1979 - PPG Indy Car World Series - California 500 Race Results

The Champ Car World Series merged operations with the Indy Racing League (IRL) under the Indy Car Series name effective for the 2008 season. The owners of the Champ Car World Series filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 5, 2008.

The Champ Car was formed in 2004 after team owners Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe bought the assets of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) after it had filed for bankruptcy.

Champ Car World Series Champions

Champ Car World Series by Year

CART-Champ Car History

1979 - California 500 Race Results

Race Name - California 500
Date - 9/2/1979
Race Track - Ontario Motor Speedway
Number of Starting Cars - 35
Laps Run - 200
Pole Winner / Pole Speed - Rick Mears / 203.046 mph
Cautions - 12 cautions for 51 laps
Average Race Speed - 146.794 mph
Lead Changes - 5 Leader(s) with 18 Lead Changes
Lap Leader - Bobby Unser
Race Number - 11

Finish	Start	Driver	Sponsor (Owner)	Chassis	Engine	Qualify Speed
1	3	Bobby Unser	Norton Spirit	Penske	Cosworth	201.378
2	1	Rick Mears	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	203.046
3	4	Mario Andretti	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	200.396
4	13	Johnny Rutherford	Budweiser	McLaren	Cosworth	193.849
5	2	Al Unser	Pennzoil	Chaparral	Cosworth	202.202
6	8	Danny Ongais	Interscope/Panasonic	Parnelli	Cosworth	196.773
7	30	Vern Schuppan	Wysard Motors	Wildcat	DGS	178.172
8	29	Don Whittington	Budweiser	McLaren	Cosworth	178.912
9	14	Lee Kunzman	Vetter Windjammer	Parnelli	Cosworth	193.278
10	25	Jerry Sneva	Hodgdon Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	182.582
11	31	Tom Frantz	Kent Oil	Wildcat	Offenhauser	176.651
12	24	Bill Whittington	Road Atlanta	Parnelli	Cosworth	182.871
13	17	Roger Mears	Patrick Racing	Penske	Cosworth	191.984
14	35	Larry Cannon	Cannon Racing	Wildcat	Offenhauser	178.295
15	12	Gordon Johncock	North American Van Lines	Penske	Cosworth	193.953
16	15	Dick Ferguson	Aero Electronics	Penske	Cosworth	193.054
17	5	Tom Sneva	Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	198.282
18	23	John Martin	Paramount Printing	McLaren	Offenhauser	184.907
19	32	Billy Scott	Wheel Center	Eagle	Offenhauser	176.384
20	20	Salt Walther	Walmotor	Penske	Cosworth	188.107
21	27	Al Loquasto	Biane Winery	Eagle	Offenhauser	180.603
22	22	Bill Alsup	WASP Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	186.548
23	7	Steve Krisiloff	Dairy Queen/Kent Oil	Penske	Cosworth	197.702
24	16	Wally Dallenbach	Foreman Industries	Penske	Cosworth	192.139
25	10	Spike Gehlhausen	Frosty Acres	Lightning	Cosworth	194.911
26	18	Tim Richmond	SM Electric	Lightning	Offenhauser	191.477
27	28	Phil Caliva	STAON	Eagle	Offenhauser	179.644
28	19	Pancho Carter	Alex XLNT Foods	Lightning	Offenhauser	190.074
29	26	Bob Harkey	Alex Foods	Lightning	Offenhauser	182.493
30	33	Joe Saldana	Hoffman Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser	188.77
31	21	Dennis Firestone	AMS/Oil	Lola	Cosworth	187.574
32	9	Tom Bagley	Dairy Queen Kent Oil	Penske	Cosworth	196.275
33	6	Johnny Parsons	Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	197.828
34	11	Mike Mosley	Theodore Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	194.389
35	34	Cliff Hucul	Hoffman Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	182.452