1965 USAC Championship Car season
USAC National Championship Trail
Season
Races	18
Start date	March 28
End date	November 21
Awards
National champion	Mario Andretti
Indianapolis 500 winner	Jim Clark

The 1965 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 28 and concluding at the same location on November 21. This season was notable for the Hoosier Grand Prix, the first Championship Car event held on a road course since the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup. The USAC National Champion was Mario Andretti and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Jim Clark.

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Type	Pole Position	Winning Driver
1	March 28	Jimmy Bryan Memorial	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Don Branson
2	April 25	Trenton 100	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Jim McElreath
3	May 31	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Jim Clark
4	June 6	Rex Mays Classic	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Parnelli Jones
5	June 20	Langhorne 100	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Mario Andretti	Jim McElreath
6	July 4	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Al UnserA	Al Unser
7	July 18	Trenton 150	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
8	July 25	Hoosier Grand Prix	Indianapolis Raceway Park	Clermont, Indiana	Road	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti
9	August 1	Atlanta Championship 250	Atlanta International Raceway	Hampton, Georgia	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Johnny Rutherford
10	August 8	Langhorne 125	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Paved	Gordon Johncock	Jim McElreath
11	August 14	Milwaukee 150	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	Parnelli Jones	Joe Leonard
12	August 21	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Springfield, Illinois	Dirt	Jim McElreath	A. J. Foyt
13	August 22	Tony Bettenhausen 200	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Paved	A. J. Foyt	Gordon Johncock
14	September 6	Ted Horn Memorial	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Du Quoin, Illinois	Dirt	A. J. Foyt	Don Branson
15	September 18	Hoosier Hundred	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
16	September 26	Trenton 200	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Paved	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt
17	October 24	Golden State 100	California State Fairgrounds	Sacramento, California	Dirt	Don Branson	Don Branson
18	November 21	Bobby Ball Memorial	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	Paved	Mario Andretti	A. J. Foyt

^A 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

Note: Bobby Johns is not eligible for points.

Pos Driver PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN1 PIP TRE2 IRP ATL LAN2 MIL2 SPR MIL3 DQSF ISF TRE3 SAC PHX2 Pts 1 Mario Andretti 6 2 3 4 2 Wth 1 2 4 2 3 16 15 2 13 3 2 3110 2 A. J. Foyt 19 17 15 16 17 1 4 19 2 19 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 2500 3 Jim McElreath 2 1 20 3 1 11 5 10 1 14 5 6 2 DNQ 3 8 23 2035 4 Don Branson 1 13 8 20 15 4 6 8 6 6 6 25 1 13 15 1 5 1875 5 Gordon Johncock 17 8 5 7 10 23 8 6 3 15 11 1 10 DNQ 14 21 1540 6 Joe Leonard 29 2 19 5 10 Wth 1 5 2 4 1415 7 Bobby Unser 16 10 19 17 14 2 14 2 22 5 4 10 18 17 4 6 4 3 1402 8 Roger McCluskey 21 30 6 13 17 3 9 DNQ 5 4 DNS 4 9 26 1060 9 Jud Larson 12 5 DNQ DNQ 6 19 16 12 7 8 9 4 3 8 5 8 1028 10 Parnelli Jones DNQ 2 1 17 DNQ 1000 11 Jim Clark 1 1000 12 Johnny Rutherford 15 11 31 15 DNQ DNS 11 1 8 13 4 24 5 6 16 6 22 993 13 Lloyd Ruby 5 DNQ 11 19 3 18 7 23 9 3 10 26 DNQ 850 14 Jim Hurtubise 4 19 33 DNQ 21 2 18 4 21 16 DNQ 21 7 16 25 16 743 15 Al Miller 4 DNQ Wth 20 10 12 15 Wth DNQ 18 655 16 Billy Foster 24 7 17 DNQ 5 20 DNP 3 17 20 26 12 24 DNQ 13 520 17 Bobby Grim 15 DNQ 8 11 3 28 24 8 7 500 18 Mickey Rupp 6 5 18 500 19 Al Unser 9 13 12 1 22 12 26 16 11 7 DNQ 20 11 17 495 20 Bud Tingelstad 13 4 16 18 4 15 14 19 21 7 13 16 14 16 6 460 21 George Snider 23 21 DNQ 16 9 9 25 7 2 14 8 10 15 DNQ 453 22 Ronnie Duman 3 6 22 9 6 16 14 12 14 23 15 14 Wth DNS 19 DNQ 447 23 Carl Williams  RY  DNQ 12 DNQ DNQ 9 7 13 8 7 17 13 7 370 24 Chuck Rodee 22 28 5 12 10 DNQ DNQ 325 25 Bob Harkey 20 9 DNQ DNQ 8 8 15 11 DNQ 9 DNQ 10 11 325 26 Dan Gurney 26 3 12 230 27 Tommy Copp DNQ 7 8 DNQ 25 225 28 Red Riegel DNQ DNQ 11 14 6 5 DNQ 205 29 Art Pollard  R  22 5 DNQ 19 200 30 Arnie Knepper 7 16 18 14 22 DNQ 16 21 DNQ 16 11 13 15 7 190 31 Gary Congdon  R  10 22 10 9 11 11 DNQ 18 DNQ 163 32 Sam Sessions  R  DNS DNQ 13 9 DNQ DNQ 11 10 150 33 Eddie Johnson 10 150 34 Bob Wente 14 3 DNQ DNQ 140 35 Len Sutton 12 21 7 DNQ 110 36 Wally Dallenbach Sr.  R  13 DNQ 9 80 37 Bill Vukovich II  R  9 80 38 Bob Hurt 8 DNQ DNQ DNQ Wth 29 DNQ DNQ 75 39 Norm Hall 10 DNQ 10 DNQ 19 21 75 40 Charles Louderman 3 70 41 Wes Vandervoort  R  4 60 42 Dee Jones 9 24 DNQ DNQ DNQ 60 43 Paul Kleinschmidt 5 50 44 Bob Mathouser 21 DNQ 11 DNQ 12 13 27 18 DNQ 17 12 22 18 45 45 Jack Hahn 6 40 46 Bay Darnell  R  9 DNQ 40 47 Roy Walker  R  7 30 48 Rodger Ward 11 20 DNQ 22 DNQ DNQ 24 22 23 23 15 30 49 Dick Atkins  R  12 12 30 50 Orville Nance  R  8 25 51 Slim Roberts 9 20 52 Greg Weld  R  DNQ DNQ 17 12 DNQ 20 20 53 Grier Manning  R  10 15 54 Malcolm Brazier 11 10 55 Bill Cheesbourg 32 12 DNQ 17 DNQ 10 56 Louis Unser 12 5 - Bobby Johns  R  7 0 - Dave Paul  R  DNQ DNQ 13 20 15 DNQ DNQ 0 - Johnny Boyd 13 0 - Vern Root  R  13 0 - Art Malone 14 DNQ 21 23 15 22 DNQ 20 0 - Larry Dickson  R  14 24 0 - Dempsey Wilson DNQ DNQ 14 0 - Walt Hansgen 14 0 - Thurel Novotny  R  14 0 - Bob Daly  R  15 0 - Bob McLees  R  16 0 - Ralph Liguori 18 18 DNQ 20 24 20 17 DNQ 0 - Mike McGreevy  R  DNQ 17 DNQ DNQ 0 - Bob Tattersall  R  17 DNQ 0 - Rick Vermillion  R  17 0 - Bruce Jacobi DNQ 18 DNQ 18 0 - Mel Kenyon DNQ DNQ 18 0 - Bob Werner  R  18 0 - George Morris  R  18 0 - Clark Yowell  R  19 0 - Bob Pratt  R  19 0 - Hank Davis  R  20 0 - Dan Morgan 21 0 - Skip Hedrick  R  21 0 - Ted Foltz 22 0 - Masten Gregory  R  23 0 - Clyde McFarlin  R  23 0 - Bob Veith 24 0 - Walter Miller  R  24 0 - Chuck Stevenson 25 DNQ DNQ 0 - Danny Collins 25 0 - Jerry Grant  R  27 DNQ 0 - Chuck Arnold DNQ DNS 0 - Bill Eldridge DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Gig Stephens DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 - Bob King DNQ DNQ 0 - Chuck Booth DNQ DNQ 0 - Bob Huebner Wth DNQ 0 - Bob Christie DNQ 0 - Paul Goldsmith DNQ 0 - Skip Hudson DNQ 0 - Ebb Rose DNQ 0 - Paul Russo DNQ 0 - Bill Sullivan DNQ 0 - Chuck Hulse DNQ 0 - Ray Furnal DNP 0 - Sherman Cleveland DNP 0 Pos Driver PHX1 TRE1 INDY MIL1 LAN1 PIP TRE2 IRP ATL LAN2 MIL2 SPR MIL3 DQSF ISF TRE3 SAC PHX2 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 1965". Driver Database. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• "1965 USAC National Championship Trail". ChampCarStats.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 260-265)

See also

• 1965 Indianapolis 500