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1978 California 500 in USAC at the Ontario circuit. Full information

1978 California 500

1978 California 500 is 335th USAC race. Passed at the Ontario circuit. Tom Sneva won the pole position, Al Unser won this race. Pancho Carter and Gordon Johncock also climbed to the podium, in second and third place. Race distance 200 laps (805 km).

Previous race: 1978 Milwaukee Indycars
Next race: 1978 Michigan Indycars
Race Start: 3rd September 1978

Interesting facts and statistics about the 1978 California 500

3rd victory for the Chaparral Racing team
34th victory for the Al Unser
70th podium for the Al Unser
8th podium for the Pancho Carter
57th podium for the Gordon Johncock

Lola T500 HU2 - 1978 California 500 winner

Lola T500 HU2 #2 - 1978 California 500 winner

1978 California 500 results

Position	Name	Car	Points	Result	Team
1	Al Unser	Lola T500 HU2, #2	1000	3h 26m 40.27s	Chaparral Racing
2	Pancho Carter	Lightning ? 1978, #8	800	195 laps	Fletcher Racing Team
3	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat II, #20	700	194 laps Fuel starvation	Patrick Racing
4	Tom Bagley	Watson ? 1978, #22	600	194 laps	Leader Card Racers
5	Lee Kunzman	Sugai Fox, #90	500	180 laps	Art Sugai
6	Roger Mears	Eagle ? 1978, #28	400	158 laps	Galles Chevrolet
7	Steve Krisiloff	Wildcat Mk2, #40	300	153 laps Accident	Patrick Racing
8	Cliff Hucul	Wildcat I, #18	250	151 laps Accident	Longhorn Racing
9	Rick Mears	Penske PC6, #7	200	150 laps Engine	Penske Racing
10	Wally Dallenbach	McLaren M24A, #6	150	148 laps Engine	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
11	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren M24B, #4	100	129 laps Engine	Team McLaren
12	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	50	126 laps Fuel pump	Interscope Racing
13	Bobby Unser	Eagle ? 1978, #48	25	123 laps Exhaust header	All-American Racers
14	Dick Simon	Vollstedt 77, #17	25	108 laps Overheating	Vollstedt Enterprises
15	Johnny Parsons jr	Lightning ? 1978, #16	25	95 laps Overheating	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
16	Mike Mosley	Lightning ? 1978, #78	25	78 laps Accident	Alex Foods Racing
17	Sheldon Kinser	Watson ? 1978, #24	20	72 laps Oil pump	Leader Card Racers
18	Bob Harkey	Eagle ? 1978, #99	20	60 laps Engine	Joe Hunt
19	Al Loquasto	Atlanta 72, #87	20	40 laps Piston	Fiore Racing
20	Jim McElreath	Eagle 74, #26	20	37 laps Piston	McElreath Racing
21	Spike Gehlhausen	Eagle 74 Fletcher, #19	15	26 laps Engine	Carl Gehlhausen
22	Larry Cannon	Wildcat I, #85	15	21 laps Oil leak	Fiore Racing
23	Tom Sneva	Penske PC6, #1	15	18 laps Accident	Penske Racing
24	Roger McCluskey	Wildcat Mk2, #60	15	12 laps Overheating	Patrick Racing
25	Jerry Sneva	McLaren M16B, #30	10	10 laps Manifold	Thunder Racing
26	Billy Vukovich	Lightning ? 1978, #32	10	9 laps Clutch	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
27	George Snider	Coyote ? 1978, #14	10	4 laps Clutch	Gilmore Racing Team
28	AJ Foyt jr	Parnelli VPJ6C, #21	10	1 laps Gearbox	Gilmore Racing Team
29	Salt Walther	McLaren M24, #77	5	Accident	Dayton-Walther
30	Phil Threshie	Lightning 76, #47	5	Accident	Fiore Racing

Qualifying Results for the 1978 California 500 on the Ontario circuit

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Tom Sneva	Penske PC6, #1	Accident	Penske Racing
2	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren M24B, #4	Engine	Team McLaren
3	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6B, #25	Fuel pump	Interscope Racing
4	Rick Mears	Penske PC6, #7	Engine	Penske Racing
5	Spike Gehlhausen	Eagle 74 Fletcher, #19	Engine	Carl Gehlhausen
6	Pancho Carter	Lightning ? 1978, #8		Fletcher Racing Team
7	Al Unser	Lola T500 HU2, #2		Chaparral Racing
8	Wally Dallenbach	McLaren M24A, #6	Engine	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
9	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat II, #20	Fuel starvation	Patrick Racing
10	Johnny Parsons jr	Lightning ? 1978, #16	Overheating	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
11	Bobby Unser	Eagle ? 1978, #48	Exhaust header	All-American Racers
12	Salt Walther	McLaren M24, #77	Accident	Dayton-Walther
13	Tom Bagley	Watson ? 1978, #22		Leader Card Racers
14	Steve Krisiloff	Wildcat Mk2, #40	Accident	Patrick Racing
15	Mike Mosley	Lightning ? 1978, #78	Accident	Alex Foods Racing
16	Dick Simon	Vollstedt 77, #17	Overheating	Vollstedt Enterprises
17	Phil Threshie	Lightning 76, #47	Accident	Fiore Racing
18	Cliff Hucul	Wildcat I, #18	Accident	Longhorn Racing
20	Sheldon Kinser	Watson ? 1978, #24	Oil pump	Leader Card Racers
21	Jerry Sneva	McLaren M16B, #30	Manifold	Thunder Racing
22	Bob Harkey	Eagle ? 1978, #99	Engine	Joe Hunt
23	Larry Cannon	Wildcat I, #85	Oil leak	Fiore Racing
24	AJ Foyt jr	Parnelli VPJ6C, #21	Gearbox	Gilmore Racing Team
25	George Snider	Coyote ? 1978, #14	Clutch	Gilmore Racing Team
26	Billy Vukovich	Lightning ? 1978, #32	Clutch	Sugaripe Prune Racing Team
27	Lee Kunzman	Sugai Fox, #90		Art Sugai
28	Roger McCluskey	Wildcat Mk2, #60	Overheating	Patrick Racing
29	Roger Mears	Eagle ? 1978, #28		Galles Chevrolet
30	Al Loquasto	Atlanta 72, #87	Piston	Fiore Racing
31	Jim McElreath	Eagle 74, #26	Piston	McElreath Racing