This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
1973 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races
16
Start date
April 7
End date
November 3
Awards
National champion
Roger McCluskey
Indianapolis 500 winner
Gordon Johncock
← 1972
1974 →
The 1973 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 16 races, beginning in College Station, Texas on April 7 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 3. The first race of the season, in Avondale, Arizona on March 17, was postponed by rain and eventually cancelled due to infrastructure damage caused by the rain and scheduling conflicts. Bob Criss was killed in a private test at Phoenix before he could enter another event. He was 35 years old. The USAC National Champion was Roger McCluskey and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Gordon Johncock.
In this tragic season, two drivers were killed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Art Pollard died in an accident while practicing for the Indy 500 while Swede Savage, who crashed during the race, died by complications one month later. Another driver, Salt Walther, suffered serious burns surviving a crash at the start of the race.
In response to those accidents, USAC revised the rules in time for the Pocono 500. The rear wing width was cut back from 64 inches to 55, fuel tank capacity was drastically reduced (from 75 gallons to 40) and the allowable fuel to be consumed in a 500-mile race was reduced from 375 gallons to 340.
and 25 Related for: 1973 USAC Championship Car season information
The 1973USACChampionshipCarseason consisted of 16 races, beginning in College Station, Texas on April 7 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November...
From 1956 to 1978, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned ChampionshipCar class featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing....
The 1974 USACChampionshipCarseason consisted of 14 races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 3 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November...
The 1972 USACChampionshipCarseason consisted of ten races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 18 and concluding at the same location on November...
1972 USAC National Dirt CarChampionship Previous 1971 Next 1973 The 1972 USAC National Dirt CarChampionship was the second season of the USAC National...
termed championship auto racing, the highest level of USAC racing. For a while there was a separate series of specifications for championshipcars designed...
drivers from USAC's open wheel classes like Indy cars, Silver Crown, sprints, and midgets frequently competed in races and won championships. Several NASCAR...
Drivers' Championship for both the 1972 and 1973 Formula One seasons. Revson and Dan Gurney were the only two drivers to win races in Formula One, Indy Car, Can-Am...
(née Wainwright). Bryan drove in the AAA and USACChampionshipCar series, racing in the 1952–1960 seasons with 72 starts, including each year's Indianapolis...
Champ Cars. He won the USAC Sprint Car title in 1963 and 1966, the USAC Stock Car title in 1969 and 1970. The Champ Car title in 1973. His first USAC Stock...
the USAC Stock car crown. He won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car event. Mercury decided to pull out of stock car racing after the season. The...
following that season. Starting in 2012, the series was revived by Formula Race Promotions with SCCA Pro Racing sanctioning. FRP switched to USAC sanctioning...
racing. Andretti won the Formula One World Championship in 1978, four IndyCar titles, including three under USAC sanctioning, and one in CART. He is the...
American open-wheel car racing events dating back to 1937. The AAA Contest Board, USAC, CART, Champ Car World Series, and the IndyCar Series have all sanctioned...
Indianapolis 500. Additionally, Bignotti-prepared cars were used to win nine USACChampionshipCarseasons. Bignotti also found success as a team owner, co-owning...
crash. In the aftermath of Indianapolis, USAC moved quickly to improve safety before Pocono. At Indianapolis, cars were permitted to hold 75 gallons of fuel...
racing driver in the USAC and CART ChampionshipCar series. He was the 1973USAC National midget driver's champion and won the USAC Silver Crown series...
family brand served as a sponsor for his cars. Holmes would make his indy car debut in the USAC National Championship during 1979 for AMI Racing in the No...
Arlington, Texas. AAA sanctioned five races from 1947 to 1950. USAC sanctioned ten Championshipcar events at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas...
2, 1973) was an American race car driver. He died at age 26 from complications while recovering from injuries suffered in a crash during the 1973 Indianapolis...
Indy Car (American Championshipcar) races from 1905 up to and including the 2024 season. The lists include IndyCar events sanctioned by the AAA, USAC, CART...
Indianapolis 500 also counted towards the 1958 USACChampionshipCarseason, and was run for USACChampionshipcars, but did not count towards the International...
the National Championship in the same year (such as the Automobile Club of America), and the AAA Big car meetings held in the 1946 season. The most recent...
automobile races from 1904 until 1955, establishing American Championshipcar racing. Modern-day Indy car racing traces its roots directly to these AAA events...
Global Information
Roger McCluskey