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| 2020 USAC Gold Crown Series season | |
|---|---|
| USAC Gold Crown Series presented by NTT | |
 2020 USAC Gold Crown Series | |
| Season | |
| Races | 34 |
| Start date | February 9 |
| End date | November 1 |
| Awards | |
| National champion |  Julius Hayden |
| Constructors' Cup |  Red Bull |
| Manufacturers' Cup | Honda |
| Nations' Cup | United States |
| Rookie of the Year |  Rinus VeeKay |
| Indianapolis 500 winner |  Lewis Hamilton |
The 2020 USAC Gold Crown Series presented by NTT season was the 65th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by USAC. The season consisted of 34 races.
Julius Hayden won the National Championship, while Lewis Hamilton won the Indianapolis 500.
Teams, drivers, and constructors[]
| Team | Chassis | Engine | No. | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewart-Foyt Racing | Stewart 20P | Pontiac | 4 | Charlie Kimball |
| 7 | Robert Wickens | |||
| 14 | A. J. Foyt IV | |||
| 41 | Dalton Kellett | |||
| Andretti Autosport | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 26 | Zach Veach |
| 27 | Marco Andretti | |||
| 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | |||
| 29 | James Hinchcliffe | |||
| Harding Steinbrenner Autosport | Lola B20/00 | Toyota | 88 | Colton Herta |
| Bryan Herta Autosport | Lola B20/00 | Honda | 98 | Alexander Rossi |
| Arrow McLaren SP | McLaren M68 | Offenhauser | 5 | Pato O'Ward |
| 7 | Oliver Askew | |||
| 66 | Hélio Castroneves | |||
| Carlin | Dallara DW20 | Chevrolet | 59 | Conor Daly |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 8 | Marcus Ericsson |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | |||
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | |||
| Belardi Auto Racing | Dallara DW20 | Ford-Cosworth | 51 | James Davison |
| Team Goh | Reynard 20i | Porsche | 55 | Álex Palou |
| Dale Coyne Racing | Coyne DC-34 | Pontiac | 18 | Santino Ferrucci |
| DragonSpeed USA | Oreca Indy 20 | Cadillac | 81 | Ben Hanley |
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Oreca Indy 20 | Chevrolet | 24 | Sage Karam |
| 67 | J. R. Hildebrand | |||
| Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW20 | Chevrolet | 20 | Ed Carpenter |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | |||
| 47 | Max Chilton | |||
| Meyer Shank Racing | Ford F-220 | Ford-Cosworth | 60 | Jack Harvey |
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Rahal RH-028 | Porsche | 15 | Graham Rahal |
| 30 | Takuma Sato | |||
| Citrone/Buhl Autosport | Reynard 20i | Ferrari | 45 | Spencer Pigot |
| Team Penske | Penske PC-47 | Dodge | 2 | Josef Newgarden |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | |||
| 12 | Will Power | |||
| 22 | Simon Pagenaud | |||
| Vantelin Team TOM'S | McLaren M68 | Ford-Cosworth | 136 | Nick Cassidy |
| 137 | Ritomo Miyata | |||
| Kondo Racing | Reynard 20i | Chevrolet | 103 | Kenta Yamashita |
| 104 | Sacha Fenestraz | |||
| Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | Ginetta G63 | Honda | 140 | Naoki Yamamoto |
| 141 | Nirei Fukuzumi | |||
| carrozzeria Team KCMG | GM G20C | Cadillac | 177 | Kamui Kobayashi |
| 118 | Yuji Kunimoto | |||
| Drago Corse with ThreeBond | Ferrari 671 | Ferrari | 112 | Koudai Tsukakoshi |
| ROOKIE Racing | Reynard 20i | Offenhauser | 134 | Kazuya Oshima |
| 138 | Hiroaki Ishiura | |||
| 146 | Sho Tsuboi | |||
| Team Mugen | Lola B20/00 | Toyota | 115 | Ukyo Sasahara |
| 116 | Tomoki Nojiri | |||
| Itochu Enex Team Impul | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 101 | Yuhi Sekiguchi |
| 102 | Ryō Hirakawa | |||
| Buzz Racing with B-MAX | Lotus 121 | Lotus | 150 | Nobuharu Matsushita |
| 151 | Charles Milesi | |||
| TCS Nakajima Racing | Ligier JS62 | Porsche | 164 | Tadasuke Makino |
| 165 | Toshiki Oyu | |||
| Stacker & Associates | Stacker 20B | Buffalo | 56 | Harvey Andrade |
| 57 | Saul Norton | |||
| 58 | Rufus Reid | |||
| AK Racing | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 07 | Colin Steele |
| Earnhardt-Childress Racing | Earnhardt 20C | Chevrolet | 03 | Dexter Savage |
| Evernham Motorsports | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 19 | Tatiana Calderón |
| Hendrick Motorsports | Hendrick H16 | Chevrolet | 24 | Milan Berger |
| 35 | David Holden | |||
| 48 | Esteban Gutiérrez | |||
| Joe Gibbs Racing | Gibbs JG20 | Toyota | 18 | Olly Meadows |
| Petty Enterprises | Petty LP-20 | Dodge | 43 | Harley Petty |
| Wood Brothers Racing | Ford F-220 | Ford-Cosworth | 21 | Ashwin Summers |
| Ferrari Racing | Ferrari 671 | Ferrari | 53 | Daniel Burkett |
| 83 | Luca Filippi | |||
| Williams Indy Engineering | Williams IW20 | Porsche | 49 | Tomas Osborn |
| 51 | Ethan Curry | |||
| Sauber Racing | Sauber I39 | Ferrari | 89 | Regan Padilla |
| 96 | Mustafa Rush | |||
| Équipe Ligier | Ligier JS62 | Porsche | 33 | Lyra Lambert |
| 34 | Colby Wall | |||
| Red Bull Racing | Red Bull RBI16 | Honda | 1 | Julius Hayden |
| 13 | Dylan Butler | |||
| Racing Point Indy Team | Force India VJM13 | Mercedes-Benz | 71 | Tyler Hunter |
| 72 | Michael Mällinen | |||
| Toro Rossi Racing | Toro Rossi STI14 | Renault | 70 | Mikhail Aleshin |
| 95 | Jack Harvey | |||
| GM Performance Racing | GM G19C | Chevrolet | 113 | Alfie White |
| 133 | Natalie Day | |||
| Ford Roush Racing | Ford F-219 | Ford-Cosworth | 197 | Arie Luyendyk III |
| 199 | Alfred Bartlett | |||
| Mopar Racing | Mopar M20 | Dodge | 60 | Reggie Boyle |
| 69 | Jessica Buchanan | |||
| 80 | Brayden Bolton | |||
| 85 | Dawn Decker | |||
| Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR19 | Toyota | 54 | Donald Booker |
| 63 | Frazer Gardner | |||
| Honda Racing Corporation | Honda HO19 | Honda | 144 | Courtney Robbins |
| 145 | Darren Berger | |||
| Nismo | Nissan R20C | Nissan | 73 | Karina Nash |
| 74 | Christian Fittipaldi | |||
| MAZDASPEED | Mazda RX-20 | Mazda | 139 | Casper Elgaard |
| 142 | David Brabham | |||
| Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles | Oreca Indy 20 | Chevrolet | 173 | Jimmy Tapia |
| 174 | Taylor Davies | |||
| 175 | Jordan King | |||
| Glickenhaus Racing | Glickenhaus GC20 | Ferrari | 156 | Leonardo Skinner |
| 157 | Jay Bauer | |||
| 158 | Gonzalo Rodríguez | |||
| Callaway Cars | Callaway C26 | Offenhauser | 59 | Milo Cunningham |
| 65 | Marcus Solis | |||
| 68 | Alan Christensen | |||
| Jonathan Byrd's Racing | Byrd JB20 | Oldsmobile | 88 | Orlando Stokes |
| 91 | Jason Bright | |||
| Hemelgarn Racing | Panoz DP20 | Porsche | 92 | Francesco Dracone |
| 93 | Rodolfo González | |||
| 94 | Kazuya Oshima | |||
| Firestone Racing Promotions | Reynard 20i | Ford-Cosworth | 45 | Isaac MacDonald |
| 46 | Donovan Page | |||
| 147 | Ryan Briscoe | |||
| Fahan Racing | Ferrari 671 | Ferrari | 42 | Chris Fahan |
| Chevron Motorsports | Panoz DP20 | Pontiac | 105 | Alfonso Celis Jr. |
| 106 | Gabby Chaves | |||
| 109 | Yuichi Nakayama | |||
| Vasser-Sullivan Racing | Reynard 20i | Toyota | 318 | Sébastien Bourdais |
| Polestar Racing Group | Polestar MK7 | Cadillac | 40 | Keith Grant |
| Boeing Motorsports | Boeing 913 | Chevrolet | 78 | Wendy Burleson |
| 99 | Frankie Muniz | |||
| Lockheed Martin Racing | Lockheed Martin C-14 | Honda | 84 | Judy Simon |
| All-American Racers | Eagle 20GC | Chevrolet | 55 | Alex Gurney |
| Rick Ware Racing | Ligier JS62 | Honda | 16 | Teppei Natori |
| 17 | Mitsunori Takaboshi | |||
| HMD Motorsports | Panoz DP20 | Toyota | 55 | Sérgio Sette Câmara |
| Google Motorsports | Lotus 121 | Lotus | 81 | Hiroki Otsu |
| 90 | Sena Sakaguchi | |||
| 97 | Kazuki Nakajima |
Formula One entrants in the Indianapolis 500[]
| Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Power unit | Race drivers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Driver name | ||||
| Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | C39 | Ferrari 065 | 207 | Kimi Räikkönen |
| 299 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ||||
| Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | AlphaTauri-Honda | AT01 | Honda RA620H | 210 | Pierre Gasly |
| 226 | Daniil Kvyat | ||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | SF1000 | Ferrari 065 | 205 | Sebastian Vettel |
| 216 | Charles Leclerc | ||||
| Haas F1 Team | Haas-Ferrari | VF-20 | Ferrari 065 | 208 | Romain Grosjean |
| 220 | Kevin Magnussen | ||||
| McLaren F1 Team | McLaren-Renault | MCL35 | Renault E-Tech 20 | 204 | Lando Norris |
| 255 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | ||||
| Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team | Mercedes | F1 W11 | Mercedes-AMG F1 M11 | 244 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 277 | Valtteri Bottas | ||||
| BWT Racing Point F1 Team | Racing Point-BWT Mercedes | RP20 | BWT Mercedes | 211 | Sergio Pérez |
| 218 | Lance Stroll | ||||
| Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | Red Bull Racing-Honda | RB16 | Honda RA620H | 223 | Alexander Albon |
| 233 | Max Verstappen | ||||
| Renault DP World F1 Team | Renault | R.S.20 | Renault E-Tech 20 | 203 | Daniel Ricciardo |
| 231 | Esteban Ocon | ||||
| Williams Racing | Williams-Mercedes | FW43 | Mercedes-AMG F1 M11 | 206 | Nicholas Latifi |
| 263 | George Russell | ||||
The Open-Wheel War Begins[]
At the end of the 2019 season, a group of teams, feeling that they were being crowded out in the qualifying heats, presented a list of demands to USAC, including the implementation of a division system, in order to give them a chance at winning. USAC rejected these demands on the grounds that they were "trying to manipulate the racing product out of frustration". These teams, who had reformed the CART union from the near-split in 1979, followed through on their threat to split off and create their own series.
The FIA, chafing under USAC's total control over Formula One cars running in the Indianapolis 500, saw an opportunity to create an American open-wheel series, and sanctioned the new series, known as the FIA Formula America Series. The media deemed this to be the beginning of the Open-Wheel War.
For its 2020 season, Formula America had trouble finding venues, as all of the major ovals in the United States were either owned by Johnson Industries (either directly or via subsidiary International Speedway Corporation), Speedway Motorsports Inc. (which is effectively a Johnson proxy), or other pro-USAC track owners. FA ultimately had to run on smaller independent tracks and street courses, their largest being at Lime Rock Park.
Among the teams involved in the split included:
- Double A Pro Racing (4 cars)
- Jarvis Racing (3 cars)
- Marotti Autosport (1 car)
- Rising Dragon Motorsports (2 cars)
- SpeedZone Racing (3 cars)
- Vanwall Racing Team (3 cars)
In addition, Racefab, Mygale, and Renault left USAC for FA.
USAC was relatively unconcerned about the split, as none of the teams who had left were major teams, and had two wins between them, both by Vanwall. A lack of major venues and no major television networks wanting to carry the series further contributed to FA's early woes. The Racefab and Mygale chassis, neither of which ever won a single USAC Gold Crown Series race, could not keep pace with Vanwall's own chassis, turning FA races into long, boring races with little-to-no passes. Ultimately, the 2020 Formula America Series was marred by poor racing and the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was much talk of the series not surviving to the end of the year. Despite this, however, the inaugural season was run to completion, and the FIA began to reorganize the series.
Schedule[]
| No. | Race title | Track | Track type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilroy Garlic 500 | San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy, California | Superspeedway (restricted) | February 9 |
| 2 | Budweiser Indy 200 | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California | Road course | February 23 |
| 3 | Pennzoil 200 | Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia | Short oval | February 29 |
| 4 | Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | Streets of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida | Street course | March 8 |
| 5 | Indy Darlington 400 | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | Intermediate oval | May 17 |
| 6 | Pfizer 400 | May 21 | ||
| 7 | VisionAire 500K | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | Intermediate oval | May 23 |
| 8 | Coca-Cola 500K | May 27 | ||
| 9 | Music City Grand Prix | Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tennessee | Intermediate oval | May 31 |
| 10 | Genesys 300 | Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas | Superspeedway (unrestricted) | June 6 |
| 11 | Virginia Grand Prix | Virginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia | Road course | June 10 |
| 12 | The U 300 | Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida | Intermediate oval | June 14 |
| 13 | Aaron's 500K | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | Superspeedway (restricted) | June 20 |
| 14 | ABC Supply 250s | Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania | Superspeedway (unrestricted) | June 27 |
| 15 | June 28 | |||
| 16 | Indy Firecracker 400 | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | Superspeedway (restricted) | July 5 |
| 17 | REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader | Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | Road course | July 11 |
| 18 | July 12 | |||
| 19 | Iowa Gold Crown 250s | Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa | Short oval | July 17 |
| 20 | July 18 | |||
| 21 | Hollywood Casino 300 | Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas | Intermediate oval | July 26 |
| 22 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana | Superspeedway (unrestricted) | August 23 |
| 23 | Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline | World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Illinois | One-mile oval | August 29 |
| 24 | August 30 | |||
| 25 | Michigan 500 | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | Superspeedway (restricted) | September 6 |
| 26 | Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio | Road course | September 12 |
| 27 | September 13 | |||
| 28 | Howard Johnson's 225 | Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado | Intermediate oval | September 20 |
| 29 | Coca-Cola 400 | Denver International Speedway, Denver, Colorado | Superspeedway (restricted) | September 27 |
| 30 | USAC Disney 500 | Walt Disney World Speedway, Lake Buena Vista, Florida | Superspeedway (restricted) | October 4 |
| 31 | Harvest Auto Racing Classic | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana | Superspeedway (unrestricted) | October 11 |
| 32 | Atlanta 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia | Intermediate oval | October 18 |
| 33 | DieHard Indy 500K | Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama | Superspeedway (restricted) | October 25 |
| 34 | Florida Citrus Growers 500 | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | Superspeedway (restricted) | November 1 |
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic[]
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted the 2020 USAC Gold Crown Series. The season was put on hold prior to the race at Homstead-Miami Speedway due to rising case counts. When the season resumed in, Johnson made the decision for the USAC Gold Crown Series to temporarily travel with, and hold doubleheaders with, the NASCAR RCA Cup Series. USAC returned to Charlotte for the first time since the ill-fated 1999 race, and American open-wheel racing made its first visit to Darlington since the 1951 AAA Championship Car season. Following the Charlotte doubleheader, USAC and NASCAR were "decoupled", due to Bristol Motor Speedway being ill-suited for Gold Crown cars (the Bronze Crown Series ran as a doubleheader with the NASCAR Busch Series).
Most of the major races on the schedule were still run, including the Indianapolis 500, Michigan 500, Coca-Cola 400, USAC Disney 500, DieHard Indy 500K, and Florida Citrus Growers 500. Due to travel restrictions and case numbers, the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway and U.S. 500 at San Jose Motorplex, both Crown Jewel races, were cancelled, as were both races in the Japanese States (including the Crown Jewel Tokyo Gold Crown 500) and all international races.
As a result of the pandemic, the season was shortened to 34 races from 40, meaning it ended in November instead of December; it was the shortest Gold Crown season since 1996, which was 36 races. Tracks that lost their 2020 dates entirely due to the pandemic included Barber Motorsports Park, Long Beach, Exhibition Place, Laguna Seca, Milwaukee Mile, Tokyo Superspeedway, Twin Ring Motegi, Monza Circuit, Lauzitzring, Watkins Glen International, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Mallory Park, Ontario Motor Speedway, Portland International Raceway, Nazareth Speedway (which would have rejoined the schedule after being temporarily replaced by Circuit of the Americas in 2019), California Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway.
Results[]
WORK-IN-PROGRESS