The United States Auto Club formed the Gold Crown Series in 1981 which was a combination of the Indianapolis 500 and other races including races on dirt tracks. It was set up so that season would extend over the course of two years with the final race of the season being the Indianapolis 500, with all races running on
Oval/Speedway courses. Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain. The season opened with the
1981 Indianapolis 500 at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
Bobby Unser would win.
Wally Dallenbach Sr. qualified the #40 car for
Mario Andretti. However, after the race
USAC officials penalized Unser 1 position and the win went to Andretti. Even if Andretti failed to win he would still go into the
Van Scoy Diamond Mines 500 at
Pocono International Raceway as the points leader as he was in possession of a
USAC Class 1 License. The Van Scoy Diamond Mines 500 was won by
A. J. Foyt getting Foyt his 67th and final
USAC Gold Crown win. The race was cut from 500 miles down to 305 miles due to rain. At the
Tony Bettenhausen 100 at the
Illinois State Fairgrounds was won by
George Snider for his first and only win in USAC Gold Crown competition. At the
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Rich Vogler would win his first and only race in USAC Gold Crown competition. At the
Hoosier Hundred at the
Indiana State Fairgrounds Larry Rice would win his only USAC Gold Crown race. The
1981 Indianapolis 500 results were changed to
Bobby Unser winning the race over
Mario Andretti, costing Andretti 200 points. The season ending
1982 Indianapolis 500 at the
Indianapolis 500 was marred by the death of
Gordon Smiley during qualifying (he was 36 years old), and at the start 2nd place starter
Kevin Cogan would spin into A. J. Foyt's car and Mario Andretti's car, while further back in the field
Roger Mears,
Dale Whittington, and
Bobby Rahal would collide. However, Foyt and Rahal were able to continue.
Gordon Johncock would beat
Rick Mears to the line to win his second
Indianapolis 500.
George Snider would win the championship with
Geoff Brabham 2nd,
Tom Bigelow 3rd,
A. J. Foyt 4th, and
Gordon Johncock 5th. ==Final points standings==