1978 USAC Mini-Indy Series season

The 1978 USAC Mini Indy Series season was the second season of the USAC sanctioned Formula Super Vee championship.

Race calendar and results[]

Round	Circuit	Location	Date	Pole position	Winner	Headline event
1^[1]	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	18 March		Tim Richmond	Jimmy Bryan 150
2^[2]	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	12 April	Bill Alsup	John Wood
3^[3]	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	11 June	Bill Alsup	Bill Alsup	Molson Diamond Indy
4^[4]	The Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	18 June			Rex Mays 150
5^[5]	Texas World Speedway	College Station, Texas	6 August	Harry MacDonald	Harry MacDonald	Texas Grand Prix
6^[6]	The Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	20 August	Dennis Firestone	Dennis Firestone	Tony Bettenhausen 200
7^[7]	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	2 September	Dennis Firestone	Bill Alsup	California 500
8^[8]	Ontario Motor Speedway	Ontario, California	2 September	Tommy Thompson	Dennis Firestone	California 500
9^[9]	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	23 September	Dennis Firestone	Geoff Brabham
10^[10]	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	28 October	Kevin Cogan	Kevin Cogan	Miller High Life Bobby Ball 150

Teams and drivers[]

No.	Driver	Owner	Car	Engine	Note
2	Herm Johnson	Austin Johnson	Lola	Volkswagen
3			Zink	Volkswagen
10	Dennis Firestone	Crosslé Cars Pacific	March	Volkswagen
12	Dick Ferguson	Race Research Inc.		Volkswagen
19		Beth Ardisana		Volkswagen
29	Pete Halsmer	Simpson Racers	Lola	Volkswagen
37			Zink	Volkswagen
38	Desiré Wilson		Zink	Volkswagen
39		Richard Tallon	Lola	Volkswagen
41	Bill Alsup	William Alsup, Jr.	Argo	Volkswagen
42	Harry MacDonald	HCM Racing	Ralt	Volkswagen
43	John Wood	Bill Scott Racing		Volkswagen
45		Bertil Racing Engines	Lola	Volkswagen
46		Janet Moore	Lola	Volkswagen
48		WREP Industries		Volkswagen
50	Tommy Thompson	Black American Racers	Lola	Volkswagen	Thompson died from injuries sustained in a crash in the ninth round of the championship
55	Geoff Brabham	David Psachie	Ralt	Volkswagen
60		Lou Cicconi	Lola	Volkswagen
70		Syd Demovsky	Lola	Volkswagen
77		Fitzpatrick Racing Enterprises		Volkswagen
82	Kevin Cogan	Ralt American Ltd.	Ralt	Volkswagen
94		Aspen Racing		Volkswagen
97	Gary Bettenhausen	American Eagle Racing	Lola	Volkswagen
98	Tim Richmond	Sale Chevrolet	Lola	Volkswagen
99		Linne Enterprises		Volkswagen

Death of Tommy Thompson[]

African-American racingdriver Tommy Thompson participated in the ninth round of the championship at Trenton International Speedway. On the final lap of the 42-lap race one of the other competitor slowed down. had to swerve to avoid contact. However Thompson hit Barringer. Thompson's left front wheel and Barringer's right rear wheel became locked. Both cars hit the wall head-on. Thompsons car was launched over the wall. Both Barringer and Thompson were transported to St. Francis Medical Center. Thompson succumbed to his injuries on 28 September.^[11]

Final standings[]

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th–10th place
Dark Blue	11th place or lower
Purple	Did not finish
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
	Driver replacement (Rpl)
	Injured (Inj)
	No race held (NH)

Pos.	Driver	PIR1	TRE1	MOS	MIL1	TEX	MIL2	ONT1	ONT2	TRE2	PIR2	Points
1	Bill Alsup	21	2	1	23	2	10	1	2	4	12	1046
2	Dennis Firestone	5	24	3	22	6	1	24	1	16	2	894
3	Harry MacDonald	DNS	20	4	3	1	26	2	3	23	7	831
4	Herm Johnson	16	5	14	2	7	5	5	22	3	5	773
5	John Wood		1	15	24	3	9	3	5	26	9	674
6		25	21	10	5	27	6	14	19	2	4	506
7							2	6	4	18	3	504
8	Gary Bettenhausen		3	17	4	22		7	9	28	6	453
9	Tim Richmond	1	22	16	7	9	4					428
10						4	7	4	18	5		404
11	Kevin Cogan						3				1	340
12	Pete Halsmer	4	9	6	21	24	15	10	10	19	23	318
13	Geoff Brabham			12	6					1		290
13		2	4			13				22	25	290
15	Tommy Thompson	8		7	9			9	8	14		245
16		11	18	1								224
17			8	5		19	18			8		208
18				2				21				163
19	Tom Bagley	3										140
20							13			6	8	135
21						5	11	16		21		128
22					12	10		28	6		13	127
23			7				7			15		115
24			27		10	20				7	21	99
25			15	11		11	14			9		90
26	Ted Field	13	16		19	8	25	23		11		89
27			6									80
27		6										80
29			26				24	25	7	20	16	76
30			12	8		18	23			17	18	75
31		12	11	9	28							72
32	Dick Simon				14	12		8	20			69
33		7										60
34				8								50
35		9	14									45
36		18	28	16		17	17	12	12		27	41
37	Dick Ferguson	24		13	25						10	40
37								11	11			40
39	Rich Vogler							22		10		33
39	Benny Scott						16	20	17		11	33
41	Bill Simpson	10										30
41			10									30
43			13	DNS		15	12				20	28
44						14	27	13	t 15	24	15	25
45					11		19					24
46					17	28	28	17	16			17
47	Phil Caliva	15						21	13			13
47		22	19		20	26						13
49						25				12		12
49								19	14		24	12
51	Roger Mears				26		22	15				10
52								18	23		28	9
52								29	21		19	9
54		23			15							8
55	Bubby Jones	DNS	17									6
55	Tom D'Eath	23									22	6
57										13		5
57					13							5
57	Gene Romero										14	5
57		14										5
57						16						5
57								27	24			5
63		17										4
63											17	4
63					18							4
63							20					4
67	Tom Hessert					21						3
67	Bobby Hillin, Jr.					23						3
69										25		2
69	Bobby Olivero	25										2
69	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	26										2
69								26				2
69	Desiré Wilson										26	2
69	Howdy Holmes				27							2
69										27		2

References[]

^ "Round 1". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 2". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 3". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 4". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 5". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 6". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 7". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 8". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 9". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Round 10". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
^ "Race driver succumbs to N.J. crash injuries". Baltimore Afro-American. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[1] "Round 1". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[2] "Round 2". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[3] "Round 3". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[4] "Round 4". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[5] "Round 5". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[6] "Round 6". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[7] "Round 7". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[8] "Round 8". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[9] "Round 9". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[10] "Round 10". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

[11] "Race driver succumbs to N.J. crash injuries". Baltimore Afro-American. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

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v t Indy Lights seasons
USAC Mini-Indy Series	1977 1978 1979 1980
CART American Racing Series	1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
CART Firestone/Dayton Indy Lights	1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
IRL Infiniti/Indy Pro Series	2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Firestone Indy Lights Series	2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Indy Lights Series presented by Cooper Tire	2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022