1977 USAC Mini-Indy Series season

The 1977 USAC Mini Indy Series season was the first season of the USAC sanctioned Formula Super Vee championship which would later be called Indy Lights. The season contested of four races which was held from the 30 April to the 29 October with all of them being support races for the 1977 USAC Championship Car season.

The season would be won by two drivers, Tom Bagley who won the races in Trenton and Bowmanville. Herm Johnson was the other driver who got on the podium three times including a victory in the final round at Avondale.

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Location	Date	Pole position	Winner
1	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	30 April	Tom Bagley	Tom Bagley
2	The Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	12 June	Herm Johnson	Noel Bennett
3	Mosport International Raceway	Bowmanville, Ontario	2 July	Herm Johnson	Tom Bagley
4	Phoenix International Raceway	Avondale, Arizona	29 October	Fred Phillips	Herm Johnson

Teams and drivers

No.	Driver	Owner	Car	Engine	Note
1	Tom Bagley	Tom Bagley	Zink	Volkswagen
90		Tom Bagley	Lola
66		Eddie Wachs	Lola
2	Bob Cicconi	Dick O'Dea Racing	Lola	Volkswagen
3	Howdy Holmes	Wilbur Bunce Racing	Lola	Volkswagen
3	Vern Schuppan	Wilbur Bunce Racing		Volkswagen	Qualified car
6	Michael Yoder	David Yoder	Lola	Volkswagen
7	Tommy Thompson			Volkswagen
8	Charles Montague	Race Research Inc.		Volkswagen
8	Pete Halsmer	Race Research Inc.		Volkswagen
10	Noel Bennett	Noel Bennett	Lola	Volkswagen
12	Lou Gigliotti		Zink	Volkswagen
16	Billy McConnell	WMR Enterprises		Volkswagen
21	Harry MacDonald		Lola	Volkswagen
13	Harry MacDonald		Lola	Volkswagen
19	John Kalagian	Beth Ardisana		Volkswagen
20	Bill Follmer			Volkswagen
21	James George			Volkswagen
22	Jerry Peterson			Volkswagen
33	Roger McCluskey			Volkswagen	Qualified car
34	Howard Kelly			Volkswagen
36	Fred Phillips	Steve Lathrop	Zink	Volkswagen
37	Gary Bettenhausen			Volkswagen
38	Phil Caliva			Volkswagen
39	Richard Tallon	Richard Tallon	Lola	Volkswagen
41	Bill Alsup	Bill Alsup	Lola	Volkswagen
44	Bill Scott	Bill Scott	Lola	Volkswagen
45	Phil Krueger	Eric Lee Drange	Lola	Volkswagen
46	Stuart Moore	Janet Moore		Volkswagen
47	Eddie Miller	Carl Haas	Lola	Volkswagen
47	George Batchelor	Carl Haas		Volkswagen
48	Dan Park		Lola	Volkswagen
55	John Teas			Volkswagen
60	Gary Passon	Sharon Passon	Lola	Volkswagen
61	Herm Johnson	Austin Johnson	Lola	Volkswagen
63	G. Scott Ovel	G. Scott Ovel	Lola	Volkswagen
68	Dominick Billera	Lexa Billera	Modus	Volkswagen
73	Hardie Beloff		Lola	Volkswagen
77	John Barringer	John Barringer	Lola	Volkswagen
80	Gary Mesnick			Volkswagen
86	Rick Villate		Modus	Volkswagen
87	Johnny Kastner	Wilbur Bunce Racing		Volkswagen
89	William Henderson	Fox Racing Enterprises	Lola	Volkswagen

^[1]

Final standings

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th–10th place
Dark Blue	11th place or lower
Purple	Did not finish
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
	Driver replacement (Rpl)
	Injured (Inj)
	No race held (NH)

Pos.	Driver	TRE^[2]	MIL^[3]	MOS^[4]	PIR^[5]	Points
1.	Tom Bagley	1	5	1	17	500
1.	Herm Johnson	16	2	3	1	500
3.	Howdy Holmes	2	3	9	23	340
4.	Noel Bennett	4	1	12		330
5.	Bill Alsup	7	14	7	2	280
6.	Eddie Miller	3	18	4		260
7.	Phil Krueger		6	17	4	200
8.	Gary Passon		4		8	170
9.	William Henderson	17	19	2		160
9.	Michael Yoder	5	7	16		160
11.	Billy McConnell	8		5		150
12.	Pete Halsmer				3	140
13.	Richard Tallon		16	22	5	100
14.	Fred Phillips		9	8	13	90
15.	Bob Cicconi	6	21			80
15.	Johnny Kastner				6	80
15.	Stuart Moore			6		80
15.	John Barringer	15	8	10	20	80
19.	Bob Lazier				7	60
20.	Phil Caliva			25	9	40
20.	Chris Gleason	9				40
20.	Domenick Billera	13	11	11		40
23.	Ted Field				10	30
23.	Steve Lathrop	10				30
23.	Bill Scott		10			30
26.	John Kalagian	12		14	12	20
26.	Gary Bettenhausen	11		21		20
26.	Chip Mead				11	20
29.	G. Scott Ovel		12			10
	Harry MacDonald	19	17	13	14
	Bill Follmer	13			21
	Lou Gigliotti		15
	Jerry Peterson			15
	Bill Thelander				15
	Rich Ferguson				16
	Rich Amick				18
	Hardi Beloff		13
	George Batchelor	18
	Howard Kelly			18
	Tom D'Eath			19	19
	Peter Lissiuk	20
	Charles Montague			20
	Dan Park		20
	Tommy Thompson	21
	James George	22			DNS
	Richard Simis				22
	Rick Villate		22
	Gary Mesnick			23
	Nancy James				24
	John Teas			24
	Roger McCluskey			DNS
	Johnny Parsons				DNS
	Vern Schuppan			DNS

^[6]

References

^ "USAC Mini-Indy Super Vee race". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
^ "1977 Trenton". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
^ "1977 Milwaukee". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
^ "1977 Mosport". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
^ "1977 Phoenix". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
^ "1977 USAC Mini-Indy Championship". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[1] "USAC Mini-Indy Super Vee race". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[2] "1977 Trenton". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[3] "1977 Milwaukee". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[4] "1977 Mosport". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[5] "1977 Phoenix". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

[6] "1977 USAC Mini-Indy Championship". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.

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