# 1971 USAC National Dirt Car Championship

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.

## 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

| Team / Owner | Chassis | Engine | No | Drivers | Rounds |
| Agajanian-Faas Racers | Watson 64 | Ford | 98 | Sammy Sessions | 1 |
| Agajanian-Faas Racers | Watson 64 | Offenhauser | 98 | Sammy Sessions | 2–4 |
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Meskowski 69 | Foyt | 9 | A. J. Foyt | 2–4 |
| Bob Harkey | Meskowski 59 | Offenhauser | 52 | Bob Harkey | All |
| Carl Gehlhausen Racing | Kurtis 4000D 343 | Offenhauser | 84 | Tom Bigelow | 1 |
| Carl Gehlhausen Racing | Kurtis 4000D 343 | Offenhauser | 84 | Jim Malloy | 2–4 |
| CHEK Inc. | Turner 62 | Chevrolet | 44 | Arnie Knepper | All |
| Danny Burke | Moore 65 | Offenhauser | 33 | Ronnie Burke | 2–4 |
| Don Rogala | unknown | Offenhauser | 36 | Billy Vukovich Jr. | 1 |
| Don Rogala | unknown | Offenhauser | 36 | 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 |
| Louis Seymour | Meskowski 61 | Chevrolet | 39 | Joe Saldana | 1 |
| Louis Seymour | Meskowski 61 | Offenhauser | 39 | Bruce Walkup | 2–4 |
| Mataka Brothers | Blum 62 | Offenhauser | 31 | Jerry Karl | 1 |
| Mataka Brothers | Blum 62 | Offenhauser | 31 | Joe Saldana | 2–4 |
| MVS Racing | Ward 67 | Offenhauser | 19 | Bill Puterbaugh | 2, 4 |
| Ray Smith | Ward 68 | Chevrolet | 70 | Carl Williams | 1 |
| Ray Smith | Ward 68 | Chevrolet | 70 | 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 |
| STP Racing | Kingfish 69 | Plymouth | 5 | Mario Andretti | 2–4 |
| STP Racing | Kingfish 70 | Chevrolet | 40 | Larry Dickson | All |
| STP Racing | Kingfish 70 | Gurney Weslake | 60 | Greg Weld | 1–3 |
| STP Racing | Kingfish 69 | Plymouth | 60 | Greg Weld | 4 |
| Tim DelRose Enterprises | Kuzma 60 | Offenhauser | 18 | Johnny Rutherford | All |
| Two Jacks | Gerhardt 66 | GM Allison Turbine | 29 | Art Pollard | 3–4 |
| United Championship Racers | Dunlop 64 | Offenhauser | 24 | Gary Bettenhausen | 1 |
| United Championship Racers | Dunlop 64 | Offenhauser | 24 | 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 |
| Wib Spalding | Meskowski | Chevrolet | 15 | Bill Puterbaugh | 3 |
| Wib Spalding | Meskowski | Chevrolet | 15 | Don Nordhorn | 4 |

## Schedule and results

The season consisted of four 100 mile dirt races.
| 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.
| Pos | Driver | NAZ | SPR | DUQ | ISF | Pts |
| 1 | George Snider | 18 | 2* | 1 | 2 | 520 |
| 2 | Jim McElreath | 1 | 3 | Wth | 6 | 420 |
| 3 | A. J. Foyt | | 1 | 9 | 4 | 360 |
| 4 | Billy Vukovich Jr. | 4 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 360 |
| 5 | Don Hawley | 3 | 4 | 6 | DNQ | 340 |
| 6 | Arnie Knepper | 2 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 320 |
| 7 | Al Unser | 10* | | | 1* | 230 |
| 8 | Bob Harkey | 6 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 210 |
| 9 | Larry Dickson | DNS | 10 | 21 | 3 | 170 |
| 10 | Bill Puterbaugh | 20 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 170 |
| 11 | Greg Weld | 13 | 15 | 2* | Wth | 160 |
| 12 | Sammy Sessions | 9 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 110 |
| 13 | Gary Bettenhausen | 5 | 20 | DNQ | 18 | 100 |
| 14 | Jimmy Caruthers | | 5 | 16 | 21 | 100 |
| 15 | Merle Bettenhausen | | 7 | 14 | 10 | 90 |
| 16 | Rollie Beale | 19 | 6 | Wth | DNQ | 80 |
| 17 | Jerry Karl | 7 | | | | 60 |
| 18 | Ralph Liguori | 8 | 24 | 22 | Wth | 50 |
| 19 | Johnny Rutherford | 16 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 50 |
| 20 | Carl Williams | 15 | 9 | 18 | 14 | 40 |
| 21 | Ronnie Burke | Wth | 10 | DNQ | | 30 |
| 22 | Dick Tobias | 11 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 20 |
| 23 | Joe Saldana | DNS | 19 | 11 | 16 | 20 |
| 24 | Jim Reynard | 12 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 10 |
| 25 | Salt Walther | | 14 | 12 | DNQ | 10 |
| 26 | Don Nordhorn | | | | 12 | 10 |
| - | Mario Andretti | | 13 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| - | Jim Malloy | | 21 | 19 | 13 | 0 |
| - | Lee Kunzman | DNS | 23 | 13 | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Karl Busson | 14 | 16 | DNQ | 19 | 0 |
| - | Johnny Parsons | | | | 15 | 0 |
| - | Larry Cannon | | DNQ | 15 | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Tom Bigelow | 17 | Wth | 20 | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Bruce Walkup | | DNS | 24 | 22 | 0 |
| - | Roger McCluskey | | | | 23 | 0 |
| - | Art Pollard | | | DNQ | 24 | 0 |
| - | Billy Thrasher | | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 0 |
| - | Duke Cook | | | DNQ | Wth | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | NAZ | SPR | DUQ | ISF | 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 not participate (DNP) |
| Blank | Not competing |
In-line notation :
| Bold | Pole position |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| * | Led most race laps |
| RY Rookie of the Year ||
| R Rookie ||