1978 Coors 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
The 1978 Coors 200 (also known as the 1978 Texas 200) was the third race of the 1978 USAC Championship Car Season. Occurring on 15th April at the Texas World Speedway, the race would ultimately be won by polesitter Danny Ongais in a Parnelli-Cosworth, after having achieved the final lead change less than halfway through the event.
Background
The 1978 Coors 200 was the fourth running of the event, with the race lasting 200 miles.[1] It was one of two 1978 USAC Championship Car Season races to commence at Texas World Speedway, the other being the Texas Grand Prix,[2] which commenced on 6th August and was won by A.J. Foyt in a Coyote-Foyt.[3] USAC races would continue to commence at the speedway before it was completely removed from the IndyCar schedule when the 1980 race was cancelled following the USAC-CART conflict.[4]
Prior to the race, qualifying commenced with Danny Ongais winning the pole position with a speed of 211.889 mph.[1] Directly behind him was Penske-Cosworth's Mario Andretti, with Foyt lining up third out of 21 competitors.[1]
The Race
With the starting order decided, the 1978 Coors 200 commenced on 15th April.[1] Andretti shot into the lead on the opening lap, but Ongais regained it a lap later, only to lose it to Foyt on lap 3.[1] Foyt himself only held onto the first position for a lap, before Gordon Johncock in a Wildcat-DGS took over.[1] He led four laps, with Andretti taking the lead on lap 8, holding onto it for another 12.[1] When a caution period between laps 19-26 occurred, which was triggered by a crash from McLaren-Cosworth's Johnny Rutherford, Johncock emerged in front once the race restarted on lap 27.[1] He held onto it until being repassed by Andretti on lap 33.[1]
Andretti defended the lead for a further ten laps, but was unable to prevent Johncock from moving past on lap 43.[1] Three laps later, Ongais moved into the first position, in what ultimately turned out to be the final lead change.[1] From there, Ongais generally controlled proceedings, with Penske-Cosworth's Tom Sneva being his main competition.[1] He therefore claimed victory and $17,843 in prize money.[1] Sneva finished second, with Johncock a lap down in third.[1]
Availability
According to IndyCar on TV, the race received live flag-to-flag coverage from CBS as part of its CBS Sports Spectacular, being billed as the Texas 200.[5] The broadcast should not be confused with CBS' coverage of the 1978 Texas Grand Prix, which was also called the Texas 200 and can be found on YouTube.[6][3] In contrast, the Coors 200 broadcast has yet to resurface, and no footage of the race is currently publicly available.
Gallery
Video
See Also
- 1962 Trenton 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1962)
- 1962 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1962)
- 1963 Trenton 100 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1963)
- 1963 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1963)
- 1964 Golden State 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1964)
- 1964 Trenton 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1964)
- 1965 Golden State 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1965)
- 1965 Jimmy Bryan Memorial (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1965)
- 1966 Jimmy Bryan Memorial (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1966)
- 1966 Trenton 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1966)
- 1967 Trenton 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1967)
- 1968 Tony Bettenhausen 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1968)
- 1968 Trenton 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1968)
- 1969 Langhorne 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1969 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1969 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1970 Bobby Ball 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Langhorne 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Rocky Mountain 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1971 Bobby Ball 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Marlboro 300 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Michigan 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Rex Mays Classic (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Schaefer 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1972 Best Western Motels 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Indianapolis 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Phoenix 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Rex Mays Classic (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Tony Bettenhausen 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Trenton Times 300 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1973 Schaefer 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1973)
- 1973 Texas 200 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1973)
- 1974 Phoenix 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1974 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1974 Trentonian 200 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1975 Bricklin 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1975 Michigan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1975 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1976 Indianapolis 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Jimmy Bryan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Michigan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Trenton Times Auto Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1977 American Parts 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Jimmy Bryan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Michigan Grand Prix (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Texas Grand Prix (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1978 Daily Express Indy Silverstone (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1978 Daily Mail Indy Trophy (partially found CBS and BBC One footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1978 Norton Twin 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1979 Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially found footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; 1979)
- 1979 California 500 (lost footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1979)
- 1979 Gould Grand Prix (lost footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; 1979)
- 1980 Miller High Life 150 (partially found footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Norton Twin 200 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Primera Copa Mexico 150 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Tony Bettenhausen 200 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1981 Kraco Car Stereo 150 (lost CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1981)
- 1981 Pocono 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1981)
- 1996 Las Vegas 500K (partially lost footage of IRL Season race; 1996)
- Indianapolis 500 WFBM-TV Broadcasts (lost racing footage; 1949-1950)
- Indianapolis 500 MCA closed-circuit broadcasts (partially lost racing footage; 1964-1970)
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Racing-Reference detailing the qualifying and race results of the event. Retrieved 27th Jun '22
- ↑ Racing-Reference detailing the 1978 USAC Championship Car Season schedule. Retrieved 27th Jun '22
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Racing-Reference detailing the results of the 1978 Texas Grand Prix. Retrieved 27th Jun '22
- ↑ Racing Circuits detailing the history of the Texas World Speedway. Retrieved 27th Jun '22
- ↑ IndyCar on TV detailing the CBS broadcast of the race. Retrieved 27th Jun '22
- ↑ IndyCar on TV detailing the CBS broadcast of the 1978 Texas Grand Prix. Retrieved 27th Jun '22