The 1973 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 16 races, beginning in
College Station,
Texas on April 7 and concluding in
Avondale,
Arizona on November 3. The first race of the season, in
Avondale,
Arizona on March 17, was postponed by rain and eventually cancelled due to infrastructure damage caused by the rain and scheduling conflicts.
Bob Criss was killed in a private test at Phoenix before he could enter another event. He was 35 years old. The
USAC National Champion was
Roger McCluskey and the
Indianapolis 500 winner was
Gordon Johncock.
In this tragic season, two drivers were killed at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Art Pollard died in an accident while practicing for the
Indy 500 while
Swede Savage, who crashed during the race, died by complications one month later. Another driver,
Salt Walther, suffered serious burns surviving a crash at the start of the race.
In response to those accidents, USAC revised the rules in time for the Pocono 500. The rear wing width was cut back from 64 inches to 55, fuel tank capacity was drastically reduced (from 75 gallons to 40) and the allowable fuel to be consumed in a 500-mile race was reduced from 375 gallons to 340.
^A Postponed due to infrastructure damage, and again on March 28 due to continued flooding. Eventually cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.
^B Scheduled for 500 miles, stopped early due to rain. See
1973 Indy 500
Final points standings
Note: Sam Posey, Peter Revson, Mark Donohue, David Hobbs, Jerry Grant, John Cannon, Graham McRae and Bobby Allison are not eligible for points. The Rookie of the Year was not awarded, because every rookie was not eligible for points.
Harms, Phil; Ferner, Michael; Measures, Gerry; Brown, Allen.
"Indy 500 and USAC racing (1971-1978)". OldRacingCars.com.
Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2009.