1979 California 500

Race 11 of 14

Ontario
200 laps
Time of race: 3:24:22.0
Average speed of winner: 146.794 mph
Margin of victory: unknown
Lead changes: 18 among 5 drivers
Cautions: 12 for 51 laps
Lap leaders: A. Unser 1-25, T. Sneva 26-30, A. Unser 31-47, B. Unser 48-51, A. Unser 52-71, B. Unser 72-106, Ri. Mears 107-115, B. Unser 116-125, Ri. Mears 126-138, Rutherford 139, B. Unser 140-150, Ri. Mears 151-155, B. Unser 156-161, Ri. Mears 162-164, Rutherford 165, B. Unser 166-183, Ri. Mears 184-187, B. Unser 188-200

Race notes: Debut for Mario Andretti, Phil Caliva, Dennis Firestone, John Martin, Roger Mears, Bill Whittington, and Don Whittington. Only start for Bob Harkey and Billy Scott.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Owner	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Points
1	3	Bobby Unser	12	Norton Spirit	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	201.378	200	7	97	flagged	1000
2	1	Rick Mears	9	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	203.046	200	5	34	flagged	800
3	4	Mario Andretti	99	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	200.396	200	0	0	flagged	700
4	13	Johnny Rutherford	4	Budweiser	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	McLaren	193.849	199	2	2	flagged	600
5	2	Al Unser	2	Pennzoil	Chaparral	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hall	202.202	197	3	62	flagged	500
6	8	Danny Ongais	25	Interscope/Panasonic	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Interscope	196.773	196	0	0	flagged	400
7	30	Vern Schuppan	34	Wysard Motors	Wildcat	DGS	Goodyear	Wysard	178.172	192	0	0	flagged	300
8	29	Don Whittington	94	Budweiser	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear		178.912	190	0	0	flagged	0
9	14	Lee Kunzman	21	Vetter Windjammer	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hamm	193.278	188	0	0	flagged	200
10	25	Jerry Sneva	72	Hodgdon Racing	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hodgdon	182.582	170	0	0	engine	150
11	31	Tom Frantz	18	Kent Oil	Wildcat	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Frantz	176.651	152	0	0	flagged	100
12	24	Bill Whittington	98	Road Atlanta	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear		182.871	139	0	0	intake manifold	0
13	17	Roger Mears	60	Patrick Racing	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	191.984	135	0	0	engine	0
14	35	Larry Cannon	95	Cannon Racing	Wildcat	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Cannon	178.295	128	0	0	piston	25
15	12	Gordon Johncock	20	North American Van Lines	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	193.953	119	0	0	fuel pump	25
16	15	Dick Ferguson	23	Aero Electronics	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Aero	193.054	118	0	0	valve	25
17	5	Tom Sneva	1	Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	O Connell	198.282	108	1	5	oil pump	20
18	23	John Martin	30	Paramount Printing	McLaren	Offenhauser	Goodyear		184.907	107	0	0	engine	0
19	32	Billy Scott	28	Wheel Center	Eagle	Offenhauser	Goodyear		176.384	74	0	0	engine	20
20	20	Salt Walther	77	Walmotor	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Walmotor	188.107	69	0	0	transmission	20
21	27	Al Loquasto	69	Biane Winery	Eagle	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Gehlhausen	180.603	69	0	0	piston	15
22	22	Bill Alsup	41	WASP Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	Goodyear	WASP	186.548	59	0	0	cylinder	15
23	7	Steve Krisiloff	71	Dairy Queen/Kent Oil	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hillin	197.702	47	0	0	valve	15
24	16	Wally Dallenbach	40	Foreman Industries	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	192.139	46	0	0	engine	15
25	10	Spike Gehlhausen	55	Frosty Acres	Lightning	Cosworth	Goodyear	Fletcher	194.911	46	0	0	half shaft	10
26	18	Tim Richmond	35	S&M Electric	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Schultz	191.477	39	0	0	transmission	10
27	28	Phil Caliva	19	STA-ON	Eagle	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Gehlhausen	179.644	23	0	0	oil leak	10
28	19	Pancho Carter	10	Alex XLNT Foods	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Morales	190.074	21	0	0	camshaft	10
29	26	Bob Harkey	15	Alex Foods	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Morales	182.493	17	0	0	accident	0
30	33	Joe Saldana	59	Hoffman Racing	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Hoffman	188.770	14	0	0	oil pump	5
31	21	Dennis Firestone	86	AMS/Oil	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear		187.574	10	0	0	oil leak	0
32	9	Tom Bagley	11	Dairy Queen - Kent Oil	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hillin	196.275	7	0	0	accident	5
33	6	Johnny Parsons	32	Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	O Connell	197.828	4	0	0	valve	0
34	11	Mike Mosley	36	Theodore Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	Goodyear	Theodore	194.389	2	0	0	engine	5
35	34	Cliff Hucul	79	Hoffman Racing	Eagle	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Hoffman	182.452	2	0	0	transmission	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Podiums
1	Rick Mears	3340	11	2	2	6
2	Bobby Unser	3070	11	3	5	6
3	Johnny Rutherford	1833	11	1	2	5
4	Gordon Johncock	1783	11	1	2	4
5	Al Unser	1590	11	1	0	3
6	Danny Ongais	1459	11	0	0	0
7	Mike Mosley	1068	10	0	0	2
8	Tom Bagley	998	11	0	0	0
9	Tom Sneva	895	11	0	0	3
10	Wally Dallenbach	834	11	0	0	1
11	Mario Andretti	700	1	0	0	1
12	Lee Kunzman	485	8	0	0	1
13	Vern Schuppan	441	7	0	0	0
14	Salt Walther	299	7	0	0	0
15	Pancho Carter	279	10	0	0	0
16	Bill Alsup	265	10	0	0	0
17	Joe Saldana	242	11	0	0	0
18	Spike Gehlhausen	230	11	0	0	0
19	Tom Frantz	228	6	0	0	0
20	Steve Krisiloff	189	9	0	0	0
21	Jerry Sneva	155	2	0	0	0
22	Larry Rice	105	5	0	0	0
23	Tim Richmond	104	4	0	0	0
24	John Mahler	74	6	0	0	0
25	Al Loquasto	70	3	0	0	0