1958 USAC Championship Car season

The 1958 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Trenton, New Jersey on March 30 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on November 11. There were also five non-championship events. The USAC National Champion was Tony Bettenhausen and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Jimmy Bryan. There were three fatalities during the season. Pat O'Connor lost his life in a first lap accident during the Indy 500. Art Bisch died of injuries suffered during the race at Lakewood Speedway. Jimmy Reece was killed in a late-race incident at the second Trenton 100. Bettenhausen became the first USAC champion without a single race win (and at the time the only one) during the season until Tom Sneva did so 20 years later.

1958 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	13
Start date	March 30
End date	November 11
Awards
National champion	Tony Bettenhausen
Indianapolis 500 winner	Jimmy Bryan

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	March 30	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Len Sutton	Len Sutton
2	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Dick Rathmann	Jimmy Bryan
3	June 8	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Art Bisch	Art Bisch
4	June 15	Langhorne 100	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt	Jud Larson	Eddie Sachs
NC	June 29	500 Miglia di Monza	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	Monza, Italy	Paved	Heat 1: Luigi Musso	Heat 1: Jim Rathmann
Heat 2: Jim Rathmann						Heat 2: Jim Rathmann
Heat 3: Jim Rathmann						Heat 3: Jim Rathmann
5	July 4	Atlanta 100	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt	Don Branson	Jud Larson
NC	July 4	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Louie Unser	Bobby Unser
NC	July 20	Indianapolis Sweepstakes	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt	Johnny Thomson	Jud Larson
6	August 16	Springfield 100	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt	Jud Larson	Johnny Thomson
7	August 24	Milwaukee 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Jim Rathmann	Rodger Ward
8	September 1	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	Johnny Thomson	Johnny Thomson
9	September 6	Syracuse 100	New York State Fairgrounds	Syracuse, New York	Dirt	Jud Larson	Johnny Thomson
10	September 13	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	Jud Larson	Eddie Sachs
11	September 28	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	Jimmy Reece	Rodger Ward
12	October 26	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt	Johnny Thomson	Johnny Thomson
13	November 11	Bobby Ball Memorial	Arizona State Fairgrounds	Phoenix, Arizona	Dirt	Rex Easton	Jud Larson

  Paved/Dirt Oval

  Road Course/Hill Climb

  Non-championship race

^A Indianapolis 500 was USAC-sanctioned and counted towards the 1958 FIA World Championship of Drivers title.

^B 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

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

Pos Driver TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN ATL SPR MIL2 DQSF SYR ISF TRE2 SAC PHX Pts 1 Tony Bettenhausen 2 4 2 5 18 12 25 2 3 5 3 5 2 1830 2 George Amick 6 2 6 14 2 18 4 18 2 Wth 19 4 15 1640 3 Johnny Thomson 3 23 4 18 3 1 22 1 1 2 2 1 14 1520 4 Jud Larson 5 8 9 3 1 13 7 5 17 22 2 1 1250 5 Rodger Ward 11 20 19 DNQ 7 16 1 4 4 3 1 16 5 1160 6 Jimmy Bryan 1 1000 7 Eddie Sachs DNQ 22 10 1 6 DNQ 3 17 10 1 10 15 3 990 8 Johnny Boyd 3 5 15 800 9 Don Branson DNQ 4 5 7 12 3 6 4 6 12 7 790 10 A. J. Foyt 16 21 2 11 11 7 8 14 8 11 3 4 700 11 Len Sutton 1 32 11 9 4 9 9 6 DNQ DNQ 8 DNQ 9 670 12 Jimmy Reece DNQ 6 3 26 DNQ 7 7 660 13 Don Freeland 7 DNQ 6 3 21 9 18 16 14 DNQ 560 14 Jim Rathmann 5 7 23 560 15 Bob Veith 26 DNQ 6 2 16 6 18 480 16 Johnny Tolan 13 8 15 6 5 9 11 18 8 10 450 17 Eddie Johnson 9 22 10 DNQ 5 360 18 Joe Barzda  RY  9 13 16 4 11 13 15 4 320 19 Elmer George 12 DNQ 17 13 8 2 DNQ DNS 16 10 DNQ 17 8 300 20 Rex Easton DNQ 15 17 13 5 17 10 7 DNQ 13 13 6 270 21 Jack Turner 25 DNS 12 17 5 11 DNQ DNQ DNQ 230 22 Bill Cheesbourg 10 12 10 10 DNQ DNS DNS DNQ 220 23 Art Bisch 33 1 DNQ 16 200 24 Ed Elisian 28 DNQ DNQ 17 8 9 9 180 25 Ralph Liguori 4 8 15 DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 170 26 Buzz Barton 7 DNQ 11 9 8 DNQ DNQ DNQ 170 27 Earl Motter DNQ 16 DNQ 10 14 16 DNQ 6 11 130 28 Al Keller DNQ 11 100 29 Jim Packard  R  14 DNQ 12 DNQ 12 DNQ 7 DNQ 80 30 Mike Magill 17 7 DNQ 60 31 Dempsey Wilson 10 15 20 DNQ 19 DNQ 12 18 11 60 32 Paul Russo 18 8 14 50 33 Chuck Rodee 8 50 34 Johnnie Parsons 12 Wth 50 35 Wayne Weiler  R  9 17 40 36 Bobby Grim  R  10 12 40 37 Shorty Templeman 19 13 11 12 DNQ 20 DNQ DNQ 30 38 Roy Graham 12 DNQ DNQ 10 - Bob Schroeder  R  DNQ DNQ DNQ 13 15 DNQ 15 DNQ DNQ 0 - Gene Hartley DNQ 18 13 0 - Pat O’Connor 13 29 0 - Lloyd Ruby  R  13 0 - Dick Linder  R  14 17 DNQ 17 0 - Dick Rathmann 27 14 24 0 - Troy Ruttman DNQ 14 DNP 0 - Bob Christie 14 0 - Jiggs Peters 14 0 - Jimmy Davies 20 15 DNQ DNP 0 - Gene Force 15 DNQ 0 - Bill Homeier DNQ DNQ 16 0 - Pat Flaherty DNQ 16 0 - Billy Garrett 21 18 0 - Tony Bonadies DNQ DNQ 21 0 - Chuck Weyant 24 DNQ DNQ DNS DNQ 0 - Paul Goldsmith  R  30 0 - Jerry Unser 31 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Red Amick DNS 0 - Jim McWithey DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Van Johnson DNQ DNQ 0 - Allen Crowe DNQ DNQ 0 - Jimmy Daywalt DNQ DNQ 0 - Don Edmunds DNQ DNQ 0 - Bill Hyde DNQ DNQ 0 - Ernie Koch DNQ DNQ 0 - Tom Pistone DNP DNQ 0 - Peter Collins DNQ 0 - Fred Agabashian DNQ 0 - Bud Clemons DNQ 0 - Bob Cortner DNQ 0 - Ray Crawford DNQ 0 - Jack Ensley DNQ 0 - Juan Manuel Fangio DNQ 0 - Joe Giba DNQ 0 - Al Herman DNQ 0 - Eddie Russo DNQ 0 - Carroll Shelby DNQ 0 - Marshall Teague DNQ 0 - Leroy Warriner DNQ 0 - Norm Hall DNQ 0 - Bill Chennault DNQ 0 - Chuck Hulse DNQ 0 - Buddy Cagle DNQ 0 - Don Whittington DNQ 0 - Dutch Schaefer DNP 0 Pos Driver TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN ATL SPR MIL2 DQSF SYR ISF TRE2 SAC PHX 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

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "USAC National Championship 1958". Driver Database. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
• "1958 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 278-279)

See also

• 1958 Indianapolis 500