![AJFoyt1984Pocono](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/AJFoyt1984Pocono.jpg)
From 1956 to 1978, USAC Championship Car seasons featured the top teams and drivers in
U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, the Championship contained
road courses
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on ...
,
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
USAC to race in the
Indy Car
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
World Series, sanctioned by the
Sports Car Club of America and
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 Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. The era of USAC
Championship Cars concluded with the formation of the
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
(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 the scoring mistake that marred
the following event.
The most successful driver in USAC Championship Car history was
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...
with seven National Championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories. Foyt competed in every season from 1957 to 1992-93.
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Seasons
* 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.
References
See also
*
List of American Championship Car winners
*
List of American Championship Car Rookie of the Year Winners
The IndyCar Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a IndyCar Series season.
The following lists compiling all the winners of the Rookie of the Year Award in open wheel American Championship Car ...
*
Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is an annual award "presented to the driver who has performed with the most distinction among first-year drivers in the Indianapolis 500." Criteria includes "on-track performance in practice, qualifying an ...
*
List of Indianapolis 500 winners
The Indianapolis 500 is an annual 200 lap, American open-wheel car race that takes place on the weekend of American Memorial Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave of Indianapolis. It was held as the ...
{{Indy Racing League Seasons
American Championship Car winners