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1971 USAC National Dirt Car Championship

{{Short description|American auto racing season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Motorsport season|year=1971|series=USAC National Dirt Car Championship|nextlink=1972 USAC National Dirt Car Championship|previouslink=1970 USAC Championship Car season}}

The 1971 USAC National Dirt Car Championship was the first season of the newly formed USAC National Dirt Car Championship. The inaugural champion was George Snider. The Dirt Car championship was created after dirt races were dropped from the schedule of the USAC Championship Car series following the 1970 season.{{cite web |title=1971 USAC DIRT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON REVIEW |url=https://www.usacracing.com/news/silver-crown/item/9102-1971-usac-silver-crown-season-review}}

Technical rules

The existing USAC National Championship was a mixture of road courses, hill climbs and paved or dirt oval races. For the 1971 season this championship switched exclusively to paved ovals. Especially on the paved ovals rear-engined cars dominated the races whereas on the dirt ovals the front-engined cars were superior.

The cars' construction mainly stayed with front engines as established after World War II. The cars with wheelbase of at least 96 inches. Overhead camshaft engines were restricted to 256.284 cubic inches (4.2 liters) and stock block engine could use up to 305.1 cubic inches (5.0 liters).

Confirmed entries

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"
Team / Owner

!Chassis

!Engine

!No

!Drivers

!Rounds

rowspan="2" |Agajanian-Faas Racers

| rowspan="2" |Watson 64

|Ford

| rowspan="2" |98

| rowspan="2" |Sammy Sessions

|1

Offenhauser

|2–4

A. J. Foyt Enterprises

|Meskowski 69

|Foyt

|9

|A. J. Foyt

|2–4

Bob Harkey

|Meskowski 59

|Offenhauser

|52

|Bob Harkey

|All

rowspan="2" |Carl Gehlhausen Racing

| rowspan="2" |Kurtis 4000D 343

| rowspan="2" |Offenhauser

| rowspan="2" |84

|Tom Bigelow

|1

Jim Malloy

|2–4

CHEK Inc.

|Turner 62

|Chevrolet

|44

|Arnie Knepper

|All

Danny Burke

|Moore 65

|Offenhauser

|33

|Ronnie Burke

|2–4

rowspan="2" |Don Rogala

| rowspan="2" |unknown

| rowspan="2" |Offenhauser

| rowspan="2" |36

|Billy Vukovich Jr.

|1

Jimmy Caruthers

|2–4

Federal Engineering

|Meskowski 64

|Offenhauser

|3

|Johnny Parsons

|4

Gerhardt Racing

|unknown

|Plymouth

|16

|Gary Bettenhausen

|2–4

Harry Conklin

|unknown

|Offenhauser

|64

|Bill Puterbaugh

|1

Helen Reynard

|Kuzma

|Offenhauser

|75

|Jim Reynard

|All

Jim McElreath

|McElreath 69

|Chevrolet

|14

|Jim McElreath

|All

Joe Hunt

|Lesovksy 58

|Offenhauser

|99

|Merle Bettenhausen

|2–4

Jordan

|unknown

|Chevrolet

| 69

|Duke Cook

|3–4

Ken Brenn

|Meskowski 62

|Offenhauser

|57

|Lee Kunzman

|All

Leader Card

|Watson 62

|Offenhauser

|4

|George Snider

|All

Lindsey Hopkins

|Meskowski 61

|Offenhauser

|6

|Roger McCluskey

|4

Louis Senter

|Meskowski 63

|Offenhauser

|22

|Don Hawley

|All

rowspan="2" | Louis Seymour

| rowspan="2" |Meskowski 61

|Chevrolet

| rowspan="2" |39

|Joe Saldana

|1

Offenhauser

|Bruce Walkup

|2–4

rowspan="2" |Mataka Brothers

| rowspan="2" |Blum 62

| rowspan="2" |Offenhauser

| rowspan="2" |31

|Jerry Karl

|1

Joe Saldana

|2–4

MVS Racing

|Ward 67

|Offenhauser

|19

|Bill Puterbaugh

|2, 4

rowspan="2" |Ray Smith

| rowspan="2" |Ward 68

| rowspan="2" |Chevrolet

| rowspan="2" | 70

|Carl Williams

|1

Tom Bigelow

|2–4

Richard Blacker

|Cannon 70

|Chevrolet

| 47

|Larry Cannon

|2–4

Ron Hart

|Cedoz 70

|Chevrolet

| 48

|Karl Busson

|All

Ron Kilman

|Meskowski 60

|Offenhauser

|25

|Rollie Beale

|All

Russ Ruppert

|Meskowski 58

|Offenhauser

| 17

| Dick Tobias

|All

Steck

|unknown

|Chevrolet

| 30

|Billy Thrasher

|2–4

rowspan="4" |STP Racing

|Kingfish 69

|Plymouth

|5

|Mario Andretti

|2–4

Kingfish 70

|Chevrolet

|40

|Larry Dickson

|All

Kingfish 70

|Gurney Weslake

| rowspan="2" |60

| rowspan="2" | Greg Weld

|1–3

Kingfish 69

|Plymouth

|4

Tim DelRose Enterprises

|Kuzma 60

|Offenhauser

| 18

|Johnny Rutherford

|All

Two Jacks

|Gerhardt 66

|GM Allison Turbine

|29

|Art Pollard

|3–4

rowspan="2" |United Championship Racers

| rowspan="2" |Dunlop 64

| rowspan="2" |Offenhauser

| rowspan="2" |24

|Gary Bettenhausen

|1

Billy Vukovich Jr.

|2–4

Vatis Enterprises

|Vollstedt 59

|Offenhauser

|94

|Carl Williams

|2–4

Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing

|Kingfish 69

|Ford

|1

|Al Unser

|1, 4

Walmotors

|Meskowski 59

|Offenhauser

|77

|Salt Walther

|2–4

Walt Flynn

|Flynn 64

|Offenhauser

|58

|Ralph Liguori

|All

rowspan="2" |Wib Spalding

| rowspan="2" |Meskowski

| rowspan="2" |Chevrolet

| rowspan="2" |15

|Bill Puterbaugh

|3

Don Nordhorn

|4

Schedule and results

The season consisted of four 100 mile dirt races.{{cite web|url=https://usacracing.com/usac-history/usac-record-book|title=USAC Record Book}}

class="wikitable"

|+

!Rnd

!Date

!Race Name

!Track

!Location

!Winning Driver

1

|June 20

|Nazareth 100

|Nazareth National Speedway

|Nazareth, Pennsylvania

|Jim McElreath

2

|August 22

|Tony Bettenhausen 100

|Illinois State Fairgrounds

|Springfield, Illinois

|A.J. Foyt

3

|September 6

|Ted Horn Memorial

|Du Quoin State Fairgrounds

|Du Quoin, Illinois

|George Snider

4

|September 11

|Hoosier Hundred

|Indiana State Fairgrounds

|Indianapolis, Indiana

|Al Unser

Final point standings

The driver's championship was won by George Snider of 26 classified drivers. The entrants championships went to the #4 car of Leader Card, Inc.{{cite web|url=https://usacracing.com/usac-history/usac-record-book|title=USAC Record Book}}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"
valign="top"

!valign="middle"| Pos

!valign="middle"| Driver

! NAZ

! SPR

! DUQ

! ISF

!valign="middle"| Pts

1

|George Snider

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 18

|style="background:#DFDFDF;" align=center| 2*

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" align=center| 1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;" align=center| 2

! 520

2

|Jim McElreath

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" align=center| 1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;" align=center| 3

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 6

! 420

3

|A. J. Foyt

|

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" align=center| 1

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 9

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 4

! 360

4

|Billy Vukovich Jr.

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 22

|style="background:#FFDF9F;" align=center| 3

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 5

! 360

5

|Don Hawley

|style="background:#FFDF9F;" align=center| 3

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 4

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 6

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 340

6

|Arnie Knepper

|style="background:#DFDFDF;" align=center| 2

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 11

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 5

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 9

! 320

7

|Al Unser

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 10*

|

|

|style="background:#FFFFBF;" align=center| 1*

! 230

8

|Bob Harkey

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 6

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 8

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 7

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 11

! 210

9

|Larry Dickson

| DNS

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 10

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 21

|style="background:#FFDF9F;" align=center| 3

! 170

10

|Bill Puterbaugh

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 20

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 18

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 4

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 8

! 170

11

|Greg Weld

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 13

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 15

|style="background:#DFDFDF;" align=center| 2*

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

! 160

12

|Sammy Sessions

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 9

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 23

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 7

! 110

13

|Gary Bettenhausen

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 20

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 18

! 100

14

|Jimmy Caruthers

|

|style="background:#DFFFDF;" align=center| 5

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 16

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 21

! 100

15

|Merle Bettenhausen

|

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 7

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 14

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 10

! 90

16

|Rollie Beale

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 19

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 6

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 80

17

|Jerry Karl

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 7

|

|

|

! 60

18

|Ralph Liguori

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 24

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 22

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

! 50

19

|Johnny Rutherford

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 16

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 17

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 20

! 50

20

|Carl Williams

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 15

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 9

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 18

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 14

! 40

21

|Ronnie Burke

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

|style="background:#CFEAFF;" align=center| 10

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|

! 30

22

|Dick Tobias

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 11

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 20

23

|Joe Saldana

| DNS

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 19

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 11

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 16

! 20

24

|Jim Reynard

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 12

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 10

25

|Salt Walther

|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 14

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 12

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 10

26

|Don Nordhorn

|

|

|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 12

! 10

-

|Mario Andretti

|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 13

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 17

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 17

! 0

-

|Jim Malloy

|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 21

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 19

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 13

! 0

-

|Lee Kunzman

| DNS

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 23

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 13

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 0

-

|Karl Busson

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 14

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 16

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 19

! 0

-

|Johnny Parsons

|

|

|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;" align=center| 15

! 0

-

|Larry Cannon

|

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 15

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 0

-

|Tom Bigelow

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 17

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 20

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 0

-

|Bruce Walkup

|

| DNS

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 24

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 22

! 0

-

|Roger McCluskey

|

|

|

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" align="center" | 23

! 0

-

|Art Pollard

|

|

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#EFCFFF;" align=center| 24

! 0

-

|Billy Thrasher

|

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

! 0

-

|Duke Cook

|

|

|style="background:#FFCFCF;" align=center| DNQ

|style="background:#DFC484;" align=center| Wth

! 0

valign="top"

!valign="middle"| Pos

!valign="middle"| Driver

! NAZ

! SPR

! DUQ

! ISF

!valign="middle"| Pts

|valign="top"|

{| style="margin-right:0; font-size:85%; text-align:center;" class="wikitable"

! Color

! Result

style="background:#FFFFBF;"

| Gold

| Winner

style="background:#DFDFDF;"

| Silver

| 2nd place

style="background:#FFDF9F;"

| Bronze

| 3rd place

style="background:#DFFFDF;"

| Green

| 4th & 5th place

style="background:#CFEAFF;"

| Light Blue

| 6th-10th place

style="background:#CFCFFF;"

| Dark Blue

| Finished
(Outside Top 10)

style="background:#EFCFFF;"

| Purple

| Did not finish
(Ret)

style="background:#FFCFCF;"

| Red

| Did not qualify
(DNQ)

style="background:#DFC484;"

| Brown

| Withdrawn
(Wth)

style="background:#000000; color:white;"

| Black

| Disqualified
(DSQ)

style="background:#FFFFFF;"

| rowspan="1" | White

| Did not start
(DNS)

rowspan="2" | Blank

| Did not
participate
(DNP)

Not competing

|-

|

style="margin-right:0; font-size:85%; text-align:center;" class="wikitable"

|style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center colspan=2|In-line notation

style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Bold

|style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Pole position

style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Italics

|style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Ran fastest race lap

style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|*

|style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Led most race laps

style="text-align:center" colspan=2|{{color box|gold|RY|border=silver}} Rookie of the Year
style="text-align:center" colspan=2|{{color box|orange|R|border=silver}} Rookie

|}

|}

References

{{reflist}}

USAC National Dirt Car Championship season

Category:1971 in American motorsport