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A. J. Foyt driving a Championship Car in 1984. 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.
From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super ...
The national championship was taken over by the United States Auto Club (USAC), a new sanctioning body formed by the then-owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony Hulman. Championship racing continued to grow in popularity in a stabilized environment for over two decades, with the two traditional disciplines of paved oval tracks and dirt ...
The 1979 USAC Championship Car season consisted of seven races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 25 and concluding in West Allis, Wisconsin on August 12. The USAC National Champion was A. J. Foyt and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears.
The existing USAC National Championship was a mixture of road courses, hill climbs and paved or dirt oval races. For the 1971 season this championship switched exclusively to paved ovals. Especially on the paved ovals rear-engined cars dominated the races whereas on the dirt ovals the front-engined cars were superior.
The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. After this season, dirt courses did not reappear in the USAC Championship until 1981-82. Road courses after this season did not reappear in the USAC Championship until 1977. The Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb was the only non-championship event.
The 1968 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 28 races, beginning in Hanford, California on March 17 and concluding in Riverside, California on December 7. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Bobby Unser. Mike Spence died in an accident while practicing for the 1968 Indianapolis 500.
The 1978 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning at Phoenix on March 18 and concluding at the same location on October 28. The USAC National Champion was Tom Sneva and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. This was the last year before the first USAC/CART "Split".