The 1980 USAC Championship Car season consisted of five races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Lexington, Ohio on July 13.

USAC and CART united in early 1980 to form a co-sanctioning agreement under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL).

Johnny Rutherford, driving Jim Hall's revolutionary ground effects Chaparral 2K won three of the five races (including Indianapolis), and finished second in the other two.

[1] However, these three events were eventually scrapped when USAC entered into a joint sanctioning effort with CART.

In the spring of 1980, USAC and CART merged their schedules for the newly created CRL Championship.