1966 USAC Championship Car season

The 1966 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 16 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 20 and concluding at the same location on November 20. There was also one non-championship event at Fuji Speedway in Japan. The USAC National Champion was Mario Andretti, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Graham Hill. At Indianapolis, Chuck Rodee was killed while qualifying for the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Also of note was the end of the career of two time 500 and two time National Champion Rodger Ward as he ran the final three races of his IndyCar career at the start of the season which included the final IndyCar victory of his career at Trenton.

1966 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	16
Start date	March 20
End date	November 20
Awards
National champion	Mario Andretti
Indianapolis 500 winner	Graham Hill

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	March 20	Jimmy Bryan Memorial	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	Mario Andretti	Jim McElreath
2	April 24	Trenton 150	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Mario Andretti	Rodger Ward
3	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Mario Andretti	Graham Hill
4	June 5	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
5	June 12	Langhorne 100	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
6	June 26	Atlanta 300	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
7	July 4	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Bobby UnserA	Bobby Unser
8	July 24	Hoosier Grand Prix	Indianapolis Raceway Park	Clermont, Indiana	Road	Lloyd Ruby	Mario Andretti
9	August 7	Langhorne 150	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Don Branson	Roger McCluskey
10	August 20	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt	Don Branson	Don Branson
11	August 27	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
12	September 5	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	Bobby Unser	Bud Tingelstad
13	September 10	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	A. J. Foyt	Mario Andretti
14	September 25	Trenton 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
NC	October 9	Fuji Race	Fuji Speedway	Oyama, Japan	Road	Jackie Stewart	Jackie Stewart
15	October 23	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt	Don Branson	Dick Atkins
16	November 19	Bobby Ball Memorial	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti

  Paved/Dirt Oval

  Road Course/Hill Climb

  Non-championship race

^A 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.

Final points standings

Note: Jerry Grant, Dan Gurney, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Peter Revson and Cale Yarborough are not eligible for points.

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos Driver PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN ATL PIP IRP LAN SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 FUJ SAC PHX2 Pts 1 Mario Andretti 15 4 18 1 1 1 1 21 2 1 15 1 1 DNS 10 1 3070 2 Jim McElreath 1 3 3 21 2 12 3 22 11 4 10 10 6 17 7 3 2430 3 Gordon Johncock 9 2 4 DNQ 19 3 5 2 2 12 DNS DNQ 2050 4 Joe Leonard 14 9 3 3 21 8 Wth 4 3 4 DNQ DNQ 5 1275 5 Al Unser 20 12 6 9 16 2 3 20 2 DNS 18 2 1260 6 Bobby Unser 19 18 8 16 14 14 1 4 19 5 8 3 17 DNQ 2 5 4 1210 7 Don Branson 16 10 23 15 4 6 9 5 1 23 6 4 23 4 1135 8 Chuck Hulse 3 DNQ 20 5 12 4 18 7 18 21 16 5 13 11 2 DNQ 1030 9 Billy Foster 7 22 24 DNQ 5 2 13 20 5 9 15 18 9 DNQ 12 930 10 Bud Tingelstad 4 5 21 12 18 28 17 6 7 11 1 7 14 20 8 25 870 11 Dick Atkins 22 DNQ 20 DNQ 23 10 9 12 12 2 6 4 DNS 1 815 12 Roger McCluskey 20 13 2 6 27 22 1 14 18 18 14 5 DNS 11 780 13 A. J. Foyt 11 15 26 Wth 29 24 Wth 3 24 7 2 3 17 17 775 14 Mel Kenyon 5 7 22 DNP 23 560 15 Rodger Ward 2 1 15 540 16 Al Smith  RY  5 DNQ 17 25 7 13 420 17 Gary Congdon 17 13 25 9 20 24 20 4 15 6 12 DNQ 15 4 14 15 390 18 Arnie Knepper 19 29 14 8 8 21 12 DNQ DNQ 11 3 21 3 13 21 375 19 George Snider 6 19 10 21 DNQ 6 11 6 10 DNQ 12 DNP 11 365 20 Lloyd Ruby 12 21 11 DNP 16 24 9 22 12 6 355 21 Larry Dickson 11 32 13 11 19 DNQ DNQ 9 17 8 9 20 6 3 DNQ 320 22 Eddie Johnson 7 300 23 Art Pollard DNQ 4 22 22 DNQ 23 7 DNS 9 22 280 24 Bobby Grim 7 31 8 DNQ 13 12 13 25 8 7 275 25 Ralph Liguori DNQ 10 8 5 16 10 16 26 260 26 Carl Williams 5 14 16 DNQ 10 15 19 15 10 DNQ 17 13 DNQ 21 15 18 210 27 Sam Sessions 9 DNQ DNQ 15 9 11 DNQ DNQ 24 18 210 28 Al Miller 30 10 15 14 19 14 11 9 19 DNQ 190 29 Greg Weld DNQ DNQ 14 8 16 6 14 180 30 Johnny Boyd 22 DNQ 7 23 180 31 Ron Lux  R  6 DNQ 11 18 140 32 Ronnie Duman 16 33 DNQ 13 17 7 16 17 DNQ 8 26 22 DNQ DNQ 140 33 Bob Harkey DNQ DNQ 7 20 14 8 13 16 19 DNS DNQ 135 34 Bruce Jacobi DNQ 19 DNQ 25 DNP 18 DNQ 8 100 35 Wes Vandervoort 2 80 36 Norm Brown  R  9 80 37 Bob Hurt 8 DNQ 17 16 16 75 38 Bob Mathouser 8 DNQ 75 39 Paul Kleinschmidt 3 70 40 Ted Foltz 4 60 41 Parnelli Jones 14 DNS 10 60 42 Chuck Arnold 11 DNQ DNQ 60 43 Orville Nance 5 50 44 John Hollansworth  R  10 17 DNQ DNQ DNQ 13 DNQ DNQ 13 DNQ 45 45 Clyde McFarlin 6 40 46 Wally Dallenbach Sr. DNQ 13 15 11 DNS 24 40 47 Grier Manning 7 30 48 Jack Hahn 8 25 49 Rick Vermillion 9 20 50 Don Anderson  R  10 15 51 Red Riegel 12 DNQ DNQ 15 52 Bob Lacy  R  11 10 53 Bob Tattersall DNQ 16 13 18 12 DNQ 5 54 Clark Yowell 12 5 – Graham Hill  R  1 5 0 – Jim Clark 2 DNS 0 – Jackie Stewart  R  6 1 0 – Jerry Grant 10 10 20 0 – Jim Hurtubise 13 17 22 17 26 DNQ 26 17 15 DNQ 0 – Bob Daly 14 0 – Butch Hardman  R  15 0 – Malcolm Brazier 16 0 – Peter Revson  R  16 0 – Bob Werner 17 0 – Gig Stephens DNQ DNP 18 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Johnny Rutherford 18 DNP 0 – Paul Wigton  R  18 0 – Gary Bettenhausen  R  DNQ DNQ DNP DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 19 0 – Walter Miller 19 0 – Mike McGreevy 21 DNQ DNQ 0 – Dee Jones 23 0 – Dan Gurney 27 0 – Cale Yarborough  R  28 DNQ DNQ 0 – Tommy Copp 30 0 – Bob Herring DNS 0 – Gordon Sullivan DNS 0 – Bob King DNQ DNQ DNP DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Ray Duckworth DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Don Meacham DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Dave Paul DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Skip Hedrick DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 – Bill Cheesbourg DNP DNQ DNP 7 DNQ 0 – Dick Fries DNP DNQ DNQ 0 – Hal Minyard DNQ DNQ 0 – Dempsey Wilson DNQ DNQ 0 – Bud Randall DNQ DNQ 0 – Bob Wente DNQ DNS DNQ 0 – Jud Larson DNQ DNP 0 – Dick Guldstrand DNP DNQ 0 – Ronnie Bucknum DNQ 0 – Masten Gregory DNQ 0 – Bobby Johns DNQ 0 – Art Malone DNQ 0 – Chuck Rodee DNQ 0 – Chuck Stevenson DNQ 0 – Bob Veith DNQ 0 – LeeRoy Yarbrough DNQ 0 – Bay Darnell DNQ 0 – Leo Caldwell DNQ 0 – George Landry DNQ 0 – Chuck Booth DNQ 0 – Jim Adams DNP 0 – Jack Conely DNP 0 – Ebb Rose DNP 0 – Billy Wilkerson DNP 0 – Bob Pratt DNP 0 – Chris Amon 14 0 – Rick Muther DNS 0 Pos Driver PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN ATL PIP IRP LAN SPR MIL2 DQSF ISF TRE2 FUJ SAC PHX2 Pts

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

See also

• 1966 Indianapolis 500

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1966". Driver Database. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• "1966 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 256-259)