1974 USAC Championship Car season

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1974 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races 14
Start date March 3
End date November 2
Awards
National champion United States Bobby Unser
Indianapolis 500 winner United States Johnny Rutherford
Chronology
Previous season Next season
1973 1975

The 1974 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 3 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 2. The USAC National Champion was Bobby Unser and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford. Due to the events of the 1973 Indianapolis 500 significant improvements were made to the cars for safety concerns. Wings were reduced in size, and pop-off valves were added to the turbocharger plenums in order to reduce horsepower and curtail speeds.

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd Date Race Name Length Track Location Pole Position Winning Driver
1 March 3 California 500 Qualification Heat 1 100 mi (160 km) Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California United States A. J. Foyt United States A. J. Foyt
2 California 500 Qualification Heat 2 100 mi (160 km) United States Johnny Rutherford United States Johnny Rutherford
3 March 10 California 500 500 mi (800 km) United States A. J. Foyt United States Bobby Unser
4 March 17 Phoenix 150 150 mi (240 km) Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona United States Al Unser United States Mike Mosley
5 April 7 Trentonian 200 201 mi (323 km) Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey United States Mario Andretti United States Bobby Unser
6 May 26 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes 500 mi (800 km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana United States A. J. Foyt United States Johnny Rutherford
7 June 9 Rex Mays Classic 150 mi (240 km) Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin United States A. J. Foyt United States Johnny Rutherford
8 June 30 Schaefer 500 500 mi (800 km) Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania United States Bobby Unser United States Johnny Rutherford
9 July 21 Michigan 200 200 mi (320 km) Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan United States Bobby Unser United States Bobby Unser
10 August 11 Tony Bettenhausen 200 200 mi (320 km) Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin United States A. J. Foyt United States Gordon Johncock
11 September 15 Norton 250 250 mi (400 km) Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan United States A. J. Foyt United States Al Unser
12 September 22 Trenton 300 Heat #1 150 mi (240 km) Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey United States A. J. Foyt United States A. J. Foyt
13 Trenton 300 Heat #2 150 mi (240 km) United States A. J. Foyt United States Bobby Unser
14 November 2 Bobby Ball 150 150 mi (240 km) Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona United States Johnny Rutherford United States Gordon Johncock

Final points standings

Pos Driver ONT

Q-H1
ONT

Q-H2
ONT

500
PHX1

150
TRE1

200
INDY

500
MIL1

150
POC

500
MIC1

200
MIL2

200
MIC2

250
TRE2

150
TRE3

150
PHX2

150
Pts
1 United States Bobby Unser 2 1 2 1 2 21 5 1 4 3 2 1 2 4870
2 United States Johnny Rutherford 1 27 7 6 1 1 1 4 5 9 4 7 7 3650
3 United States Gordon Johncock 14 26 4 2 4 16 3 3 1 14 11 2 1 3050
4 United States Al Unser 5 2 18 10 18 5 22 2 9 1 6 5 5 2430
5 United States Jimmy Caruthers 2 4 19 4 23 20 2 11 13 18 7 9 8 2065
6 United States Bill Vukovich, Jr. 10 21 8 3 3 3 8 5 10 19 18 6 1925
7 United States Lloyd Ruby 3 5 9 8 9 9 6 DNQ 7 21 DNQ 1580
8 United States A. J. Foyt 1 30 3 DNQ 15 6 27 13 2 24 1 4 4 1510
9 United States Wally Dallenbach 7 6 6 13 30 15 10 6 3 11 3 11 18 1445
10 United States Steve Krisiloff 3 24 22 11 4 23 5 3 22 1130
11 United States Pancho Carter 7 15 9 12 2 9 6 9 1040
12 United States Mike Mosley 6 7 1 7 29 10 21 8 18 15 17 DNQ 945
13 United States Jim McElreath 4 15 10 18 6 7 23 10 700
14 United States Mario Andretti 9 25 5 9 31 17 17 18 8 10 3 655
15 United States John Martin 6 9 11 16 12 16 6 600
16 United States Roger McCluskey 5 8 16 16 18 28 16 6 13 10 16 19 555
17 United States Tom Sneva 13 12 15 11 20 14 13 10 14 5 8 8 24 550
18 United States Mike Hiss 31 14 7 4 420
19 United States Jerry Grant 13 3 5 10 13 DNQ DNP 350
20 United States Bentley Warren 12 13 11 17 DNQ 7 17 DNQ 340
21 United States Dick Simon 8 28 13 33 4 29 21 11 15 270
22 United States Gary Bettenhausen 11 20 14 DNQ 32 2 31 260
23 United States Bob Harkey 15 17 14 8 26 250
24 United States Tom Bigelow 9 10 12 DNQ 19 22 23 240
25 Canada Eldon Rasmussen DNQ DNQ 9 20 22 DNQ 200
26 United States Al Loquasto 18 12 DNQ 11 14 11 12 160
27 United States Dan Murphy DNQ 19 23 22 7 13 15 DNQ 150
28 United States Karl Busson 8 12 13 21 140
29 United States George Snider 10 11 17 28 25 16 130
30 United States Joe Leonard 4 19 120
31 United States Salt Walther 8 22 12 17 DNP 20 DNQ 15 10 20 115
32 United States Bill Simpson 14 14 13 8 18 19 11 105
33 United States Jerry Karl 7 29 19 12 32 16 75
34 United States Larry McCoy 16 DNQ 12 15 20 17 Wth 50
35 United States Mel Kenyon DNQ 12 25
36 United States Lee Brayton 11 DNS DNQ 14 DNS 20 20
37 Canada John Cannon 12 16 DNS 19 DNQ DNP 10
- United Kingdom David Hobbs 5 DNP 0
- United States Sam Posey 13 0
- United States John Hubbard 22 DNQ 19 15 23 DNQ 14 0
- United States Sam Sessions DNQ 30 14 0
- United States Billy Scott 14 0
- United States Skip Barber 15 32 0
- United States Max Dudley 15 0
- United States Benny Rapp DNQ 16 0
- United States Johnny Parsons, Jr. 33 26 DNQ DNQ 17 17 0
- United States Mel Cornett 21 0
- United States Jan Opperman 21 23 33 0
- United States Rick Muther 23 27 DNQ 0
- United States Jim Hurtubise DNQ 25 24 0
- United States Larry Rice DNQ DNQ 24 0
- United States Larry Cannon 24 DNQ 0
- United States Evan Noyes 25 0
- United States Jigger Sirois DNS DNQ 0
- United States Denny Zimmerman DNS DNQ 0
- United States Bud Tingelstad DNS 0
- United States Bruce Jacobi DNQ 0
- United States John Mahler DNQ 0
- United States Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 0
- United States Brett Lunger DNQ 0
- United States Steve Durst DNP 0
Pos Driver ONT

Q-H1
ONT

Q-H2
ONT

500
PHX1

150
TRE1

200
INDY

500
MIL1

150
POC

500
MIC1

200
MIL2

200
MIC2

250
TRE2

150
TRE3

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)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Note1: Jim Hurtubise, Skip Barber, David Hobbs, Sam Posey and Evan Noyes not eligible for points.
Note2: Jerry Grant did not obtain a USAC license until after the Ontario event, making him ineligible for points for the first two races of the year.

References

See also