1980 CART PPG Indy Car World Series

The 1980 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the second in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing. It consisted of twelve races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on November 8. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford. Rookie of the Year was Dennis Firestone.

One year after the first open wheel "Split", USAC and CART came together under the banner of the Championship Racing League (CRL). The entire season was supposed to be co-sanctioned by CART and USAC. However, USAC pulled out the CRL arrangement in July after only five races. USAC declared their 1980 season over, while CART finished out the remainder of the 1980 season on their own.

The season-opening race at Phoenix, set for March 2, was cancelled due to local flooding and washed out roads.

Johnny Rutherford in Jim Hall's Chaparral 2K ground effects chassis dominated the season. Rutherford won five races, including a dominating performance at the 1980 Indianapolis 500. Rutherford finished in the top five in the first ten races, pulling out to a commanding and unmatchable points lead. Rutherford started the season out by finishing 1st or 2nd in the first six races, and ended with a total of eight finished of 1st or 2nd. Rutherford's season was not without incident, however. In the final race of the season at Phoenix, while battling Tom Sneva for the lead, Rutherford tangled with a lapped car, hit the wall, then flipped over. The car landed upside-down hard on its rollbar, but Rutherford was not seriously injured. Rutherford happened to score the most points under both USAC's five-race points distribution and CART's 12-race points championship, securing what could be considered "undisputed" or "unanimous" top driver honors for the calendar year of 1980.