1974 USAC Championship Car seasonRaces 14 Start date March 3 End date November 2 National champion Bobby Unser Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford
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
Track
Location
Pole Position
Winning Driver
1
March 3
California 500 Qualification Heat 1
Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario , California
A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
2
California 500 Qualification Heat 2
Johnny Rutherford
Johnny Rutherford
3
March 10
California 500
A. J. Foyt
Bobby Unser
4
March 17
Phoenix 150
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale , Arizona
Al Unser
Mike Mosley
5
April 7
Trentonian 200
Trenton International Speedway
Trenton , New Jersey
Mario Andretti
Bobby Unser
6
May 26
International 500 Mile Sweepstakes
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway , Indiana
A. J. Foyt
Johnny Rutherford
7
June 9
Rex Mays Classic
Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway
West Allis , Wisconsin
A. J. Foyt
Johnny Rutherford
8
June 30
Schaefer 500
Pocono International Raceway
Long Pond , Pennsylvania
Bobby Unser
Johnny Rutherford
9
July 21
Michigan 200
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn , Michigan
Bobby Unser
Bobby Unser
10
August 11
Tony Bettenhausen 200
Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway
West Allis , Wisconsin
A. J. Foyt
Gordon Johncock
11
September 15
Norton 250
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn , Michigan
A. J. Foyt
Al Unser
12
September 22
Trenton 300 Heat #1
Trenton International Speedway
Trenton , New Jersey
A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
13
Trenton 300 Heat #2
A. J. Foyt
Bobby Unser
14
November 2
Bobby Ball 150
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale , Arizona
Johnny Rutherford
Gordon Johncock
Final points standings [ ]
Note1: Jim Hurtubise, Skip Barber, David Hobbs, Sam Posey and Evan Noyes are 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.
Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems
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
RY Rookie of the Year
R Rookie
References [ ]
See also [ ]
American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA USAC CART CCWS IRL INDYCAR
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.
Seasons Indianapolis 500s National Champions Tracks