phil Threshie Larry Dickson
Cargo Master	Manta	Offy	G	50	Dick Ferguson
Parts Washer Service	Eagle Penske	Offy	G	91	Chip Mead
Parts Washer Service	Eagle Penske	Offy	G	92	John Mahler
Texaco Star	Lightning	Offy	G	55	Janet Guthrie
Vita Fresh Orange Juice Medlin Racing	Eagle	Offy	G	32	Tony Bettenhausen Jr
Wysard Motor Co.	Wildcat McLaren	DGS Cosworth	G	34	Vern Schuppan Pete Halsmer
J J Enterprises	Wildcat	Cosworth DGS	G	36/37	John Martin
BFM Enterprises	Manta	Offy	G	50	Template:Noflag
National Engineering	McLaren	Cosworth	G	72	Michael Chandler
Walmotor	Penske	Cosworth	G	77	Salt Walther
Pronosticos Deportivos	Penske	Cosworth	G	88	Daniel Muñiz
-Private Entry-	Penske	Cosworth	G	91	Juan Carlos Bolaños
Shade Tree Racing	Eagle	Offy	G	85	Michel Jourdain
Psachie	Penske	Cosworth	G	55	Josele Garza
Rhoades Racing	Eagle	RAM	G	-	Larry Rice

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	Report
2	May 26	Indianapolis 500-Mile Race	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis, Indiana	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral	Report
3	June 8	Gould Rex Mays Classic 150	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Gordon Johncock	Bobby Unser	Penske Racing	Report
4	June 22	True Value 500	Pocono Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Penske Racing	Report
5	July 13	Red Roof Inns 150	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Al Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral	Report
6	July 20	Norton 200	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral	Report
7	August 3	Kent Oil 150	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	Al Unser	Bobby Unser	Penske Racing	Report
8	August 10	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral	Report
9	August 31	California 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	Penske Racing	Report
10	September 20	Gould Grand Prix 150	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti	Penske Racing	Report
11	October 26	I Copa México 150	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	Mexico City, Mexico	Bobby Unser	Rick Mears	Penske Racing	Report
12	November 8	Miller High Life 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Mario Andretti	Tom Sneva	Sugaripe Prune	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	ONT	IND	MIL	POC	MDO	MIC	WGL	MIL	ONT	MIC	MEX	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		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				5	5		Ret		10				806
11	Tom Bagley	5	Ret	Ret	Ret		8	6	4	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	794
12	Dennis Firestone		Ret		Ret		14			6	DNS	5	5	743
13	Sheldon Kinser	Ret		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		18		Ret	Ret	10		8				356
20	Bill Tempero	Ret		16		Ret	17	15	6	Ret	16	8	Ret	331
21	Dick Ferguson	8	Ret	DNQ			13			9				315
22	Howdy Holmes			15	8	Ret	11	13						314
23	Larry Cannon		Ret	DNQ	9		Ret		DNQ	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	299
24	Herm Johnson	Ret		17	11				11	13	13	Ret	8	272
24	Roger Mears	9				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				10									150
35	Jerry Sneva		Ret	8	14				Ret	Ret	11		Ret	149
36	Pete Halsmer	Ret											6	128
37	Bill Vukovich II		12	Ret	Ret				Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	96
38	Cliff Hucul			7										90
39	Phil Caliva	Ret			Ret	Ret				Ret		Ret		70
40	Jan Sneva	10												60
41	John Martin				Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret				56
41	Mike Mosley	Ret	Ret		Ret				Ret	Ret				56
43	Joe Saldana	Ret			Ret		Ret		12		Ret			50
44	A.J. Foyt	WD	Ret		Ret									45
45	Ron Shuman	11												40
46	Johnny Parsons		Ret		DNQ		Ret			Ret	Ret			36
47	John Mahler			DNQ		Ret		14	Ret	Ret		Ret		35
48	Don Whittington		13											25
48	John Wood	12				Ret			DNQ					25
48	Mike Chandler									Ret				25
48	George Snider		Ret		DNQ									25
52	Hurley Haywood		Ret											20
53	Phil Threshie			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						17			6
57	Juan Carlos Bolaños											Ret		6
57	Michel Jourdain, Sr.											Ret	DNQ	6
57	Ross Davis	Ret												6
57	Salt Walther										18			6
63	Al Loquasto				Ret									5
63	Bill Whittington		Ret											5
63	Chip Mead									Ret				5
63	Tony Bettenhausen Jr			DNQ	Ret			DNQ						5
63	Jeff Heywood									Ret				5
Pos	Driver	ONT	IND	MIL	POC	MDO	MIC	WGL	MIL	ONT	MIC	MEX	PHX	Pts

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	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	Rutherford	Chaparral Cars Inc.	12	5	8	10	10	3	4,723
2	B. Unser	Team Penske	11	4	8	8	8	3	3,714
3	T. Sneva	Sugaripe Prune	12	1	4	6	9	0	2,930
4	Ri. Mears	Team Penske	12	1	5	8	9	0	2,866
5	Carter	Alex Foods	12	0	1	2	8	0	1,855
6	Johncock	Patrick Racing Team Penske	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	Armstrong Mould	9	0	2	2	3	0	1,149
10	Schuppan	Wysard Motor Co.	4	0	0	2	3	0	806
11	Bagley	Patrick Racing	11	0	0	2	5	0	794
12	Firestone	Scientific Drilling	6	0	0	2	3	0	743
13	Kinser	Leader Card	11	0	0	1	3	0	697
14	Gloy	Team Penske	3	0	0	1	3	0	680
15	Ongais	Armstrong Mould Interscope Racing	9	0	0	1	2	0	601
16	Andretti	Team Penske	4	1	2	2	2	3	580
17	Gehlhausen	Fletcher Racing	6	0	0	2	2	0	473
18	Rager	Advance Clean Sweep	8	0	0	0	2	0	381
19	Muther	Pacific Coast Racing	6	0	0	0	2	0	356
20	Tempero	Wood Power	10	0	0	0	2	0	331
21	Ferguson	Galles Racing Cargo Master	4	0	0	0	2	0	315
22	Holmes	Armstrong Mould O'Hanlon Racing	5	0	0	0	1	0	314
23	Cannon	Kraco Racing	7	0	0	0	2	0	299
24	Johnson	Menard Racing	8	0	0	0	1	0	272
24	Ro. Mears	King Racing	4	0	0	1	2	0	272
26	Bigelow	Armstrong Mould	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	Tonco Trailer	10	0	0	0	1	0	215
30	Richmond	Richmond Racing Mach I Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	209
31	Simon	Simon Racing	10	0	0	0	1	0	185
32	Leffler	Armstrong Mould	4	0	0	0	1	0	184
33	Smiley	Patrick Racing Fletcher Racing	3	0	0	0	1	0	176
34	Kunzman	O'Hanlon Racing	1	0	0	0	1	0	150
35	Je. Sneva	Armstrong Mould O'Hanlon Racing	7	0	0	0	1	0	149
36	Halsmer	Wysard Motor Co.	2	0	0	0	1	0	128
37	Vukovich II	Leader Card	7	0	0	0	0	0	96
38	Hucul	Armstrong Mould	1	0	0	0	1	0	90
39	Caliva	Alsup Racing	5	0	0	0	0	0	70
40	Ja. Sneva	1st National Bank of Peru	1	0	0	0	1	0	60
41	Martin	JJ Enterprises	5	0	0	0	0	0	56
41	Mosley	All American Racers	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 Barrett	1	0	0	0	0	0	40
46	Parsons	Hopkins Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	36
47	Mahler	Parts Washer Service	5	0	0	0	0	0	35
48	D. Whittington	Sun Systems	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Template:Noflag	Mergard Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Chandler	National Engineering	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
48	Snider	Gilmore Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	25
52	Haywood	Guarantee	1	0	0	0	0	0	20
53	Threshie	Machinists Union	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	King Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
57	Harvey	King Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Frey	Hoffman Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Bolaños	- Private Entry -	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Jourdain	Shade Tree Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	6
57	Template:Noflag	The Enterprise	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	Sun Systems	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	Mead	Parts Washer Service	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
63	T. Bettenhausen Jr.	Vita Fresh Orange Juice Medlin 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. http://www.driverdb.com/standings/5-1980/. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

"1980 PPG Indy Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1980.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

"Official Box Score: 64th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Indianapolis Motor Speedway. http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1980/. Retrieved 2009-05-19.