1971 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season August 2023 USAC Championship Car 1971 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail 12 February 28 October 23 National champion United States Joe Leonard United States Al Unser 1970 1972 The 1971 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Rafaela, Argentina on February 28 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 23. The USAC National Champion was Joe Leonard and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. For 1971 it was decided that there should be three separate points championships, for paved ovals, dirt ovals, and road courses.Waltz Keith Sweeping Changes For USAC After 1970 Season https://speedsport.com/racing-history/sweeping-changes-for-usac-after-1970-season/ Speed Sport 15 August 2019Braddock Bill $300,000 Marlboro Auto Slate Hits Paved Oval Trail in 1971 https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/15/archives/300000-marlboro-auto-slate-hits-paved-oval-trail-in-1971-motor.html 15 August 2019 The New York Times 15 November 1970 The existing Championship Car championship was then restricted to only paved ovals, and two new championships were created. The National Dirt Car Championship (which would become the modern Silver Crown Series in 1981) was run over four races, and won by George Snider. The Road Racing championship was originally to be run over between 8 and 10 races, however a lack of interest lead to just two races being held on the same day, on the 7th of August at Seattle International Raceway. Continental Championship cars were allowed, and made up the majority of the grid, with just 5 USAC specification cars entered. Jim Dittemore won the series in a Formula 5000 specification Lola T192-Chevrolet.Klopfer Wolfgang Formula A and Formula 5000 in America 2004 383340566X 79 Books on Demand The Road Racing championship did not continue in 1972. Entrants (partial list) TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds United States Vel's Parnelli Jones RacingColtFordUS Al Unser All Colt FordUS Joe Leonard All United States A.J. Foyt EnterprisesCoyote FordUS A. J. Foyt 3, 5-12 Scorpion FordUS Art Pollard 2-12 United States All American RacersEagleOffenhauserUS Bobby Unser 1, 3-12EagleOffenhauserUS Swede Savage 1-3, 10-12EagleOffenhauserUS LeeRoy Yarbrough 4-5 United States Dick Simon RacingLola (1-3, 7-12), Volstedt (4-6)FordUS Dick Simon 1, 3-12 United States Andy GranatelliMcNamaraFordUS Mario Andretti 1, 3-12Brawner Hawk (3-4), Volstedt (5), King (7-12)Ford (3-5, 7, 10), Offennhauser (8-9, 11-12)US Steve Krisiloff 3-5, 7-12 United States Gene White RacingMongooseFordUS Lloyd Ruby AllMongooseFordUS Cale Yarborough All United States GerhardtGerhardtOffenhauserUS Gary Bettenhausen All United States Grant KingKingOffenhauserUS Roger McCluskey 1-2 United States Jerry O'Connell RacingHeyhoeOffenhauserUS Bill Vukovich II 4-12 United States Leader Card RacingWatsonFord (1-5), Offenhauser (12)US Mike Mosley 1-5, 12 United States Lindsey Hopkins RacingKuzmaOffenhauserUS Wally Dallenbach 3-11KuzmaFord (3-11), Offenhauser (12)US Roger McCluskey 3-12 United States McLarenMcLarenOffenhauserUS Peter Revson 5, 7, 10 United States Patrick RacingEagle (3-8, 11), Brabham (10, 12)OffenhauserUS Johnny Rutherford 3-8, 10-12 United States Team PenskeLola (3-4, 7), McLaren (5, 8, 10-12)Offenhauser (3, 5, 8, 10-12), Ford (4, 7)US Mark Donohue 3-5, 7-8, 10-12 United States Volstedt RacingVolstedtFordUS Wally Dallenbach 12VolstedtOffenhauserUS Johnny Rutherford 1-2 Schedule and results thumb|Grid before the start of the Rafaela Indy 300 All races were run on oval speedways. On February 18, the non-championship races at Rafaela were transformed into a points-paying double round, due to a request from race organizers. On June 3, the Langhorne round was cancelled by its promoter because of insufficient entries. He alleged that the event had been boycotted by a number of drivers refusing to race at the outdated venue, which was torn down at the end of the year. On June 30, USAC cancelled the race at the new Mountaineer Speedway, which was never built to completion. The 1971 season was the first time the 500 mile triple crown was on the schedule with the addition of Ontario Motor Speedway's California 500 the previous year and the Pocono 500 added in this season. Rnd Date Race name Track Location Pole position Winning driver 1February 28 Argentina Rafaela Indy 300 Heat 1Autódromo de RafaelaRafaela, Argentina US Lloyd Ruby US Al Unser 2 Argentina Rafaela Indy 300 Heat 2 US Al Unser US Al Unser 3 March 27 US Phoenix 150 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona US Bobby Unser US Al Unser 4 April 25 US Trenton 200 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey US Bobby Unser US Mike Mosley 5 May 29 US International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana US Peter Revson US Al Unser 6 June 6 US Rex Mays Classic 150 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin US Bobby Unser US Al Unser - June 13 US Langhorne 150 Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, Pennsylvania Race cancelled due to security concerns 7 July 3 US Inaugural Pocono 500 Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania US Mark Donohue US Mark Donohue 8 July 18 US Michigan 200 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan US Bobby Unser US Mark Donohue - August 8 US Mountaineer 150 Mountaineer Speedway Parkersburg, West Virginia Race cancelled 9 August 15 US Tony Bettenhausen 200 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin US Bobby Unser US Bobby Unser 10 September 5 US California 500 Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario, California US Mark Donohue US Joe Leonard 11 October 3* US Trenton 300 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey US Bobby Unser US Bobby Unser 12 October 23 US Bobby Ball 150 Phoenix International Raceway Avondale, Arizona US Bobby Unser US A. J. Foyt Trenton 300 was originally schedulded for September 26, 1971 but was postponed due to rain. Final points standings Note 1: Donnie Allison, Carlos Pairetti, Denny Hulme, David Hobbs and Jim Hurtubise were not eligible for points. Note 2: John Mahler qualified 21st at Indianapolis. His car was driven in the race by Dick Simon who started 33rd as a result of the driver change. List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos DriverRAFARG PHX1USA TRE1USA INDYUSA MIL1USA POCUSA MISUSA MIL2USA ONTUSA TRE2USA PHX2USA Pts 1USA Joe Leonard 6 3 4 24 19 2 2 19 DNQ 1 3 10 3015 2USA A. J. Foyt 17 3 20 3 17 2 16 5 1 2320 3USA Bill Vukovich II 25 5 3 5 2 14 10 4 3 2250 4USA Al Unser 1 1 1 21 1 1 31 24 17 15 17 21 2200 5USA Lloyd Ruby 2 2 5 13 11 7 8 21 6 4 23 24 1830 6USA Bobby Unser 27 2 4 12 14 9 18 1 21 1 8 1805 7USA Gary Bettenhausen 11 7 20 16 10 16 6 22 3 3 24 5 1800 8USA Mark Donohue 6 19 25 1 1 18 6 16 1760 9USA Mario Andretti Wth 9 18 30 11 4 12 19 33 2 4 1370 10USA Wally Dallenbach Sr. 7 2 24 4 15 4 4 23 9 11 1220 11USA Art Pollard 24 6 26 5 16 16 16 2 20 9 1170 12USA Peter Revson 2 21 7 1100 13USA Roger McCluskey 5 4 22 22 9 23 25 3 18 28 22 2 1050 14USA Jim Malloy 14 21 11 4 DNS 26 13 DNQ 6 1030 15USA Steve Krisiloff DNQ 11 31 10 7 24 5 7 20 990 16USA Cale Yarborough 8 8 13 5 16 DNQ 32 5 8 14 11 DNQ 710 17USA Mike Mosley 3 23 10 1 13 19 655 18USA Swede Savage 4 5 3 12 16 23 590 19USA Johnny Rutherford 7 20 21 17 18 6 7 10 26 Wth 22 570 20USA Dick Simon 13 6 12 7 14 9 17 15 DNQ 22 25 7 405 21USA Jim McElreath DNQ 27 8 27 6 370 22USA Bud Tingelstad 7 DNQ 19 17 300 23USA LeeRoy Yarbrough 3 Wth 280 24CAN George Eaton gold RY silver 9 11 10 18 270 25USA Greg Weld DNQ 18 12 10 30 8 14 260 26USA Denny Zimmerman 24 19 19 8 22 24 26 20 13 DNQ 250 27USA Gordon Johncock 9 10 8 15 29 10 20 23 25 27 DNQ DNQ 225 28USA Sam Sessions DNQ 27 11 DNQ 7 DNQ 13 220 29USA George Snider 18 33 21 33 14 5 32 14 15 200 30USA John Mahler 16 16 23 Wth 23 9 200 31USA Larry Dickson 28 6 15 13 DNS 160 32USA Bentley Warren 10 24 16 26 23 8 22 Wth 120 33USA Karl Busson DNQ 8 23 DNQ DNQ 100 34USA Bruce Walkup DNQ 8 DNQ 29 DNQ 100 35USA John Martin DNQ 15 9 12 DNQ DNQ 100 36USA Al Loquasto 9 DNQ DNQ DNQ 80 37CAN Ludwig Heimrath Sr. 25 18 10 DNQ 60 38USA Jerry Karl 12 Wth 11 22 60 39USA Carl Williams DNQ 11 31 26 17 40 40USA Salt Walther 15 11 DNQ DNQ 20 30 41USA Mel Kenyon 32 DNQ 25 12 DNQ 30 42USA Bill Simpson 17 13 23 DNQ 19 18 DNQ DNQ 28 12 15 43USA Jimmy Caruthers Wth 12 13 19 DNQ 15 44USA Dee Jones 26 12 15 DNQ 15 -USA Donnie Allison 6 17 28 24 0 -ARG Carlos Pairetti orange R silver 12 9 0 -USA Bill Puterbaugh DNQ 14 DNQ 13 19 0 -USA Jerry Grant DNQ 13 0 -USA Don Brown 18 14 14 21 15 DNQ 0 -USA Bob Harkey 14 22 29 DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Dave Strickland 19 15 Wth 0 -USA George Follmer 15 DNQ 0 -USA Max Dudley 20 17 DNQ 0 -NZL Denny Hulme 17 0 -CAN Eldon Rasmussen orange R silver 18 DNQ 0 -USA Arnie Knepper 20 DNQ 25 20 DNQ 0 -GBR David Hobbs 20 0 -USA Rick Muther 22 25 DNQ DNQ 21 24 0 -USA Tom Bigelow 21 22 DNQ 0 -USA Tom Sneva orange R silver 21 DNQ 0 -USA Larry Cannon 23 26 Wth DNQ 0 -USA Jim Hurtubise DNQ 30 DNQ 0 -ARG Jorge Cupeiro DNS 0 -ARG Omar Cuvertino DNS 0 -ARG Ángel Monguzzi DNS 0 -ARG Carlos Salatino DNS 0 -USA Jigger Sirois DNQ 0 -USA Les Scott DNQ 0 -USA Ralph Liguori DNQ 0 -USA Danny Ongais DNQ 0 -USA Bobby Allen DNQ 0 -USA Jim Reynard DNQ 0 -USA Gig Stephens DNQ 0 -USA Bobby Johns DNQ 0 -USA Sam Posey DNQ 0 -USA Dick Tobias DNQ 0 -USA Don Hawley DNQ 0 -USA Johnny Parsons DNQ 0 -USA Crockey Peterson DNQ 0 -USA Bruce Jacobi Wth 0 -USA Tony Adamowicz Wth 0 -USA Ronnie Bucknum Wth 0 Pos Driver RAF1ARG RAF2ARG PHX1USA TRE1USA INDYUSA MIL1USA POCUSA MISUSA MIL2USA ONTUSA TRE2USA PHX2USA Pts Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish(Ret) Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race lapsgold RY silver Rookie of the Yearorange R silver Rookie References http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1971/ USAC National Championship 1971 Åberg, Andreas Driver Database 2009-05-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20080325034358/http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1971/ 2008-03-25 live http://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1971/ Indy 500 and USAC racing 1971 Harms, Phil Ferner, Michael Measures, Gerry Brown, Allen OldRacingCars.com http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1971.htm 1971 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail ChampCarStats.com 2009-05-11 http://old.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1971sum.pdf 1971 Championship Driver Summary Harms Phil Motorsport.com 2011-05-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20120810003609/http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1971sum.pdf 2012-08-10 dead http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053905/http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf 2016-03-04 (p. 230-231) https://www.champcarstats.com/year/1971.htm Retrieved July 30, 2025 https://www.oldracingcars.com/indy/1971/ Retrieved July 30, 2025 See also 1971 Indianapolis 500 * Category:USAC Championship Car Usac Championship