1972 USAC Championship Car season


The 1972 USAC Championship Car season consisted of ten races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 18 and concluding at the same location on November 4. The USAC National Champion was Joe Leonard and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Mark Donohue. Jim Malloy was killed at Indianapolis in practice; he was 40 years old.
After sponsoring the USAC Championship Trail in 1970-1971, Marlboro dropped out of the sport for 1972. After only two seasons as title sponsor, the company became angered when rival Viceroy was signed on to sponsor Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, at the time dubbed the "super team" of the series. Without any exclusivity clause, managers at Marlboro deemed the situation "impractical and untenable," and abruptly quit. Marlboro would not return to Indy car racing until 1986.

Schedule and results

All races running on Oval/Speedway.
RndDateRace NameTrackLocationPole PositionWinning Driver
1March 18Jimmy Bryan 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
2April 23Trentonian 200Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New Jersey Bobby Unser Gary Bettenhausen
3May 27International 500 Mile SweepstakesIndianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana Bobby Unser Mark Donohue
4June 4Rex Mays ClassicWisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, Wisconsin Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
5July 16Michigan 200Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan Bobby Unser Joe Leonard
6July 29Schaefer 500Pocono International RacewayLong Pond, Pennsylvania Bobby Unser Joe Leonard
7August 13Tony Bettenhausen 200Wisconsin State Fair Park SpeedwayWest Allis, Wisconsin Mario Andretti Joe Leonard
8September 3California 500Ontario Motor SpeedwayOntario, California Jerry Grant Roger McCluskey
9September 24Trenton 300Trenton International SpeedwayTrenton, New Jersey Bobby Unser Bobby Unser
10November 4Best Western 150Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona Mark Donohue Bobby Unser

In the fall of 1971, a tentative schedule held the possibility of returning road courses to the championship schedule. Races at Colorado, Donnybrook, Bridgehampton, Road Atlanta, Mosport, as well as a return to Rafaela, Argentina, and a new "Florida 500" at the proposed "Florida International Raceway", were all part of an early press release. However, all road courses were ultimately left off, the Argentina race was discontinued, and the Florida race course was never built.

Final points standings

Note: Peter Revson is not eligible for points.

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