1968 USAC Championship Car season

1968 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	28
Start date	March 17
End date	December 1
Awards
National champion	Bobby Unser
Indianapolis 500 winner	Bobby Unser
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1967	1969

The 1968 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 28 races, beginning in Hanford, California on March 17 and concluding in Riverside, California on December 1. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Bobby Unser. Mike Spence died in an accident while practicing for the 1968 Indianapolis 500. Ronnie Duman died of burns suffered during the Rex Mays Classic.

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	March 17	California 200	Hanford Motor Speedway	Hanford, California	Paved	Bobby Unser	Gordon Johncock
2	March 31	Stardust 150	Stardust International Raceway	Las Vegas, Nevada	Road	Dan Gurney	Bobby Unser
3	April 7	Jimmy Bryan Memorial	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser
4	April 21	Trenton 150	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Mario Andretti	Bobby Unser
5	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Joe Leonard	Bobby Unser
6	June 8	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Roger McCluskey	Lloyd Ruby
7	June 15	Telegraph Trophy 200^A	Mosport Park	Bowmanville, Ontario	Road	Dan Gurney	Dan Gurney
8						Dan Gurney	Dan Gurney
9	June 23	Langhorne 150	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Gordon Johncock	Gordon Johncock
10	June 29	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Bobby Unser^B	Bobby Unser
11	July 7	Rocky Mountain 150	Continental Divide Raceways	Castle Rock, Colorado	Road	Ronnie Bucknum	A. J. Foyt
12	July 13	Nazareth 100	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	Dirt	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	Al Unser
13	July 21	Indy 200^C	Indianapolis Raceway Park	Clermont, Indiana	Road	Mario Andretti	Al Unser
14						Al Unser	Al Unser
15	July 28	Langhorne Twin 100^C	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Gordon Johncock	Al Unser
16						Al Unser	Al Unser
17	August 4	Saint-Jovite 200^C	Circuit Mont-Tremblant	Saint-Jovite, Quebec	Road	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
18						Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
19	August 17	Tony Bettenhausen 100	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt	Al Unser	Roger McCluskey
20	August 18	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Art Pollard	Lloyd Ruby
21	September 2	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	Al Unser	Mario Andretti
22	September 7	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	Mario Andretti	A. J. Foyt
23	September 22	Trenton 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Al Unser	Mario Andretti
24	September 29	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt	Mario Andretti	A. J. Foyt
25	October 13	Michigan Inaugural 250	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Paved	Mario Andretti	Ronnie Bucknum
26	November 3	California 200	Hanford Motor Speedway	Hanford, California	Paved	Joe Leonard	A. J. Foyt
27	November 17	Bobby Ball 150	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	Mario Andretti	Gary Bettenhausen
28	December 7	Rex Mays 300	Riverside International Raceway	Riverside, California	Road	Dan Gurney	Dan Gurney

  Paved/Dirt Oval

  Road Course/Hill Climb

^A Run in two heats of 98 miles (158 kilometers) each.

^B No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb.

^C Run in two heats of 100 miles (161 kilometers) each.

Final points standings

Pos Driver HAN1 LVG PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 MOS LAN1 PIP CDR NAZ IRP LAN2 MTR SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 SAC MIC HAN2 PHX2 RIV Pts 1 Bobby Unser 5 1 1 1 1 21 17 2 1 11 7 3 21 2 16 2 11 DNQ 4 18 16 7 DNQ 17 2 19 2 4330 2 Mario Andretti 23 2 15 2 33 2 2 2 17 4 15 2 2 2 23 1 1 18 2 1 2 1 4 2 3 24 18 4319 3 Al Unser 2 14 16 17 26 3 4 5 12 22 4 1 1 1 1 1 9 15 12 3 7 15 22 3 18 15 15 26 2895 4 Lloyd Ruby 3 4 2 12 5 1 15 12 21 2 17 23 15 10 6 19 14 DNQ 1 DNQ DNQ 16 15 18 2 3 2799 5 Bill Vukovich, Jr. 26 6 19 5 7 13 9 7 14 9 3 13 6 6 4 4 7 3 5 6 16 19 6 4 7 2410 6 A. J. Foyt 4 13 23 21 20 14 1 4 3 18 17 24 2 1 24 1 14 1 23 20 1860 7 Dan Gurney 16 2 1 1 1 1800 8 Gary Bettenhausen 10 10 13 24 DNS 10 13 3 7 4 21 12 13 12 13 13 13 5 4 4 12 2 21 21 1 19 1595 9 Mel Kenyon 8 3 10 3 DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ 4 24 13 DNP 1355 10 Jim Malloy DNQ 9 11 22 10 8 8 20 3 17 10 5 3 4 3 5 8 15 14 11 18 24 11 22 24 1265 11 Sam Sessions 9 11 16 12 22 19 4 11 6 4 7 8 5 25 1260 12 Gordon Johncock 1 7 18 4 27 12 13 DNS 1 25 5 16 21 15 15 19 DNQ DNQ 7 11 1257 13 Roger McCluskey 6 12 14 16 29 20 3 14 9 17 19 7 22 1 23 5 12 2 12 25 10 11 12 1228 14 Bud Tingelstad 18 7 DNS 16 9 DNQ 19 13 13 16 5 15 2 8 18 DNQ DNQ 3 8 9 7 10 1016 15 Wally Dallenbach 7 4 3 17 7 15 DNQ 11 3 5 20 7 20 DNQ 13 18 9 22 23 25 29 960 16 George Snider 9 5 6 6 31 8 8 3 10 3 DNQ 13 3 DNP 919 17 Larry Dickson 12 28 6 11 5 DNQ 6 2 DNQ 7 DNQ 7 8 26 8 890 18 Johnny Rutherford 20 11 17 18 4 DNQ 20 DNQ 24 20 25 5 5 11 5 16 25 17 6 890 19 Mike Mosley 8 19 16 9 4 14 9 20 17 DNS 3 13 9 14 860 20 Joe Leonard 22 3 22 8 12 18 7 6 8 14 DNS 16 4 17 850 21 Jim McElreath 14 DNQ 22 10 11 7 17 7 10 9 15 DNQ 5 6 28 771 22 Ronnie Bucknum 21 5 3 19 6 4 3 4 1 20 14 13 760 23 Art Pollard 16 8 5 5 13 13 16 14 18 5 7 9 26 DNQ 14 14 10 10 10 6 DNQ 20 16 696 24 Sonny Ates 15 DNQ 22 DNQ 6 8 13 26 5 9 16 520 25 Rick Muther DNQ 7 DNQ 6 DNQ 21 5 510 26 Ronnie Duman DNP 6 22 400 27 Bruce Walkup 13 20 DNQ 5 11 12 18 18 9 7 15 13 DNQ DNQ 5 390 28 Max Dudley 17 DNQ 9 15 DNQ 7 18 16 10 11 7 12 21 26 12 285 29 Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 17 8 9 12 9 6 11 265 30 George Follmer 11 15 24 DNQ 11 10 DNS 8 240 31 Arnie Knepper 24 DNQ DNP 25 DNS 24 15 11 22 18 11 10 16 6 14 20 12 15 206 32 George Benson 25 9 8 6 22 170 33 Carl Williams 15 5 17 8 DNS 13 13 15 19 150 34 Bobby Grim 10 DNQ 150 35 Jerry Daniels 10 8 9 DNQ 120 36 Wib Spalding 8 100 37 Bob Veith 11 100 38 Chuck Booth DNQ DNQ 10 18 11 18 14 DNQ 11 DNQ 85 39 Tom Bigelow 6 DNQ 14 80 40 Keith Rachwitz 12 9 DNQ 17 DNQ DNQ 80 41 Rollie Beale 15 DNQ 19 DNQ DNQ 9 DNQ DNQ 80 42 Chuck Hulse 21 DNQ 8 DNQ 75 43 Jigger Sirois 16 21 DNQ 25 10 75 44 Bob Harkey DNQ DNQ 13 20 17 12 8 DNQ 23 13 60 45 Denny Zimmerman 20 11 DNS 50 46 Bob Hurt DNQ DNQ 10 DNQ 45 47 Ralph Liguori DNQ 16 20 9 17 18 40 48 Roger West 10 19 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 49 Bruce Jacobi 19 21 19 DNQ 22 DNQ 15 13 DNQ 19 12 DNQ DNQ 11 16 18 30 50 Dempsey Wilson 14 17 11 DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 51 Al Smith DNQ 12 25 52 Ted Foltz 2 24 53 Wes Vandervoort 3 21 54 Paul Kleinschmidt 5 15 55 Malcolm Brazier 6 12 56 Bob Herring 7 9 57 Grier Manning 8 8 58 Ralph Bruning 9 6 59 Charles Louderman 10 5 - John Cannon 10 8 8 6 2 9 0 - Mark Donohue 6 4 21 0 - Denny Hulme 4 0 - Skip Scott 4 0 - Lothar Motschenbacher 17 6 0 - Bud Morley 16 8 DNQ 0 - Jack Eiteljorg 23 10 9 0 - Peter Revson 10 0 - Bob Daly 11 0 - George Fejer 12 15 DNS 14 12 0 - Lou Sell 21 12 14 16 30 0 - Thurel Novotny 12 0 - Dick Heikes 13 0 - Gene Willbanks 14 0 - Greg Weld DNQ 14 24 DNQ DNQ 17 14 DNQ 0 - Gig Stephens DNQ 23 14 14 DNQ 0 - Bay Darnell 14 23 DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Thomas DNQ 15 0 - Butch Earley 15 0 - Clark Yowell 16 0 - Henry Pens DNQ 17 0 - Jerry Colton 17 0 - Don Meacham 17 0 - Gene Bergin DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 0 - Tom Dillon 18 0 - Graham Hill 19 DNQ 0 - LaVerne Ravenstein 19 0 - Chuck Arnold 20 0 - Walter Miller 20 0 - Gene Pacheco 21 0 - Jerry Titus DNQ 22 0 - Jerry Grant 23 DNS 23 0 - Orville Nance 23 0 - Mickey Shaw 23 0 - Jack Brabham 23 0 - Norm Brown 24 0 - Larry Overholser 24 0 - Bill Simpson 27 0 - Jim Hurtubise 30 0 - Jochen Rindt 32 0 - Dusty Smith DNQ DNS 0 - Billy Wilkerson DNS 0 - Jim Reynard DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Les Scott DNQ DNQ DNQ DNP DNQ 0 - Karl Busson DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Danny Ongais DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Dee Jones DNQ DNQ 0 - Ernie Koch DNQ DNQ 0 - Al Miller DNQ DNQ 0 - Norm Ellefson DNQ DNQ 0 - Hamilton Vose DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Schisler DNQ DNQ 0 - Otto Becker DNQ DNP 0 - Bill Cheesbourg DNQ 0 - Masten Gregory DNQ 0 - Bobby Johns DNQ 0 - Bruce McLaren DNQ 0 - Mike Spence DNQ 0 - Chuck Stevenson DNQ 0 - Lee Roy Yarbrough DNQ 0 - Scott Brazier DNQ 0 - Bob Tattersall DNQ 0 - Earl Smith DNQ 0 - Don Brown DNQ 0 - Earl Dykes DNQ 0 - Ludwig Heimrath DNQ 0 - Jackie Stewart Wth 0 - Jim Clark DNP 0 - Bob Herst DNP 0 - Stew McMillan DNP 0 Pos Driver HAN1 LVG PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 MOS1 MOS2 LAN1 PIP CDR NAZ IRP1 IRP2 LAN2 LAN3 MTR1 MTR2 SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 SAC MIC HAN2 PHX2 RIV Pts Note1: John Cannon, George Fejer, Lou Sell, Mark Donohue, Jack Eiteljorg, Bud Morley, Lothar Motschenbacher, Jochen Rindt, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Denis Hulme, Skip Scott and Peter Revson not eligible for points. Note2: Ronnie Bucknum did not compete with a USAC license until after the events at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Color Gold Silver Bronze Green Light Blue Dark Blue Purple Red Brown Black White Blank Results Winner 2nd place 3rd place 4th & 5th place 6th-10th place Finished (Outside Top 10) Did not finish (Ret) Did not qualify (DNQ) Withdrawn (Wth) Disqualified (DSQ) Did not start (DNS) 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

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1968". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
• "1968 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 244-249)

See also

• 1968 Indianapolis 500