1959 USAC Championship Car season

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1959 USAC Championship Car season

USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	13
Start date	April 4
End date	October 25
Awards
National champion	Rodger Ward
Indianapolis 500 winner	Rodger Ward

Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1958	1960

The 1959 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Daytona Beach, Florida on April 4 and concluding in Sacramento, California on October 25. There were also three non-championship events. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Rodger Ward.

Contents

1 Schedule and results
2 Leading National Championship standings
3 References
4 See also

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	April 4	Daytona 100	Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	Paved Oval	Dick Rathmann	Jim Rathmann
NC	April 4	USAC/FIA Formula Libre Race	Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	Paved Oval	Dick Rathmann	Jim Rathmann
2	April 19	Race of Champions	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved Oval	Don Branson	Tony Bettenhausen
3	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved Oval	Johnny Thomson	Rodger Ward
4	June 7	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved Oval	Johnny Thomson	Johnny Thomson
5	June 14	Langhorne 100	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Jud Larson	Van Johnson
NC	July 4	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill Climb	—	Bobby Unser
NC	July 19	Indianapolis Sweepstakes	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Rodger Ward	Rodger Ward
6	August 22	Springfield 100	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt Oval	Don Branson	Len Sutton
7	August 30	Milwaukee 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved Oval	Shorty Templeman	Rodger Ward
8	September 7	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt Oval	Don Branson	Rodger Ward
9	September 12	Syracuse 100	New York State Fairgrounds	Syracuse, New York	Dirt Oval	Johnny Thomson	Eddie Sachs
10	September 19	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Rodger Ward	Rodger Ward
11	September 27	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved Oval	Eddie Sachs	Eddie Sachs
12	October 18	Bobby Ball Memorial	Arizona State Fairgrounds	Phoenix, Arizona	Dirt Oval	Lloyd Ruby	Tony Bettenhausen
13	October 25	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt Oval	Wayne Weiler	Jim Hurtubise

Leading National Championship standings

#	Driver	Team	Points
1	Rodger Ward	Leader Card Racing	2400
2	Tony Bettenhausen	Central Excavating, Hoover Motor Express, Racing Associates, Dean Racing Enterprises, Hopkins Racing	1430
3	Johnny Thomson	Racing Associates	1400
4	Jim Rathmann	Hopkins Racing	1154.8
5	A. J. Foyt	Dean Racing Enterprises, Racing Associates	910.2

References

Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1959". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1959/. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
"1959 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1959.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-01.

v · d · eAmerican Championship car racing (IndyCar) seasons

AAA	1905 • 1906–1908 • 1909 • 1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919 • 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942–1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955

NASCAR	1952 • 1953

USAC	1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84

CART / CCWS	1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • ~~2008~~

IRL / INDYCAR	1996 • 1996–97 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012

Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

v · d · eUSAC Championship Cars (1956-1970)

Seasons	1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970

Indianapolis 500s	1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970

National Champions	Mario Andretti (three times) • Tony Bettenhausen • Jimmy Bryan (twice) • A. J. Foyt (five times) • Al Unser • Bobby Unser • Rodger Ward (twice)

Tracks	Arizona State Fair • Atlanta • Brainerd • California State Fair • Darlington • Daytona • Dover • DuQuoin State Fair • Hanford • Illinois State Fair • Indianapolis • Indianapolis Raceway Park • Indiana State Fair • Lakewood • Langhorne • Mead • Michigan • Michigan State Fair • Milwaukee • Missouri State Fair • Mosport • Nazareth • New York State Fair • Ontario • Pacific • Phoenix • Pikes Peak • Riverside • St. Jovite • Sears Point • Trenton