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1978 California 500 Previous race results / Next race results                     Previous at this track / Next at this track     Post USAC Champ Car Series race number 13 of 18 Sunday, September 3, 1978 at Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA 200 laps on a 2.500 mile paved track (500.000 miles) Time of race: 3:26:40 Average speed: 145.158 mph Pole speed: 199.933 mph Cautions: 7 for 30 laps Margin of victory: n/a Attendance: n/a Lead changes: 11 Glossary    1978 USAC Champ Car Series results   /   1978 standings

Pos St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Chass./Eng. Laps Money Status Led Pts 1 7 2   Al Unser 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Jim Hall) Lola / Cosworth 200 80795 running 74 1000 2 6 8   Pancho Carter Budweiser   (Robert Fletcher) Lightning / Cosworth 195 34770 running 0 800 3 9 20   Gordon Johncock North American Van Lines   (Pat Patrick) Wildcat / DGS 194 24545 fuel pickup 16 700 4 13 22   Tom Bagley Kent Oil   (Ralph Wilke) Watson / Offy 194 14395 running 0 600 5 27 90   Lee Kunzman Hank's Datsun   (Art Sugai) Sugai / Offy 180 10695 running 0 500 6 29 28   Roger Mears Galles Chevrolet   (Wheel Center) Eagle / Offy 158 8385 running 0 400 7 14 40   Steve Krisiloff Foreman Industries   (Pat Patrick) Wildcat / DGS 153 7670 crash 0 300 8 18 18   Cliff Hucul Longhorn Racing   (Bobby Hillin) Wildcat / DGS 151 7195 crash 0 250 9 4 7   Rick Mears Gould Charge   (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 150 6720 engine 0 200 10 8 6   Wally Dallenbach Sugaripe Prune   (Jerry O'Connell) McLaren / Cosworth 148 6645 engine 0 150 11 2 4   Johnny Rutherford 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bruce McLaren) McLaren / Cosworth 129 20970 engine 96 100 12 3 25   Danny Ongais Interscope Racing   (Ted Field) Parnelli / Cosworth 126 5995 fuel pump 7 50 13 11 48   Bobby Unser ARCO Graphite   (Dan Gurney) Eagle / Cosworth 123 5775 exhaust header 0 25 14 16 17   Dick Simon La Machine   (Rolla Vollstedt) Vollstedt / Offy 108 5055 overheating 0 25 15 10 16   Johnny Parsons 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Lindsey Hopkins) Lightning / Offy 95 4940 overheating 0 25 16 15 78   Mike Mosley Alex Foods   (Alex Morales) Lightning / Offy 78 5020 crash 0 25 17 20 24   Sheldon Kinser Thermo King   (Ralph Wilke) Watson / Offy 72 4700 oil pressure 0 20 18 22 99   Bob Harkey Joe Hunt Magneto   (Joe Hunt) Eagle / Offy 60 4580 engine 0 20 19 30 87   Al Loquasto Machinists Union   (Frank Fiore) Rascar / Offy 40 4465 piston 0 20 20 31 26   Jim McElreath Circle City Coal   (Jim McElreath) Eagle / Offy 37 4445 piston 0 20 21 5 19   Spike Gehlhausen Tibon   (Carl Gehlhausen) Eagle / Offy 26 4225 engine block 0 15 22 23 85   Larry Cannon Natural Lite Beer   (Larry Cannon) Wildcat / DGS 22 4110 oil leak 0 15 23 1 1   Tom Sneva Norton Spirit   (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 18 5390 crash 7 15 24 28 60   Roger McCluskey North American Van Lines   (Pat Patrick) Wildcat / Offy 12 4070 overheating 0 15 25 21 30   Jerry Sneva Thunder Racing   (Marv Schmidt) McLaren / Offy 10 3750 manifold 0 10 26 26 32   Billy Vukovich, Jr. Sugaripe Prune   (Jerry O'Connell) Lightning / Cosworth 9 3635 clutch 0 10 27 25 14   George Snider Gilmore / Citicorp   (A.J. Foyt) Coyote / Foyt 4 3515 clutch 0 10 28 24 21   A.J. Foyt Gilmore / American Racing   (Vel Miletich) Parnelli / Cosworth 1 5995 gearbox 0 10 29 12 77   Salt Walther Dayton-Walther   (George Walther) McLaren / Cosworth 0 3275 crash 0 5 30 17 47   Phil Threshie Machinists Union   (Phil Threshie) Lightning / Offy 0 3155 crash 0 5 31 19 38   Jerry Karl Bentzel Construction   (Ralph Bentzel) McLaren / Offy 0 3040 did not start 0 5

Caution flag breakdown: Condition From Lap To Lap # Of Laps Reason Free Pass 1 6 6   #47,77 accident turn 1   7 18 12     19 23 5   #1 accident turn 1   24 66 43     67 69 3   #90 tow-in   70 80 11     81 85 5   #78 accident turn 4   86 88 3     89 91 3   #8 spun turn 4   92 151 60     152 154 3   debris   155 155 1     156 162 7   #40,18 accident turn 4   163 200 38       Percent of race run under caution: 16.0%             Average green flag run: 24.0 laps Lap leader breakdown: Leader From Lap To Lap # Of Laps   Tom Sneva 1 7 7   Danny Ongais 8 14 7   Johnny Rutherford 15 19 5   Al Unser 20 22 3   Johnny Rutherford 23 45 23   Al Unser 46 47 2   Johnny Rutherford 48 82 35   Al Unser 83 86 4   Johnny Rutherford 87 119 33   Al Unser 120 177 58   Gordon Johncock 178 193 16   Al Unser 194 200 7 Points Standings after this race: Rank Driver Points Diff 1   Al Unser 3644     2   Tom Sneva 3293   -351   3   Gordon Johncock 2916   -728   4   Wally Dallenbach 2568   -1076   5   Steve Krisiloff 2515   -1129   6   Johnny Rutherford 2411   -1233   7   A.J. Foyt 2184   -1460   8   Danny Ongais 2118   -1526   9   Rick Mears 1691   -1953   10   Larry Dickson 1121   -2523   11   Pancho Carter 1050   -2594   12   Tom Bagley 1031   -2613   13   Bobby Unser 1011   -2633   14   George Snider 670   -2974   15   Johnny Parsons 648   -2996   16   Dick Simon 578   -3066   16   Tom Bigelow 578   -3066   18   Lee Kunzman 513   -3131   19   Cliff Hucul 511   -3133   20   Jim McElreath 498   -3146   21   Roger Mears 400   -3244