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From 1956 to 1978, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned Championship Car class featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, races included road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. Thereafter, the schedule consisted mainly of paved ovals. In 1979, the majority of car owners left the USAC to race under the auspices of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). This led to a decline in the number of events in the schedule, and by the 1984–85 season, the Championship comprised only one race, the Indianapolis 500. The era of USAC Championship Cars concluded with the formation of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1995, which was sanctioned by USAC until June 1997 when the IRL assumed officiating duties after the controversial finish of the 81st Indianapolis 500 and a scoring mistake that marred the following event.^[1] The most successful driver in USAC Championship Car history was A. J. Foyt with seven National Championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories. Foyt competed in every season from 1957 to 1992–93.

#	Season	Races					National Champion	Indianapolis 500	Drivers		Ref
		Dirt Oval	Hill Climb	Paved Oval	Road	Total			Ranked	Fatalities
1	1956	8 (1)	(1)	4 (1)	-	12 (3)	Jimmy Bryan	Pat Flaherty	36	-	[2][3]
2	1957	9 (1)	(1)	4 (3)	-	13 (5)	Jimmy Bryan	Sam Hanks	41	1	[4][5]
3	1958	8 (1)	(1)	5 (3)	-	13 (5)	Tony Bettenhausen	Jimmy Bryan	38	3	[6][7]
4	1959	7 (1)	(1)	6 (1)	-	13 (3)	Rodger Ward	Rodger Ward	50	7	[8][9]
5	1960	7 (1)	(1)	5	-	12 (2)	A. J. Foyt	Jim Rathmann	45	1	[10][11]
6	1961	7	(1)	5	-	12 (1)	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt	43	2	[12][13]
7	1962	7	(1)	6	-	13 (1)	Rodger Ward	Rodger Ward	39	1	[14][15]
8	1963	6	(1)	6	-	12 (1)	A. J. Foyt	Parnelli Jones	36	-	[16][17]
9	1964	5	(1)	8	-	13 (1)	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt	46	4	[18][19]
10	1965	4	1	12	1	18	Mario Andretti	Jim Clark	57	-	[20][21]
11	1966	4	1	10	1 (1)	16 (1)	Mario Andretti	Graham Hill	57	1	[22][23]
12	1967	4	1	10	6	21	A. J. Foyt	A. J. Foyt	62	-	[24][25]
13	1968	5	1	13	9	28	Bobby Unser	Bobby Unser	68	2	[26][27]
14	1969	5	1	10	8	24	Mario Andretti	Mario Andretti	72	-	[28][29]
15	1970	5	(1)	10	3	18 (1)	Al Unser	Al Unser	55	-	[30][31]
16	1971	-	-	12	-	12	Joe Leonard	Al Unser	44	-	[32][33]
17	1972	-	-	10	-	10	Joe Leonard	Mark Donohue	42	1	[34][35]
18	1973	-	-	16	-	16	Roger McCluskey	Gordon Johncock	36	3	[36][37]
19	1974	-	-	14	-	14	Bobby Unser	Johnny Rutherford	37	-	[38][39]
20	1975	-	-	13	-	13	A. J. Foyt	Bobby Unser	38	-	[40][41]
21	1976	-	-	13	-	13	Gordon Johncock	Johnny Rutherford	39	-	[42][43]
22	1977	-	-	13	1	14	Tom Sneva	A. J. Foyt	41	-	[44][45]
23	1978	-	-	15	3	18	Tom Sneva	Al Unser	45	-	[46][47]
24	1979	-	-	7	-	7	A. J. Foyt	Rick Mears	32	-	[48][49]

#	Season	Races			National Champion	Indianapolis 500	Drivers		Ref
		Paved Oval	Road	Total			Ranked	Fatalities
25	1980	4	1	5	Johnny Rutherford	Johnny Rutherford	57	-	[50][51]

#	Season	Races			National Champion	Indianapolis 500	Drivers		Ref
		Dirt Oval	Paved Oval	Total			Ranked	Fatalities
26	1981–82	3	3	6	George Snider	Bobby Unser*	51	1	[52][53]
						Gordon Johncock*
27	1982–83	3	1	4	Tom Sneva		39	-	[54][55]
28	1983–84	1	1	2	Rick Mears		39	-	[56][57]
29	1984–85	-	1	1	Danny Sullivan		32	-	[58]
30	1985–86	-	1	1	Bobby Rahal		33	-	[59]
31	1986–87	-	1	1	Al Unser		33	-	[60]
32	1987–88	-	1	1	Rick Mears		33	-	[61]
33	1988–89	-	1	1	Emerson Fittipaldi		33	-	[62]
34	1989–90	-	1	1	Arie Luyendyk		33	-	[63]
35	1990–91	-	1	1	Rick Mears		33	-	[64]
36	1991–92	-	1	1	Al Unser Jr.		33	1	[65]
37	1992–93	-	1	1	Emerson Fittipaldi		33	-	[66]
38	1993–94	-	1	1	Al Unser Jr.		33	-	[67]
39	1994–95	-	1	1	Jacques Villeneuve		33	-	[68]

* The 1981-82 season included both the 65th and 66th Indianapolis 500 races.
( ) Figures in parentheses denote the number of non-championship races in that season.

• List of American Championship Car winners
• List of American Championship Car Rookie of the Year Winners
• Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
• List of Indianapolis 500 winners