1961 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season August 2023 USAC Championship Car 1961 USAC National Championship Trail 12 April 9 November 19 National champion USA A. J. Foyt USA A. J. Foyt 1960 1962 The 1961 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Trenton, New Jersey on April 9 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on November 19. There was also one non-championship event at Pikes Peak, Colorado. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. The season was marred by the deaths of 1951 and 1958 season champion Tony Bettenhausen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Al Keller at Phoenix. Schedule and results Rnd Date Race name Track Location Type Pole position Winning driver 1 April 9 US Trenton 100 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Paved US Tony Bettenhausen US Eddie Sachs 2 May 30 US International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Paved US Eddie Sachs US A. J. Foyt 3 June 4 US Rex Mays Classic Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin Paved US Dick Rathmann US Rodger Ward 4 June 18 US Langhorne 100 Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, Pennsylvania Dirt US Al Keller US A. J. FoytNC July 4 US Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Pikes Peak Highway Pikes Peak, Colorado Hill US Bobby UnserA A US Bobby Unser 5 August 20 US Tony Bettenhausen 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin Paved US Don Branson US Lloyd Ruby 6 August 21 US Tony Bettenhausen Memorial Illinois State Fairgrounds Springfield, Illinois Dirt US Parnelli Jones US Jim Hurtubise 7 September 4 US Ted Horn Memorial DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Du Quoin, Illinois Dirt US Jim Hurtubise US A. J. Foyt 8 September 9 US Syracuse 100 Syracuse Mile Syracuse, New York Dirt US Rodger Ward US Rodger Ward 9 September 16 US Hoosier Hundred Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, Indiana Dirt US A. J. Foyt US A. J. Foyt 10 September 24 US Trenton 100 Trenton International Speedway Trenton, New Jersey Paved US Eddie Sachs US Eddie Sachs 11 October 29 US Golden State 100 California State Fairgrounds Sacramento, California Dirt US Shorty Templeman US Rodger Ward 12 November 19 US Bobby Ball Memorial Arizona State Fairgrounds Phoenix, Arizona Dirt US Al Keller US Parnelli Jones #FFFFFF Paved/Dirt Oval solid 1px #AAAAAA #D0E7FF Road Course/Hill Climb solid 1px #AAAAAA #FB9902 Non-championship race solid 1px #AAAAAA A A No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb. Final points standings List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos Driver TRE1USA INDYUSA MIL1USA LHSUSA MIL2USA SPRUSA DQSFUSA SYRUSA ISFUSA TRE2USA CSFUSA ASFUSA Pts 1USA A. J. Foyt 5 1 22 1 3 2 1 18 1 14 12 15 2150 2USA Eddie Sachs 1 2 Wth 3 5 DNS 3 DNQ DNQ 1 DNQ 6 1760 3USA Rodger Ward 18 3 1 19 6 17 1 17 3 1 2 1680 4USA Shorty Templeman 4 DNQ 10 5 2 2 5 16 16 12 1190 5USA Al Keller 5 2 15 12 18 5 4 16 5 18 17 1000 6USA Jim Hurtubise 2 22 5 8 7 1 18 3 18 2 14 DNS 939 7USA Len Sutton DNQ 19 4 2 10 9 9 4 11 4 8 860 8USA Bobby Marshman gold RY silver 17 7 19 11 15 9 8 7 2 19 3 11 769 9USA Parnelli Jones 15 12 2 23 11 12 5 12 9 2 1 750 10USA Dick Rathmann 4 13 3 6 4 3 DNQ 10 20 750 11USA Lloyd Ruby 8 21 1 16 16 11 DNQ 18 DNQ 670 12USA Don Branson 16 33 6 14 24 15 6 17 8 4 7 3 530 13USA Elmer George 8 8 4 DNQ 8 14 6 15 6 9 470 14USA Chuck Stevenson 6 400 15USA Roger McCluskey 6 27 17 5 DNQ 15 8 14 7 11 7 370 16USA A. J. Shepherd 11 26 DNQ 6 4 7 15 DNQ 360 17USA Chuck Hulse 12 DNQ 14 18 17 13 4 DNQ 6 6 DNQ 14 302 18USA Jim McElreath orange R silver 3 21 10 4 290 19USA Al Farmer DNQ DNQ DNQ 16 7 13 16 DNQ DNQ 5 5 260 20Australia Jack Brabham orange R silver 9 200 21USA Johnny Boyd 21 7 8 DNQ 15 160 22USA Norm Hall orange R silver 10 DNQ DNQ DNQ 150 23USA Troy Ruttman 3 20 16 140 24USA Don Davis 29 DNQ 13 13 14 10 12 13 8 8 DNQ 140 25USA Ronnie Duman orange R silver DNQ 15 DNS 11 DNQ DNQ 10 DNQ 13 9 DNQ 128 26USA Bob Christie 17 20 9 10 110 27USA Gene Hartley 11 100 28USA Red Riegel orange R silver DNQ 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 13 18 60 29USA Ralph Liguori DNQ DNQ 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 60 30USA Len Duncan 7 60 31USA Jiggs Peters 9 12 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 50 32USA Danny Jones DNQ 14 9 DNQ 40 33USA Don Freeland DNQ 9 DNQ 40 34USA Allen Crowe orange R silver 16 17 13 DNQ 12 DNQ 10 40 35USA Bruce Jacobi 14 DNQ DNQ 10 30 36USA Wayne Weiler DNQ 15 10 30 37USA Bob Cleberg 10 DNQ DNQ DNQ 30 38USA Rex Easton DNQ DNQ 9 DNQ 22 39USA Bud Tingelstad DNQ DNQ 14 DNQ 11 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 20 40USA Eddie Johnson 18 11 DNQ DNQ 20 41USA Bob Mathouser orange R silver DNQ 11 DNQ DNQ 20 42USA Dempsey Wilson 16 12 20 DNQ DNQ DNQ 15 DNQ 10 43USA Jack Turner 25 21 12 DNQ DNQ 10 -USA Bill Cheesbourg 28 13 DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Don Horvath orange R silver 13 DNQ 0 -USA Leroy Neumayer orange R silver DNQ 13 0 -USA Paul Goldsmith 14 18 0 -USA Keith Rachwitz orange R silver DNQ 16 0 -USA Jack Rounds 20 DNQ 17 0 -USA Bob Veith DNQ 25 17 0 -USA Ray Wearne orange R silver DNQ 17 DNQ 0 -USA Leon Clum orange R silver DNQ DNQ 18 DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Tony Bettenhausen 19 DNQ 0 -USA Tommy Copp orange R silver 21 DNQ 0 -USA Johnny Coy orange R silver 22 DNQ 22 0 -USA Ernie Koch DNQ DNQ 22 DNQ 0 -USA Ebb Rose orange R silver 23 26 0 -USA Cliff Griffith 24 0 -USA Jim Rathmann DNQ 30 DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Jimmy Daywalt 31 0 -USA Bobby Grim 32 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Beau Clerke DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Jim McWithey DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Jim Hemmings DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Harry Beck DNP DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Tony Bonadies DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Vern Harriman DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Ray Crawford DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Bill Randall DNQ DNQ 0 -Canada 1957 Bert Brooks DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Jack Conely DNQ DNQ 0 -Canada 1957 Ed Kostenuk DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Chuck Arnold DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Al Pombo DNQ DNQ 0 -USA Tony Romit DNQ 0 -USA Duane Carter DNQ 0 -USA Russ Congdon DNQ 0 -USA Jack Ensley DNQ 0 -USA Mike Magill DNQ 0 -USA Chuck Rodee DNQ 0 -USA Paul Russo DNQ 0 -USA Bud Sterrett DNQ 0 -USA Bob Wente DNQ 0 -USA Chuck Weyant DNQ 0 -USA Cliff Spalding DNQ 0 -USA Ray Brown DNQ 0 -USA Hal Rettberg DNQ 0 -USA Bill Hyde DNQ 0 -USA Russ Long DNQ 0 -USA Jimmy Davies DNQ 0 Pos Driver TRE1USA INDYUSA MIL1USA LHSUSA MIL2USA SPRUSA DQSFUSA SYRUSA ISFUSA TRE2USA CSFUSA ASFUSA 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/980-1961/ USAC National Championship 1961 Åberg, Andreas Driver Database 2010-12-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20120910234617/http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1961/ 2012-09-10 live http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1961.htm 1961 USAC National Championship Trail ChampCarStats.com 2010-12-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20110920031057/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1961.htm 2011-09-20 live 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. 272-273) See also 1961 Indianapolis 500 USAC Championship Car season Category:USAC Championship Car Category:1961 in American motorsport