The 1960 USAC Championship Car season was the fifth season under the United States Auto Club’s sanctioning of premier American open-wheel racing, following the transition from AAA. It featured 12 championship races, running from April 10 at Trenton Speedway in New Jersey to November 20 at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona. These events included a mix of paved and dirt ovals, with distances typically ranging from 100 to 500 miles.
The season’s standout achievement was A. J. Foyt securing his first USAC National Championship with 1,680 points. Driving for the Bowes Seal Fast team, Foyt competed in all 12 races, earning four victories (primarily in the latter half of the season, marking the first four wins of his storied career), two second-place finishes, and two thirds. This late surge helped him edge out competitors in a points-based system rewarding consistency and wins.
The Indianapolis 500 on May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the marquee event (also counting as round 2 of the season and part of the Formula One World Championship for the final time). Jim Rathmann won the race in a Ken-Paul Inc. Watson-Offenhauser roadster, averaging 138.767 mph over 200 laps, with Rodger Ward finishing second.
Other notable highlights included strong performances from Rodger Ward (second in points with 1,390, two wins), Don Branson (third with 1,220, no wins but excellent consistency and five poles), Jim Rathmann (fourth despite fewer starts), and Tony Bettenhausen (fifth).
A tragic note was the death of three-time champion Jimmy Bryan (1954, 1956, 1957) and 1958 Indy 500 winner, who perished in a first-lap crash at the June 19 Langhorne 100 while substituting in Rodger Ward’s car.
