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1979 California 500 in CART at the Ontario circuit. Full information

1979 California 500

1979 California 500 is 10th CART race. Passed at the Ontario circuit. Rick Mears won the pole position, Bobby Unser won this race. Rick Mears and Mario Andretti also climbed to the podium, in second and third place. Race distance 200 laps (805 km).

Previous race: 1979 Trenton Champ Cars
Next race: 1979 Michigan Champ Cars
Race Start: 2nd September 1979

Interesting facts and statistics about the 1979 California 500

6th victory for the Penske Racing team
5th victory for the Bobby Unser
6th podium for the Bobby Unser
5th podium for the Rick Mears
1st podium for the Mario Andretti

Penske PC7 #12 - 1979 California 500 winner

1979 California 500 results

Position	Name	Car	Points	Result	Team
1	Bobby Unser	Penske PC7, #12	1000	3h 24m 22s	Penske Racing
2	Rick Mears	Penske PC7, #9	800	3h 24m 32s	Penske Racing
3	Mario Andretti	Penske PC6, #99	700	3h 24m 56s	Penske Racing
4	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren M24B, #4	600	199 laps	Team McLaren
5	Al Unser	Chaparral 2K, #2	500	197 laps	Chaparral Racing
6	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	400	196 laps	Interscope Racing
7	Vern Schuppan	Wildcat Mk2, #34	300	192 laps	Wysard Motor Co
8	Don Whittington	McLaren M24B, #94	250	190 laps	Team McLaren
9	Lee Kunzman	Parnelli VPJ6C, #21	200	188 laps	Conquest Racing Team
10	Jerry Sneva	McLaren M24, #72	150	170 laps Engine	Hodgson Racing
11	Tom Frantz	Wildcat ? 1979, #18	100	152 laps	Tom Frantz
12	Bill Whittington	Parnelli VPJ6C, #98	50	139 laps Inlet manifold	Whittington Racing
13	Roger Mears	Penske PC6, #60	25	135 laps Engine	Patrick Racing
14	Larry Cannon	Wildcat ? 1979, #95	25	128 laps Piston	Cannon Racing Team
15	Gordon Johncock	Penske PC6, #20	25	119 laps Fuel pump	Patrick Racing
16	Dick Ferguson	Penske ? 1979, #23	25	118 laps Valve	Aero Electronics
17	Tom Sneva	McLaren M24, #1	20	108 laps Oil pump	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
18	John Martin	McLaren ? 1979, #30	20	107 laps Engine	John A Martin
19	Bill Scott	Eagle ? 1979, #28	20	74 laps Engine	Bill Scott
20	Salt Walther	Penske PC6, #77	20	69 laps Transmission	Dayton-Walther
21	Al Loquasto	Eagle ? 1979, #69	15	69 laps Piston	Spike Gehlhausen
22	Bill Alsup	McLaren M16D, #41	15	59 laps Cylinder block	WASP Racing
23	Steve Krisiloff	Penske PC6, #71	15	47 laps Valve	Longhorn Racing
24	Wally Dallenbach	Penske PC6, #40	15	46 laps Engine	Patrick Racing
25	Spike Gehlhausen	Lightning ? 1979, #55	10	46 laps Half shaft	Fletcher Racing Team
26	Tim Richmond	Lightning ? 1979, #35	10	39 laps Transmission	Pat Santello
27	Phil Caliva	Eagle 79, #19	10	23 laps Oil leak	Spike Gehlhausen
28	Pancho Carter	Lightning ? 1979, #10	10	21 laps Camshaft	Alex Foods Racing
29	Bob Harkey	Lightning ? 1979, #15	5	17 laps Accident	Alex Foods Racing
30	Joe Saldana	Lightning ? 1979, #59	5	14 laps Oil pump	Hoffman Racing
31	Dennis Firestone	Lola ? 1979, #86	5	10 laps Oil leak	Dennis Firestone
32	Tom Bagley	Penske PC6, #11	5	7 laps Accident	Longhorn Racing
33	Johnny Parsons jr	McLaren ? 1979, #32	5	4 laps Valve	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
34	Mike Mosley, Cliff Hucul	Eagle 79, #36	5	2 laps Engine	All-American Racers

Qualifying Results for the 1979 California 500 on the Ontario circuit

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Rick Mears	Penske PC7, #9	44.325s	Penske Racing
2	Al Unser	Chaparral 2K, #2	44.51s	Chaparral Racing
3	Bobby Unser	Penske PC7, #12	44.692s	Penske Racing
4	Mario Andretti	Penske PC6, #99	44.91s	Penske Racing
5	Tom Sneva	McLaren M24, #1	45.39s	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
6	Johnny Parsons jr	McLaren ? 1979, #32	45.49s	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
7	Steve Krisiloff	Penske PC6, #71	45.52s	Longhorn Racing
8	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	45.73s	Interscope Racing
9	Tom Bagley	Penske PC6, #11	45.85s	Longhorn Racing
10	Spike Gehlhausen	Lightning ? 1979, #55	46.17s	Fletcher Racing Team
11	Mike Mosley	Eagle 79, #36	46.29s	All-American Racers
12	Gordon Johncock	Penske PC6, #20	46.4s	Patrick Racing
13	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren M24B, #4	46.42s	Team McLaren
14	Lee Kunzman	Parnelli VPJ6C, #21	46.56s	Conquest Racing Team
15	Dick Ferguson	Penske ? 1979, #23	46.61s	Aero Electronics
16	Wally Dallenbach	Penske PC6, #40	46.84s	Patrick Racing
17	Roger Mears	Penske PC6, #60	46.87s	Patrick Racing
18	Tim Richmond	Lightning ? 1979, #35	47s	Pat Santello
19	Pancho Carter	Lightning ? 1979, #10	47.35s	Alex Foods Racing
20	Salt Walther	Penske PC6, #77	47.84s	Dayton-Walther
21	Dennis Firestone	Lola ? 1979, #86	47.98s	Dennis Firestone
22	Bill Alsup	McLaren M16D, #41	48.24s	WASP Racing
23	John Martin	McLaren ? 1979, #30	48.67s	John A Martin
24	Bill Whittington	Parnelli VPJ6C, #98	49.21s	Whittington Racing
25	Jerry Sneva	McLaren M24, #72	49.29s	Hodgson Racing
26	Bob Harkey	Lightning ? 1979, #15	49.31s	Alex Foods Racing
27	Al Loquasto	Eagle ? 1979, #69	49.83s	Spike Gehlhausen
28	Phil Caliva	Eagle 79, #19	50.09s	Spike Gehlhausen
29	Don Whittington	McLaren M24B, #94	50.3s	Team McLaren
30	Vern Schuppan	Wildcat Mk2, #34	50.51s	Wysard Motor Co
31	Tom Frantz	Wildcat ? 1979, #18	50.94s	Tom Frantz
32	Bill Scott	Eagle ? 1979, #28	51.02s	Bill Scott
33	Joe Saldana	Lightning ? 1979, #59	47.67s	Hoffman Racing
34	Cliff Hucul, Larry Cannon	Eagle ? 1979, #79	49.32s	Hoffman Racing