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1977 California 500 Previous race results / Next race results                     Previous at this track / Next at this track     Post USAC Champ Car Series race number 12 of 14 Sunday, September 4, 1977 at Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA 200 laps on a 2.500 mile paved track (500.000 miles) Time of race: 3:17:16 Average speed: 154.687 mph Pole speed: 195.111 mph Cautions: 10 for 57 laps Margin of victory: 46.6 sec Attendance: 75000 Lead changes: 15 Glossary    1977 USAC Champ Car Series results   /   1977 standings

Pos St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Chass./Eng. Laps Money Status Led Pts 1 3 21   Al Unser American Racing Wheels   (Vel Miletich) Parnelli / Cosworth 200 81517 running 93 1000 2 6 14   A.J. Foyt Gilmore Racing   (A.J. Foyt) Coyote / Foyt 200 33592 running 0 800 3 4 8   Tom Sneva Norton Spirit   (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 199 21717 running 0 700 4 2 9   Mario Andretti CAM2 Motor Oil   (Roger Penske) McLaren / Cosworth 197 14417 running 12 600 5 8 78   Bobby Olivero Alex Foods   (Alex Morales) Lightning / Offy 195 10717 running 0 500 6 22 15   Vern Schuppan Alex Foods   (Alex Morales) Lightning / Offy 195 8407 running 0 400 7 29 80   Larry Dickson WKYG Radio   (Russ Polak) McLaren / Offy 193 8192 running 0 300 8 20 25   Danny Ongais Interscope Racing   (Ted Field) Parnelli / Cosworth 192 10517 running 23 250 9 11 74   Jim McElreath AMC Experimental   (Warner Hodgdon) Eagle / AMC 186 7242 running 0 200 10 30 28   John Martin American Kids Racers   (Richard Beith) Eagle / Offy 186 6267 running 0 150 11 5 20   Gordon Johncock STP Double Oil Filter   (Pat Patrick) Wildcat / DGS 174 12992 crash 67 100 12 32 85   Larry Cannon Cannon Brothers   (Wildcat Racing Associates) Wildcat / Offy 168 5317 running 0 50 13 13 19   Spike Gehlhausen PV Corp   (Carl Gehlhausen) Eagle / Offy 163 5197 transmission 0   14 24 48   Pancho Carter Jorgensen Steel   (Dan Gurney) Eagle / Offy 154 5077 overheating 0   15 15 65   Lee Kunzman S&M Electric   (Patrick Santello) Eagle / Offy 138 4962 turbocharger 0   16 9 5   Mike Mosley Sugaripe Prune   (Jerry O'Connell) Lightning / Offy TC 135 5342 engine 5   17 26 98   Gary Bettenhausen Agajanian   (Grant King) King / Offy 117 4722 water pump 0   18 27 86   Al Loquasto Frostie Root Beer   (Al Loquasto) McLaren / Offy 112 4602 manifold 0   19 25 27   Janet Guthrie Payne Air Conditioning   (Rolla Vollstedt) Lightning / Offy 112 4487 engine 0   20 21 40   Wally Dallenbach STP Oil Treatment   (Pat Patrick) Wildcat / DGS 78 4367 engine 0   21 33 58   Eldon Rasmussen C-W Cleaner   (Eldon Rasmussen) Rascar / Foyt 75 4247 engine 0   22 10 11   Roger McCluskey 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Lindsey Hopkins) Lightning / Offy 57 4132 piston 0   23 18 26   James McElreath AMAX Energy   (Jim McElreath) Eagle / Offy 48 4012 engine 0   24 1 2   Johnny Rutherford 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bruce McLaren) McLaren / Cosworth 46 4892 valve 0   25 28 77   Salt Walther Dayton-Walther   (George Walther) McLaren / DGS 45 3772 engine 0   26 17 38   Rick Mears Theodore Racing   (Teddy Yip) McLaren / Offy 42 3657 engine 0   27 19 91   Steve Krisiloff Eastside Cafe   (Art Sugai) Eagle / Offy 27 3537 engine 0   28 23 24   Tom Bigelow Thermo King   (Ralph Wilke) Watson / Offy 23 3417 valve 0   29 16 30   Johnny Parsons Caesar's Palace   (Thunder Racing) McLaren / Offy 23 3297 piston 0   30 7 6   Bobby Unser Cobre Tire / Clayton   (Robert Fletcher) Lightning / Offy 18 3177 suspension 0   31 31 97   Billy Vukovich, Jr. Genesee Beer   (Grant King) King / Offy 14 3062 engine 0   32 14 18   George Snider Longhorn Racing   (Bobby Hillin) Eagle / Offy 8 2942 gearbox 0   33 12 17   Dick Simon Payne Air Conditioning   (Rolla Vollstedt) Lightning / Offy 3 2942 piston 0

Relief Drivers: Car #27: Dick Simon (59 laps) Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: Pos Name Nbr Sponsor Owner Car Joe Saldana 23 Thermo King Phil Threshie 44 Mr. Golden Sunflower Chuck Gurney 57 Crower Jerry Sneva 67 Crombie Brothers Bob Harkey 99 Joe Hunt Magneto Caution flag breakdown: Condition From Lap To Lap # Of Laps Reason Free Pass 1 4 4     5 7 3   #18 stalled on track   8 11 4     12 17 6   #91 tow-in   18 18 1     19 22 4   #6 tow-in   23 34 12     35 39 5   #91 engine   40 40 1     41 44 4   #85 spun   45 50 6     51 54 4   #26 engine   55 79 25     80 84 5   #40 engine   85 123 39     124 130 7   #27 spun   131 165 35     166 170 5   #25 stalled on track   171 174 4     175 178 4   #20 accident turn 1   179 200 22       Percent of race run under caution: 23.5%             Average green flag run: 13.9 laps Lap leader breakdown: Leader From Lap To Lap # Of Laps   Mario Andretti 1 12 12   Al Unser 13 13 1   Danny Ongais 14 19 6   Al Unser 20 22 3   Gordon Johncock 23 52 30   Mike Mosley 53 57 5   Al Unser 58 67 10   Gordon Johncock 68 77 10   Danny Ongais 78 79 2   Gordon Johncock 80 83 4   Al Unser 84 99 16   Danny Ongais 100 114 15   Al Unser 115 151 37   Gordon Johncock 152 174 23   Al Unser 175 200 26 Points Standings after this race: Rank Driver Points Diff 1   Tom Sneva 3920     2   A.J. Foyt 2840   -1080   3   Al Unser 2610   -1310   4   Johnny Rutherford 2600   -1320   5   Wally Dallenbach 2305   -1615   6   Gordon Johncock 2230   -1690   7   Mario Andretti 1400   -2520   8   Tom Bigelow 1370   -2550   9   Pancho Carter 1210   -2710   10   Mike Mosley 1030   -2890   11   Danny Ongais 920   -3000   12   Bobby Olivero 860   -3060   13   Gary Bettenhausen 850   -3070   14   Johnny Parsons 840   -3080   15   Roger McCluskey 700   -3220   15   Lee Kunzman 700   -3220   17   Larry Dickson 620   -3300   18   Todd Gibson 600   -3320   19   Vern Schuppan 575   -3345   20   Rick Mears 480   -3440   21   Spike Gehlhausen 460   -3460