Has an IndyCar driver won a championship without winning a race?

Tom Sneva won a championship without winning a single race, doing so in 1978. In a competitive open wheel racing series like IndyCar, winning a championship without a single race win is unheard of, especially with the current points scoring system where points are awarded based on the final finishing position. However, that wasn't the case back on the day when points were awarded based on the completed mileage and position of the drivers.

When the American open-wheel racing series was in fact, and wasn't split into USAC and CART, the points scoring system awarded points to the drivers for completing mileage marks like 100 miles, 200 miles etc. depending on where the entrants were positioned. It was very much like the Stage Points system currently used by NASCAR, but more dynamic.

Hence, consistently running in the lead group was more beneficial for the championship rather than storming up the field and winning the races. Tom Sneva won the 1978 USAC Championship Car season with Team Penske without winning a single race. Let's have a detailed look at his championship season.

Tom Sneva: The 1978 USAC Champion who won the title without winning a single race

Tom Sneva came into the 1978 IndyCar season as the defending champion, having won the series the previous year with Team Penske. Sneva pretty much followed the same Formula as his 1977 season to win the 1978 championship but without the wins.

During the 1977 season with the 14 races calendar, Sneva either finished inside the Top 5 or retired from the race, as the cars weren't as reliable back in the day. Despite retiring from 6 races, he took the championship with 2 wins and 6 podiums to his name.

The 1978 IndyCar season featured an 18 race calendar. The season commenced with a shaky start with a DNF at Phoenix but was followed by a flurry of consistent results. Tom Sneva finished the next 5 races in the Top 5, which included 4 podiums.

He also started on pole position at the Indy 500, and was in contention for the race win but Al Unser Sr. took the win. Sneva retired at the Milwaukee Mile but podium results in the next two races put him back in the championship contention.

The second race at Milwaukee Mile and the California 500 were back-to-back race weekends where Sneva failed to finish inside the Top 10, but a strong end to the season with 4 podiums in the last 5 races sealed the championship for the Team Penske driver.

Tom Sneva was fighting Al Unser Sr. for the championship throughout the season, and won the championship by a little over 100 points, which wasn't a big margin back in the day. Al Unser won 2 races, but his absence from a couple of races and two DNFs in the final three races arguably cost him the championship.