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From 1956 to 1978, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned Championship Car class featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, races included road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. Thereafter, the schedule consisted mainly of paved ovals. In 1979, the majority of car owners left the USAC to race under the auspices of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). This led to a decline in the number of events in the schedule, and by the 1984–85 season, the Championship comprised only one race, the Indianapolis 500. The era of USAC Championship Cars concluded with the formation of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1995, which was sanctioned by USAC until June 1997 when the IRL assumed officiating duties after the controversial finish of the 81st Indianapolis 500 and a scoring mistake that marred the following event.[1] The most successful driver in USAC Championship Car history was A. J. Foyt with seven National Championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories. Foyt competed in every season from 1957 to 1992–93.
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USAC Championship Trail
Championship Racing League (CRL)
| # | Season | Races | National Champion | Indianapolis 500 | Drivers | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paved Oval | Road | Total | Ranked | Fatalities | |||||
| 25 | 1980 | 4 | 1 | 5 |  Johnny Rutherford |
Johnny Rutherford |
57 | - | [50][51] |
USAC Gold Crown Championship
| # | Season | Races | National Champion | Indianapolis 500 | Drivers | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dirt Oval | Paved Oval | Total | Ranked | Fatalities | |||||
| 26 | 1981–82 | 3 | 3 | 6 | George Snider |
Bobby Unser* |
51 | 1 | [52][53] |
| Gordon Johncock* | |||||||||
| 27 | 1982–83 | 3 | 1 | 4 | Tom Sneva |
39 | - | [54][55] | |
| 28 | 1983–84 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Rick Mears |
39 | - | [56][57] | |
| 29 | 1984–85 | - | 1 | 1 | Danny Sullivan |
32 | - | [58] | |
| 30 | 1985–86 | - | 1 | 1 | Bobby Rahal |
33 | - | [59] | |
| 31 | 1986–87 | - | 1 | 1 | Al Unser |
33 | - | [60] | |
| 32 | 1987–88 | - | 1 | 1 | Rick Mears |
33 | - | [61] | |
| 33 | 1988–89 | - | 1 | 1 |  Emerson Fittipaldi |
33 | - | [62] | |
| 34 | 1989–90 | - | 1 | 1 |  Arie Luyendyk |
33 | - | [63] | |
| 35 | 1990–91 | - | 1 | 1 | Rick Mears |
33 | - | [64] | |
| 36 | 1991–92 | - | 1 | 1 | Al Unser Jr. |
33 | 1 | [65] | |
| 37 | 1992–93 | - | 1 | 1 | Emerson Fittipaldi |
33 | - | [66] | |
| 38 | 1993–94 | - | 1 | 1 | Al Unser Jr. |
33 | - | [67] | |
| 39 | 1994–95 | - | 1 | 1 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
33 | - | [68] | |
* The 1981-82 season included both the 65th and 66th Indianapolis 500 races.
( ) Figures in parentheses denote the number of non-championship races in that season.
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