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1980 California 500 in CART at the Ontario circuit. Full information

1980 California 500

1980 California 500 is 22nd CART race. Passed at the Ontario circuit. Bobby Unser won the pole position and this race. Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears also climbed to the podium, in second and third place. Race distance 200 laps (805 km).

Previous race: 1980 Milwaukee Champ Cars
Next race: 1980 Michigan Champ Cars
Race Start: 31st August 1980

Interesting facts and statistics about the 1980 California 500

12th victory for the Penske Racing team
10th victory for the Bobby Unser
15th podium for the Bobby Unser
13th podium for the Johnny Rutherford
11th podium for the Rick Mears

Penske PC9 #11 - 1980 California 500 winner

1980 California 500 results

Position	Name	Car	Points	Result	Team
1	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9, #11	1000	3h 11m 51s	Penske Racing
2	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #4	800	3h 11m 59.53s	Chaparral Racing
3	Rick Mears	Penske PC9, #1	700	199 laps	Penske Racing
4	Al Unser	Longhorn LR01, #5	600	193 laps	Longhorn Racing
5	Tom Gloy	Penske PC7, #61	500	190 laps	Penske Racing
6	Dennis Firestone	Penske PC6, #18	400	190 laps	Scientific Drilling Controls Racing
7	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #10	300	189 laps	Alex Foods Racing
8	Rick Muther	Penske PC7, #82	250	188 laps	Pacific Coast Racing
9	Dick Ferguson	McLaren M24, #81	200	187 laps	O'Hanlon Racing Team
10	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24, #34	150	185 laps	Wysard Motor Co
11	Roger Rager	Wildcat Mk3, #66	100	180 laps	Roger Rager
12	Sheldon Kinser	Watson ? 1980, #24	50	178 laps	Leader Card Racers
13	Herm Johnson	Lightning ? 1980, #28	25	174 laps	Cliff-Menard Racing
14	Michael Chandler	McLaren M24, #72	25	167 laps Engine	National Engineering
15	Tom Bagley	Wildcat Mk4, #40	25	159 laps Wheel bearing	Patrick Racing
16	Bill Alsup	Penske PC7, #41	25	154 laps Accident	Alsup Racing
17	Mike Mosley	Eagle 80, #21	20	149 laps Accident	All-American Racers
18	Bill Tempero	Eagle ? 1980, #65	20	143 laps Accident	Bill Tempero
19	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	20	125 laps Fuel pump	Interscope Racing
20	Greg Leffler	Lola T500, #44	20	118 laps Ignition	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
21	Phil Caliva	McLaren M16C, #47	15	117 laps Engine	Alsup Racing
22	Johnny Parsons jr	Lightning ? 1980, #15	0	116 laps Wheel bearing	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
23	Gordon Johncock	Phoenix 80, #20	15	95 laps Engine	Patrick Racing
24	Larry Cannon	Wildcat Mk1, #95	15	93 laps Engine	Kraco Racing
25	John Martin	Wildcat Mk1, #37	10	83 laps Oil leak	J&J Enterprises
26	Tom Sneva	McLaren M24, #9	10	76 laps Engine	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
27	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	10	71 laps Engine	William R Compton
28	Billy Engelhart	McLaren M24, #29	10	50 laps Clutch	Beaudoin Racing
29	Chip Mead	Eagle ? 1980, #91	5	26 laps Fuel	Intercomp Racing
30	John Mahler	Penske PC6, #92	5	24 laps Accident	Intercomp Racing
31	Gary Bettenhausen	Wildcat Mk2, #46	5	15 laps Transmission	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
32	Jeff Heywood	Lightning ? 1980, #86	5	14 laps Oil leak	Pacific Coast Racing
33	Spike Gehlhausen	Penske PC7, #35	5	12 laps Fuel pump	Fletcher Racing Team
34	Billy Vukovich	Watson ? 1980, #2	5	11 laps Turbocharger	Leader Card Racers
35	Larry Dickson	IAM 001, #30	5	10 laps Oil pressure	Machinists Union Racing
36	Jerry Sneva, Dick Simon	Orbitor Mk1, #43	5	3 laps Overheating	Armstrong Mould Racing Team

Qualifying Results for the 1980 California 500 on the Ontario circuit

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9, #11	32.213s	Penske Racing
2	Rick Mears	Penske PC9, #1	34.046s	Penske Racing
3	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #4	34.894s	Chaparral Racing
4	Spike Gehlhausen	Penske PC7, #35	35.226s	Fletcher Racing Team
5	Mike Mosley	Eagle 80, #21	35.359s	All-American Racers
6	Al Unser	Longhorn LR01, #5	35.927s	Longhorn Racing
7	Bill Alsup	Penske PC7, #41	36.445s	Alsup Racing
8	Tom Sneva	McLaren M24, #9	37.322s	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
9	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	37.713s	William R Compton
10	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	38.02s	Interscope Racing
11	Johnny Parsons jr	Lightning ? 1980, #15	38.092s	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
12	Billy Vukovich	Watson ? 1980, #2	38.133s	Leader Card Racers
13	Michael Chandler	McLaren M24, #72	38.357s	National Engineering
14	Gordon Johncock	Phoenix 80, #20	38.443s	Patrick Racing
15	John Martin	Wildcat Mk1, #37	38.779s	J&J Enterprises
16	Tom Bagley	Wildcat Mk4, #40	38.849s	Patrick Racing
17	Rick Muther	Penske PC7, #82	39.343s	Pacific Coast Racing
18	Greg Leffler	Lola T500, #44	39.845s	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
19	Bill Tempero	Eagle ? 1980, #65	40.149s	Bill Tempero
20	Billy Engelhart	McLaren M24, #29	40.348s	Beaudoin Racing
21	Gary Bettenhausen	Wildcat Mk2, #46	40.563s	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
22	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #10	37.672s	Alex Foods Racing
23	Dennis Firestone	Penske PC6, #18	38.594s	Scientific Drilling Controls Racing
24	Tom Gloy	Penske PC7, #61	38.683s	Penske Racing
25	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24, #34	38.911s	Wysard Motor Co
26	Sheldon Kinser	Watson ? 1980, #24	40.583s	Leader Card Racers
27	Herm Johnson	Lightning ? 1980, #28	41.027s	Cliff-Menard Racing
28	Dick Simon	Vollstedt ? 1980, #8	43.646s	Vollstedt Enterprises
29	Phil Caliva	McLaren M16C, #47	43.649s	Alsup Racing
30	Jerry Sneva	Orbitor Mk1, #43	48.157s	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
31	Larry Cannon	Wildcat Mk1, #95	48.161s	Kraco Racing
32	Larry Dickson	IAM 001, #30	49.515s	Machinists Union Racing
33	Roger Rager	Wildcat Mk3, #66		Roger Rager
34	Dick Ferguson	McLaren M24, #81		O'Hanlon Racing Team
35	John Mahler	Penske PC6, #92	Accident	Intercomp Racing
36	Jeff Heywood, Chip Mead	Lightning ? 1980, #86	Oil leak	Pacific Coast Racing