1975 USAC Championship Car season

1975 USAC Championship Car season
1975 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	13
Start date	March 2
End date	November 9
Awards
National champion	A. J. Foyt
Indianapolis 500 winner	Bobby Unser
	← 1974 1976 →

The 1975 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 2 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 9. The USAC National Champion was A. J. Foyt and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Bobby Unser.

Entrants

(partial list)

Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Rounds
A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt	1, 3-13
All American Racers	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bobby Unser	2-3, 6-9, 11
Bob Fletcher	Eagle	Offenhauser	Lee Kunzman	1, 3
Bob Fletcher	Eagle	Offenhauser	Pancho Carter	1, 3-4, 6-13
MVS	Eagle	Offenhauser	Lee Kunzman	6
Alex Morales	Eagle	Offenhauser	Jimmy Caruthers	2-4, 6, 8-12
Gerhardt	Eagle	Offenhauser	Gary Bettenhausen	1, 3-4, 7-10, 13
Grant King	King	Offenhauser	Bentley Warren	6, 8
Grant King	King	Offenhauser	Sheldon Kinser	6, 8
Jerry O"Connell Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Bill Vukovich II	2-4, 6-11, 13
	Eagle	Offenhauser	Mike Mosley	1, 3-10
	Eagle	Offenhauser	Al Unser	12
	Eagle	Offenhauser	Mario Andretti	13
Joe Hunt	Eagle	Offenhauser	John Martin	13
Lindsey Hopkins Racing	McLaren (5) Riley (1, 3-4, 6-13)	Offenhauser	Roger McCluskey	1, 3-13
George Walther	McLaren	Offenhauser	Salt Walther	2-9, 11-12
Gerhardt	Eagle	Offenhauser	George Snider	9
Dick Simon	Eagle	Foyt	Dick Simon	2-13
Leader Card Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	George Snider	2-13
Al Loquasto	McLaren	Offenhauser	Al Loquasto	2-6, 8-9, 11-13
John Martin	McLaren	Offenhauser	John Martin	1, 3-12
McLaren	McLaren	Offenhauser	Johnny Rutherford	2-13
Patrick Racing	Eagle (3-4) Wildcat (1, 5-13)	Offenhauser (3-4) (DGS (1, 5-13)	Gordon Johncock	1, 3-13
	Eagle (1-5, 10) Wildcat (6-9, 11-13)	Offenhauser (1-5, 10) DGS (6-9, 11-13)	Wally Dallenbach	2-13
	Eagle	Offenhauser	Steve Krisiloff	2-13
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Tom Sneva	1, 3-6, 8-13
Team Penske	McLaren	Offenhauser	Bobby Allison	2-3, 6, 8-9
Vatis Enterprises	Finley	Offenhauser	Lee Kunzman	8
Vatis Enterprises	Finley (1, 3-5, 7-12) Eagle (6)	Offenhauser	Johnny Parsons	1, 3-12
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Mario Andretti	3, 6, 8
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Eagle (1, 3, 6, 8) Parnelli (13)	Offenhauser (1, 3, 6, 8) Cosworth (13)	Al Unser	1, 3, 6, 8, 13
Volstedt Enterprises	Volstedt	Offenhauser	Tom Bigelow	2-3, 6-10, 13

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1A	March 2	California 500 Qualification Heat 1	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
1B	March 2	California 500 Qualification Heat 2			Bobby Unser	Wally Dallenbach Sr.
2	March 9	California 500			A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
3	March 16	Bricklin 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Gordon Johncock	Johnny Rutherford
4	April 6	Trenton 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Tom Sneva	A. J. Foyt
NC	April 27	World Series of Auto Racing	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Johnny Rutherford
5	May 25	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes^1	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	A. J. Foyt	Bobby Unser
6	June 8	Rex Mays Classic	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
7	June 29	Schaefer 500	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond, Pennsylvania	Gordon Johncock	A. J. Foyt
8	July 20	Norton 200	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
9	August 17	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Johnny Rutherford	Mike Mosley
10	September 13	Michigan Grand Prix	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	A. J. Foyt	Tom Sneva
11	September 21	Trenton 150	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	A. J. Foyt	Gordon Johncock
12	November 9	Phoenix 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Gordon Johncock	A. J. Foyt

Non-championship race

^1 Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain.

Final points standings

Note 1: Bobby Allison and George Follmer are not eligible for points.
Note 2: Jerry Grant scored points at Ontario but competed with an FIA license.
Note 3: Bentley Warren scored 100 points at Pocono, but forfeited those points due to a rule violation.

Pos	Driver	ONT Q-H1	ONT Q-H2	ONT 500	PHX1 150	TRE1 200		WSE		INDY 500	MIL1 150	POC 500	MIS1 200	MIL2 200	MIS2 150	TRE2 150	PHX2 150	Pts
1	A. J. Foyt	1		1	3	1		4		3	1	1	1	20	7	2	1	4920
2	Johnny Rutherford		2	17	1	2		1		2	3	6	6	13	2	3	11	2900
3	Bobby Unser		10	2						1	2	22	5		3			2489
4	Wally Dallenbach Sr.		1	10	6	5		3		9	4	2	19	4	16	5	12	2305
5	Bill Vukovich II		4	23	4			9		6	7	3	3	8	11		4	2080
6	Tom Sneva	9		6	7	6		7		22		29	2	3	1	13	2	1830
7	Roger McCluskey	8		13	DNQ	7		6		5	8	4	12	19	5	6	18	1675
8	Steve Krisiloff		3	3	5	4		5		11	17	28	8	5	DNQ	15	20	1630
9	Pancho Carter	2		19	8					4	6	24	4	14	8	DNQ	8	1345
10	Gordon Johncock	5		15	2	10		2		31	14	20	11	2	6	1	23	1280
11	John Martin	6		5	13	9		8		27	15	7	21	7	18	8	17	1180
12	Mike Mosley	10		11	9	3				26	5	31	13	1				1020
13	Jimmy Caruthers		5	21	DNQ					14		8	7	6	4	7		930
14	Gary Bettenhausen	11		14	10						15	9	5	DNS			6	745
15	Lee Kunzman	3		4						DNQ		17						740
16	Bill Puterbaugh									7		9					9	560
17	Al Unser	7		26						16		32				4	5	450
18	George Snider	DNS		20	18					8		10	22					400
19	Al Loquasto		15	7	11	DNQ				DNQ		12	14		17	14	16	380
20	Eldon Rasmussen		7	9						24		19		16	12		21	275
21	Salt Walther		12	8	17	13				33	DNP	33	DNQ		22	18		260
22	Dick Simon		13	24	14	8		11		21	13	23	9	17	15	11	13	220
23	Mario Andretti			28						28		25					3	210
24	Spike Gehlhausen RY										10		10	15	19	10	14	165
25	Billy Scott	4		29						DNQ								120
26	Tom Bigelow		11	16						18	12	21	16	9			19	115
27	Johnny Parsons	DNS		25	12	12		10		19	20	26	15	21	13	9		115
28	John Hubbard					14				Wth	21			10	10	16	DNQ	105
29	Larry Cannon									DNQ				12	9	12		100
30	Jim McElreath			18		DNS		12									7	90
31	Tom Frantz R				19						11			11	14	17	24	70
32	Sheldon Kinser R									12		15						50
33	Lloyd Ruby									32							10	45
34	Jerry Karl		9	33						13		16						40
35	Billy Cassella R					11												40
36	Bob Harkey		DNS	30	16					10		30			21		15	14
-	Bobby Allison		6	32						25		27	17					0
-	George Follmer		8	DNQ						Wth								0
-	Bentley Warren									23		11						0
-	Jerry Grant		16	12						20		14	18				DNS	0
-	Rick Muther			27						DNQ		13						0
-	Lee Brayton		14	22														0
-	Chuck Gurney R				15	15				Wth	18							0
-	Mel Cornett										16							0
-	Sam Sessions									17								0
-	Larry McCoy			31						30		18	20		20	DNP		0
-	Ed Finley R													18				0
-	Benny Rapp										19							0
-	Frank Weiss R										22							0
-	Larry Dickson																22	0
-	Mike Hiss										29							0
-	Bill Simpson			DNS						Wth								0
-	Dan Murphy		DNP							Wth								0
-	Jim Hurtubise									DNQ								0
-	Graham McRae									DNQ								0
-	Bob Nagel									Wth								0
-	Jan Opperman									DNQ								0
-	Jigger Sirois									Wth								0
-	Jerry Sneva									Wth								0
-	Ken Nichols																DNQ	0
-	Jack Owens																DNQ	0
-	John Cannon		DNP															0
-	Michel Jourdain Sr.		DNP															0
-	Joe Leonard		DNP													0
-	Steve Chassey											DNP				0
Pos	Driver	ONT Q-H1	ONT Q-H2	ONT 500	PHX1 150	TRE1 200	WSE	INDY 500	MIL1 150	POC 500	MIS1 200	MIL2 200	MIS2 150	TRE2 150	PHX2 150	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)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
RY Rookie of the Year
R Rookie

References

Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1975". Driver Database. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
Harms, Phil; Ferner, Michael; Measures, Gerry; Brown, Allen. "Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978)". OldRacingCars.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
"1975 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
Harms, Phil. "1975 Championship Driver Summary" (PDF). Motorsport.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 221-222)
https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1975.htm Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1975/ Retrieved August 9, 2025
https://www.racingyears.com/results/1975/USAC Retrieved August 9, 2025

v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

v t e USAC Championship Cars (1971–1995)
Seasons	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Indianapolis 500s	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
National Champions	Emerson Fittipaldi (twice) A. J. Foyt (twice) Gordon Johncock Joe Leonard (twice) Arie Luyendyk Roger McCluskey Rick Mears (three times) Bobby Rahal Johnny Rutherford Tom Sneva (three times) George Snider Danny Sullivan Al Unser Al Unser Jr. (twice) Bobby Unser Jacques Villeneuve
Tracks	Atlanta Brands Hatch DuQuoin State Fair Illinois State Fair Indianapolis Indiana State Fair Michigan Mid-Ohio Milwaukee Mosport Nazareth Ontario Phoenix Pocono Rafaela Silverstone Texas World Trenton

1975 USAC Championship Car season

Entrants

Schedule and results

Final points standings

References

See also