In 1979, CART's PPG IndyCar World Series ran for the third time in its inaugural season at Trenton Speedway – which would turn out to be the New Jersey venue's last major race.
Located on the outskirts of Trenton at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds, Trenton Speedway was a longtime venue for USAC Indy cars and stock cars, but went with CART following its breakaway from USAC for the 1979 season. The track started out a one-miler in 1949, but was expanded to 1.5 miles in 1968. The track's unique configuration included a "kidney bean" shape created by a 20-degree right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider Turns 3-4 complex than Turns 1 and 2.
Although the track had typically run 150- and 200-milers twice a year under USAC, CART's tried a double-header format for its early summer race at the track, with each race running to 125 miles. CART had experimented with the concept earlier in the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway and would do so again at Michigan, although the doubleheader format would not be tried again until IndyCar revived it at Texas last year.
CART returned to Trenton on Aug. 19 and ran a conventional 150-miler, won by Unser's Penske teammate Rick Mears, but sadly that would be the last hurrah for Trenton. The racetrack closed its doors at year's end and soon gave way to a housing development.