• CART and USAC united in 1980 under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL).The first five races of the season were run under CRL banner sanction by USAC. The union dissolved after the Mid-Ohio race. CART sanctioned the seven remaining races on the schedule and combined the results of those along with the CRL events for their championship.
Race summaries Race 1: Datsun Twin 200 For the opening race of the year,
Johnny Rutherford qualified on the pole, with
Bobby Unser,
Al Unser,
Rick Mears, and
Tom Sneva making up the rest of the top five starters. Johnny Rutherford led the first eight laps, before Bobby Unser caught and passed in lap traffic. However, while leading on lap 14, he suffered a cracked radiator and dropped out. This moved Rutherford back in front, and he was mostly uncontested for the remainder of the race as most challengers had problems. Rick Mears dropped out due to electrical issues while running second.
Pancho Carter moved up to second, This moved his brother Bobby Unser into second, and on the restart he managed to catch and pass Johncock for the lead, holding on to win. Johnny Rutherford rose to second, Gordon Johncock ended up third,
Pancho Carter finished fourth, and Rick Mears fifth. With his second place, Rutherford now had a 400-point lead over second place
Tom Sneva, with Gordon Johncock 550 points back in third,
Gary Bettenhausen 925 points back in fourth, and Rick Mears 984 points behind in fifth.
Race 4: True Value 500 Bobby Unser won the pole, with
A.J. Foyt starting second,
Mario Andretti starting third,
Mike Mosley starting in fourth, and
Johnny Rutherford starting fifth. In the race, A.J. Foyt took the lead on the first lap, and led most of the first half of the race, giving up the lead only for pit shuffling. The first caution came on lap 11, when
Al Loquasto lost a wheel and
Dennis Firestone wrecked in the same part of the track. The second caution came on lap 26, after
Howdy Holmes lost control,
Jim McElreath slowed and
Roger Rager hit the rear of his car. followed by 5 laps under caution after
Pancho Carter spun, but when the green flag flew after a caution on lap 165, Unser pulled away. Rutherford's hopes of winning ended with 20 laps to go when his engine stalled in the pits, allowing Unser to win the race by a wide margin over Rutherford.
Tom Sneva finished third,
Bill Alsup fourth, and
Vern Schuppan fifth. Most other stars were taken out due to attrition.
Al Unser was never a factor and dropped out with handling problems on lap 35. Mike Mosley broke a piston while running in third on lap 46, Danny Ongais and
Sheldon Kinser didn't make it to the green flag, with Ongais having ignition problems and Kinser a blown engine. On the first lap,
Tim Richmond spun off course and was hit by
John Wood. Bobby Unser jumped out to the lead after his brother spun, and led the first 12 laps, But he encountered a valve problem while leading and dropped out. Rick Mears then took the lead, and throughout the next 20 laps dueled with Johnny Rutherford. After a poor pit stop by Rutherford, Mears had a 20-second lead, but due to heat exhaustion lost concentration and spun out while leading on lap 47. This gave the lead to Rutherford, with Mears's day ending on lap 54 after
Rick Muther spun out and Mears hit him. This brought out the caution, allowing second place
Gordon Johncock to close. But when the green flew, Rutherford pulled away and won, a rare road course win.
Bill Alsup finished third,
Roger Mears fourth, and
Vern Schuppan fifth. Polesitter Al Unser lost a lap due to an unscheduled pit stop, and dropped out with suspension problems while running fifth. Rutherford now had a 770-point lead over
Tom Sneva, who had crashed out. Bobby Unser was third, 1406 points back, Gordon Johncock fourth, 1410 points back, and
Pancho Carter fifth, 1662 points back.
Final driver standings Driver Breakdown ==See also==