CART standings for 1979Click on the Driver to see 1979 race-level statistics for that driver. Next year |
| Driver | Races | Win | Podium | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | AvSt | AvFn | Raf | Miles | LLF | Points | Diff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rick Mears | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1455 | 142 | 252,420 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 13 | 2,596.28 | 9 | 4060 | |
| 2 | Bobby Unser | 14 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 1416 | 582 | 59,353 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 13 | 2,516.26 | 10 | 3820 | -240 |
| 3 | Gordon Johncock | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1236 | 158 | 50,744 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 10 | 2,165.22 | 6 | 2211 | -1,849 |
| 4 | Johnny Rutherford | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1269 | 129 | 29,121 | 6.1 | 7.1 | 10 | 2,224.10 | 5 | 2163 | -1,897 |
| 5 | Al Unser | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1317 | 327 | 38,195 | 5.1 | 6.9 | 11 | 2,277.22 | 7 | 2085 | -1,975 |
| 6 | Danny Ongais | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1012 | 33 | 37,987 | 8.9 | 10.5 | 6 | 1,939.13 | 1 | 1473 | -2,587 |
| 7 | Tom Sneva | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1148 | 38 | 28,769 | 6.9 | 9.2 | 8 | 2,054.01 | 4 | 1360 | -2,700 |
| 8 | Tom Bagley | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1138 | 0 | 24,710 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 12 | 1,920.68 | 1 | 1208 | -2,852 |
| 9 | Wally Dallenbach | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1056 | 0 | 18,470 | 7.4 | 9.9 | 8 | 1,640.08 | 3 | 1149 | -2,911 |
| 10 | Mike Mosley | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 757 | 2 | 59,828 | 9.1 | 13.5 | 4 | 1,270.68 | 2 | 1121 | -2,939 |
| 11 | Mario Andretti | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 1 | 500.00 | 1 | 700 | -3,360 |
| 12 | Lee Kunzman | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 518 | 30 | 16,820 | 11.1 | 14.1 | 4 | 943.37 | 1 | 485 | -3,575 |
| 13 | Pancho Carter | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 800 | 5 | 20,125 | 12.7 | 13.2 | 7 | 1,360.20 | 0 | 452 | -3,608 |
| 14 |  Vern Schuppan | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 656 | 0 | 19,068 | 17.5 | 13.8 | 2 | 1,319.04 | 0 | 449 | -3,611 |
| 15 | Bill Alsup | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 918 | 1 | 0 | 14.4 | 12.0 | 8 | 1,435.15 | 0 | 400 | -3,660 |
| 16 | Joe Saldana | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 813 | 0 | 22,721 | 16.8 | 13.9 | 7 | 1,438.72 | 0 | 368 | -3,692 |
| 17 | Spike Gehlhausen | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 599 | 0 | 24,209 | 14.1 | 16.0 | 2 | 1,088.65 | 0 | 343 | -3,717 |
| 18 | Salt Walther | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 717 | 13 | 22,757 | 13.3 | 11.4 | 6 | 1,349.00 | 0 | 314 | -3,746 |
| 19 | Steve Krisiloff | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 593 | 0 | 23,645 | 13.0 | 14.8 | 3 | 1,160.17 | 0 | 279 | -3,781 |
| 20 | Tom Frantz | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 517 | 0 | 0 | 17.7 | 12.3 | 4 | 958.56 | 0 | 236 | -3,824 |
| 21 | Jerry Sneva | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 186 | 0 | 17,117 | 23.0 | 20.5 | 0 | 465.00 | 0 | 155 | -3,905 |
| 22 | Tim Richmond | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 226 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 16.8 | 1 | 401.27 | 0 | 112 | -3,948 |
| 23 | Larry Rice | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 415 | 0 | 19,496 | 17.6 | 13.8 | 3 | 694.36 | 0 | 105 | -3,955 |
| 24 | Herm Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 224 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 | 10.0 | 2 | 270.98 | 0 | 98 | -3,962 |
| 25 | John Mahler | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 281 | 0 | 17,572 | 17.2 | 15.5 | 3 | 521.50 | 0 | 74 | -3,986 |
| 26 | Al Loquasto | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 0 | 0 | 22.7 | 16.7 | 1 | 294.50 | 0 | 70 | -3,990 |
| 27 | Larry Cannon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 243 | 0 | 0 | 18.8 | 14.3 | 0 | 471.69 | 0 | 56 | -4,004 |
| 28 | Dick Ferguson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 | 16.7 | 1 | 401.00 | 0 | 35 | -4,025 |
| 29 | Bill Scott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 | 19.0 | 0 | 185.00 | 0 | 20 | -4,040 |
| 30 |  Phil Caliva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 28.0 | 27.0 | 0 | 57.50 | 0 | 10 | -4,050 |
 Cliff Hucul | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 20,346 | 26.0 | 32.0 | 0 | 60.00 | 0 | |||
| Johnny Parsons | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 17,695 | 7.5 | 32.5 | 0 | 50.00 | 0 | |||
| A.J. Foyt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 1 | 99,058 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1 | 500.00 | 1 | |||
| Howdy Holmes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195 | 0 | 35,964 | 13.0 | 7.0 | 1 | 487.50 | 0 | |||
| Don Whittington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 0 | 0 | 29.0 | 8.0 | 1 | 475.00 | 0 | |||
| Billy Vukovich, Jr. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 194 | 0 | 27,921 | 34.0 | 8.0 | 1 | 485.00 | 0 | |||
| Frank Weiss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 9.0 | 1 | 130.89 | 0 | |||
| Bill Whittington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 0 | 0 | 24.0 | 12.0 | 0 | 347.50 | 0 | |||
| Roger McCluskey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 191 | 0 | 24,480 | 25.0 | 13.0 | 1 | 477.50 | 0 | |||
| Roger Mears | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 13.0 | 0 | 337.50 | 0 | |||
| Tom Bigelow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 0 | 23,953 | 30.0 | 14.0 | 1 | 475.00 | 0 | |||
| Phil Threshie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 0 | 22,969 | 29.0 | 17.0 | 1 | 430.00 | 0 | |||
| John Martin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 | 18.0 | 0 | 267.50 | 0 | |||
| Eldon Rasmussen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 18,047 | 33.0 | 23.0 | 0 | 222.50 | 0 | |||
| Larry Dickson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 0 | 17,797 | 24.0 | 24.0 | 0 | 215.00 | 0 | |||
| Dick Simon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 0 | 17,960 | 20.0 | 26.0 | 0 | 142.50 | 0 | |||
| Sheldon Kinser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 17,025 | 10.0 | 28.0 | 0 | 100.00 | 0 | |||
| Bob Harkey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 29.0 | 0 | 42.50 | 0 | |||
| Dennis Firestone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 | 31.0 | 0 | 25.00 | 0 | |||
| George Snider | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17,691 | 35.0 | 33.0 | 0 | 17.50 | 0 | |||
| Janet Guthrie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16,899 | 14.0 | 34.0 | 0 | 7.50 | 0 | |||
| Jim McElreath | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,453 | 19.0 | 35.0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |