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Lo United States Auto Club (USAC) è una delle federazioni sportive automobilistiche statunitensi. È l'istituzione principale per l'organizzazione di corse automobilistiche negli Stati Uniti. Nacque nel 1956 per sopperire all'abbandono del settore delle corse automobilistiche da parte dell'AAA (American Automobile Association), istituito nel 1902, dopo la disastrosa edizione del 1955 della 24 Ore di Le Mans.

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Dal 1956 al 1983 l'USAC ha organizzato gli United States National Championship e dal 1956 al 1997 la 500 miglia di Indianapolis. Oggi l'USAC organizza diversi campionati negli Stati Uniti, tra cui la Silver Crown Series, la National Sprint Car Series, la National Midget Series, la .25 Midget Series, la Ford Focus Series, e la TORC Series (riservata ai fuoristrada). È inoltre l'organizzatore della celeberrima cronoscalata Pikes Peak International Hill Climb e del Gran Premio motociclistico di Indianapolis.

 

Le Indy Cars sbarcano sul suolo inglese, autunno 1978

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Foyt vince a Silverstone, Mears a Brands Hatch

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Qui la stagione completa del 1956 vinta da Jimmy Bryan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_USAC_Championship_Car_season

La stagione contava 15 gare di cui 3 non valevoli per il Campionato. Bryan vinse 5 gare di cui 4 valide ai fini del punteggio. La F1 contava 8 gare in quella stagione di cui la 500 miglia valevole per entrambi i titoli. La F1 però aveva anche altre 10 gare non valevoli contro le 3 della INDY.

Quindi: 

INDY: 12 gare+3 non valevoli

F1: 8 gare+10 non valevoli

15 gare la INDY contro le 18 della F1.

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Il 11/7/2017 at 22:08 , Andrea Gardenal ha scritto:

 

Le Indy Cars sbarcano sul suolo inglese, autunno 1978

 

Foyt vince a Silverstone, Mears a Brands Hatch

Tralasciando Brands Hatch, dove corsero sul circuito breve, ho notato che le Indycar furono velocissime nel '78 a Silverstone, se paragoniamo i loro tempi con quelli della F1 '77 (perché le F1 nel '78 non corsero a Silverstone).

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E' venuto a mancare Jerry Sneva, classe '49, fratello minore del celebre Tom e 'Rookie of the Year' nell'edizione 1977 della 500 Miglia di Indianapolis. Qui sotto, gli articoli in memoriam dei siti racer.com e motorsport.com:

He was usually referred to as Tom Sneva's younger brother and got the hand-me-downs most of his racing life, but nobody drove any harder or was any braver than Jerry Sneva.

The 1977 Indianapolis 500 rookie-of-the-year, who died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 68, only made 28 IndyCar starts from 1977-82 and never had anything resembling a top-shelf ride, yet managed to qualify for five Indy 500s and impress the competitors with his racecraft.

A standout on the CAMRA modified circuit and part of the fast family that included Jan, Blaine, Babe and the 1983 Indy winner, Jerry first came to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1976 when Tom found him a car to take his rookie test. It was a homemade chassis that looked dangerous sitting still and he quickly abandoned that to take over a three-year-old Kingfish, but crashed trying to get up to speed.

The following May he showed his savvy by sticking a five-year-old McLaren into Row 4 and finished 10th to earn his rookie award.

But his best drives didn't show in his results.

In 1979, NASCAR regular Neil Bonnett dumped his AMC/Spirit ride in May to go drive for the Wood brothers, and Jerry stepped in to replace him. With very little practice he promptly put it in the show, but not without some drama.

His throttle stuck on his first lap so he headed for the grass and used up all the track going into Turn 1. He somehow made it without crashing so that's how he negotiated all four laps and made the show.

"I told the crew they wouldn't be able to take the nose off for tech inspection because the throttle pedal was jammed in it and they all laughed," recalled Sneva many years later. "I was chugging beers after that and then they came in all wide-eyed and said I was telling the truth."

1980 63 35a 36 Jerry Sneva car 7His finest moment at Indy came in 1980 when he qualified fifth fastest in a two-year-old Lola (pictured above) that drew praise from its former owner Jim Hall, who said Al Unser had hated that car. In the race, Sneva ran among the leaders until pounding the wall in Turn 1.

Yet nothing sums up his racing luck like 1981. Driving a three-year-old Vollstedt-Offy for all it was worth in the new era of ground effects, he was the last qualifier on the fourth day and bumped Jerry Karl. But a member of his crew had jammed a bolt into the waste-gate to give the car more power and when he pulled it out after Jerry's run, a few eyewitnesses told USAC officials. There was a 90-minute protest hearing and Sneva was disqualified – with Karl reinstated.

He qualified for his final Indy 500 in 1982 and made what turned out to be his last IndyCar start at Michigan that fall.

Giles last raceJerry Sneva poses before what turned out to be his last IndyCar start in 1982 at Michigan.

In 1983, Sneva returned to IMS with a car that would not handle. He crashed at 5:57 p.m. on a practice day, the car was fixed overnight and he hit the wall again shortly after 11 a.m. the next morning.

"It's a new track record for the two fastest crashes ever," joked the likeable veteran following his adventure. "My crew chief keeps telling me there's an invisible 200mph barrier that I've got to drive through and I keep telling him there's nothing invisible about that wall in Turn 1."

When the car was repaired again, Sneva got in and the throttle stuck as the engine was fired up. He hit the kill switch and nothing happened so they finally stuffed a few rags into the injectors to kill the power. "Giles," (his middle name) calmly climbed out of the car, took off his helmet and headed for lunch. He returned, got back in the car and made one more lap at 40mph before retiring on the spot.

"They've been trying to kill me all month and that's enough," he said.

His best-ever finish was a fourth at Pocono but Giles always got high marks from his fellow drivers.

"Jerry was very underrated as a racer and never got to drive the best equipment but he was damn good," said Bill Vukovich, one of his best friends. "A great guy and a good racer."

Sneva is survived by his wife of 35 years, Kathy, his daughter Shelby and son Trevor and there will be no public services.

 

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Jerry Sneva, the 1977 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, died last weekend at the age of 68.

Sneva, the younger brother of 1983 Indy 500 winner and two-time Indy car champion Tom Sneva, scored six top-10 finishes in his Indy car career, but never had the quality equipment to make a lasting mark. That’s what made his best efforts at Indy even more special: his 10th place finish in ’77, driving an aged McLaren, and his fifth place on the grid in 1980 driving a two-year-old Lola hinted at his skill.

Sneva raced in the supermodified series Canadian-American Modified Racing Association but made his United States Auto Club debut in 1973 as a substitute for his brother Tom. Driving Carl Gehlhausen's rear-engine sprint car for the day, Jerry Sneva qualified for the main event and finished second.

The 1977 Indy 500 was also Sneva’s Indy car debut, and while he started only two more races that season, he qualified a highly praiseworthy ninth at Milwaukee. The following year, Indy brought no joy as his McLaren broke its transmission less than 20 laps into the race, and for the rest of the season he was a regular finisher but unable to crack the top 10.

Driving the turbocharged AMC-powered Spirit of Warner Hodgdon, originally designated for NASCAR rising star Neil Bonnett, Sneva qualified for the ’79 Indy 500 with his throttle jammed open, but using the kill switch to shut off the car for each Turn. This scarily brave effort, which earned him 21st on the grid, was ultimately in vain, however, as the car died with a burnt piston on raceday.

But his next two races, driving an Eagle-Offy, produced the best finishes of his career, with a fifth place at Milwaukee and a fourth at Pocono. He’d score two more Top 10 finishes that year, at Milwaukee and Ontario, the latter in Hodgdon’s McLaren-Cosworth.

Driving a Lola, Orbitor and McLaren in 1980 Sneva again showed flashes of promise – as well as the fifth place in qualifying at Indy, he lined up sixth at Pocono and finished eighth at Milwaukee. But ’81 was a bust. After having his time disallowed at Indy for an illegal wastegate on his turbocharged Vollstedt, Sneva qualified 10th but DNFd at Pocono, and closed out the year with a 12th place finish at Phoenix.

The following year driving a Hoffman Enterprises March, a collision at Turn 2 ended his Indy 500 bid, and he closed out his career with a run to 14th at Michigan.

That wasn’t supposed to be the end of his career though. In 1983 at Indy during practice, two crashes in an ill-handling car followed by a stuck throttle in the repaired iteration prompted Sneva to abandon his efforts, although a few days later he was able to see brother Tom finally clinch the Indy win he deserved

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Non ne sono sicuro al 100% ma Dallenbach iniziò a vincere (1973) con quella Eagle 72 della Patrick Racing sponsorizzata da Granatelli ed ereditata da McRae dopo la Indy 500 di quell'anno. Intendo quel McRae spesso cercato dai costruttori di punta della Formula Uno dei primi anni Settanta per fare da tappabuchi.

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